The following can also be found in the book Chicago Stories 1996. Click here to learn more, and to download a free electronic copy.

It's when you're making out and you're on the bottom but you're getting all sweaty so you flip them over and now you're on the top but now your shoulders are getting sore so you flip them again and you keep flip, flip, flipping for an hour and a half.

It's when they get up right after sex and get a glass of water and come back to bed and take a drink and you take the glass from their hand, unasked, uninvited, and take a drink yourself and give it back to them.

It's when you're across the room, sitting in a chair, reading a book, and they're laying on the bed, working on something, and then they get up and walk over and kneel in front of your chair and wrap their arms around you and you put down your book and hug them back and you just both stay that way for five or ten minutes.

It's when you're riding on the el and you're looking at someone across the aisle and suddenly they catch you looking at them and you look away but when you look back you catch them looking at you and the two of you do this for ten minutes and then you finally lock eyes for two or three seconds and you both laugh because you both realize you're acting like junior high school students but love it anyway, and then they get off at their stop and they look over their shoulder and look at you one last time as they walk down the stairs. And if you're really lucky... they'll wave.

It's when you're getting ready to have sex for the first time and you wriggle their pants off and they suddenly get very quiet and they're in The Test, the test to see whether you find them disgusting or not naked. And then you jump on them and the little sigh and the little moan they give out lets you know how relieved they are that you like them even with their clothes off.

It's that magical gap in time between flirting and the first kiss, that moment where the conversation stops and a little voice finally screams, "Okay, now! No, wait a minute... okay, now!" and you sort of... and then you... and then you both laugh and you touch their cheek and lean their head the right direction and finally kiss and your little voice says, "What the hell were you so scared about, anyway?"

It's when you're spending the night in their apartment and they fall asleep before you and you just sit and listen to them breathe. And then you get up and go to the bathroom and then you sit at their table and smoke a cigarette and you realize you're walking around their apartment completely naked, right in front of them, and they don't even know.

It's waking up in the morning and having sex before looking to see what time it is.

It's when they wear one of your t-shirts.

It's when they cry.

It's when they laugh.

It's when they don't tell you they like you, because they don't have to.