"Crotchless panties."

My mouth dropped as Ellie held up the very skimpy piece of lingerie. When I told her that Sean and I were going out to dinner on Valentine's Day, she asked what I was getting him. I explained to her that, not only is this my first Valentine's Day ever, but he and I agreed not to get each other gifts.

She insisted that was absolutely ridiculous and, since he was taking me to dinner, I should at least get him some new sexy lingerie. If I was being honest, it has been a while since I bought something new to wear. I didn't mind the lingerie, I was just new to all of this.

The only thing I've ever worn for him was a few different color teddies. Not...."Crotchless panties, Ellie? Really?"

She rolled her eyes as she held out the panties in question. "Yes. He will go crazy over this."

I examined the black piece of lace. "I don't know. What would I wear it with?" Obviously, I'm not just going to wear this by itself. That seemed silly.

"There's a whole set here!" She explained as she grabs multiple items from the rack and held them up for me to look at. "There's a corset that matches. It also comes with a garter belt and thigh-high stockings." She pointed to the left, where there were floor-to-ceiling racks of heels. "Not to mention, the gorgeous back and red heels over there."

I glanced at the heels she was talking about and cringed. I don't think I've ever worn heels that high in my life. I know they weren't probably that high for other women, but for me? That was an ambulance ride waiting to happen.

"Maybe I can get on board with the outfit, but the heels? I can't wear those things, Ellie."

Being completely Ellie, she ignored me and walked over to grab my size in a pair of heels. She brought them over to me and pointed to the chair. "Sit down and try these on," she ordered.

Knowing she wouldn't let me leave the store until I did what she said, I took a seat and held my hand out for the box. I tried the heels on and was pleasantly surprised when they fit me perfectly.

"Those look amazing! Here," Ellie said as she held out her hand, "come look in the mirror."

She helped me get to my feet and I immediately started to lose my balance. I grabbed onto her arm as she helped me walk over to the mirror. As I looked at my reflection, I had to admit, they were pretty sexy.

"Wow," I breathed.

"Gorgeous, right? I told you!" She said before she helped me back to the chair so I could take them off in put them back in the box.

"Hand me the box, I'm going to buy them for you." She stated.

I shook my head. "No way. These are too expensive for you to buy them for me. I won't let you."

Ellie was a stubborn one. She crossed her arms over her chest and started tapping her foot. "Lydia, let me get these for you. Consider it a Valentine's Day present from me."

"How does that make it better? If I won't even let Sean get me a present, what makes you think I would let you?" I quipped with a smile.

"Because I'm your roommate, and current best friend. Those rules don't apply to me. Now, hand them over."

Knowing it was a lost cause, I handed her the box. "Fine," I groaned. "But if I fall in those things, it's going to be your fault."

We went to the cashier to ring up our purchases. She scoffed as she pulled out her wallet. "Lydia, today is Wednesday. That means you have two whole days to wear these around our dorm room to get used to them. Then, come Friday, Sean is going to lose his mind. Besides," she said as we grabbed our bags to leave. "Once he sees you in them, you won't be standing."

"Ellie!" I said with a laugh. "Keep your voice down. There are people around us."

"Oh, come on. You're the only one who's getting any action. I have to live vicariously through you."

I frowned as I remembered her date the other night. She never actually told me how that went. "What about physics guy?"

We continued walking through the mall, heading straight for the food court. We had been shopping for a few hours and worked up quite the appetite.

Ellie let out a long breath as we stepped onto the escalator. "The date with physics guy went well, but he just seems..."

"Seems..." I urged her to continue.

She shrugged her shoulders as she brushed a stray hair out of her face. "To good to be true."

"How so?" I asked curiously. I've only known Ellie for a little over a month; but one thing I did know, was that she loved the idea of being in love. She would always ask me questions about my relationship with Sean and asked what it was like to be truly in love. Considering she was only twenty-two, it wasn't surprising. After all, I was twenty-eight when I found the love of my life. 

"I don't know; he was really gentlemanly. He held the door for me, pulled out my chair, and paid for dinner." She laughed a little as we stepped off of the escalator and headed to the restaurant. "He even listened to me when I talked. I don't even think he pulled out his cell phone once."

I shook my head at her. "Why is that a bad thing? That sounds a lot like Sean." 

"It's not a bad thing," she said on a sigh, "but Sean is in his thirties. Physics Guy is twenty-three. It's weird. I bet he lives with his mom or is a serial killer." 

I frowned as we walked up to the hostess stand. "He does have a name, right? Or are we going to keep calling him 'Physics Guy'?"

"Table for two, please," Ellie said to the hostess before looking back to me. "Yes, we are going to call him Physics Guy, because the second I start using his name, its going to blow up in my face."

We followed the hostess to our seats and I opened my menu. "Fine. So, have you talked to Physics Guy since your date?"

"Yes, we talk in class a little and he's been texting me. He wants to go out again."

I put my menu down and raised my brows. "Ellie, that's a good thing! When does he want to take you out again?"

"Valentine's Day. He wants to do this whole romantic thing."

"What did you say?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I told him I would let him know tonight." She looked from her menu to me. "Do you think I should do it?" 

I thought about her question for a moment before I reached across the table and grabbed her cell phone. 

"What are you doing?" 

Ignoring her question, I scrolled through her text messages and laughed when I found what I was looking for. "Ellie, you actually saved his name in your phone as Physics Guy?"

"Yes, I wasn't kidding. Lydia, you better not text him back," she warned. 

With an evil smile, I pretended to be Ellie as I accepted his offer. After he replied with a smiley face, I handed her phone back to her. "He'll pick you up at seven." 

"I can't believe you did that!" 

"Ellie," I started in a soft tone, "I have never seen you like this over a guy. You're afraid to even use his real name. I can tell you really like him, and from what you told me, he seems like a great guy." 

She fiddled with her phone as she worried her bottom lip. "What if I end up getting hurt? After the frat party, I've been a little hesitant about guys." 

I didn't blame her. I was still a little shaken up regarding the night those two frat guys drugged her. If Sean and I hadn't gotten to her quickly, things could have gotten really bad. I understood why she was hesitant, but she should at least give this guy a chance. He wasn't one of those frat guys and they would be going to a public place. Besides, she learned her lesson about drinking around men. We both did. 

"You know you can call me if anything happens. If you guys get serious and he hurts you, I'll beat his ass." 

She laughed. "You really are the best, Lydia. Thank you." 

"No problem. Besides, I let you buy me those heels. I figured making you go on this date is payback." 

Ellie smiled. "He's going to freak when he sees you in that outfit!" 

"You think?" I was nervous as hell. I've worn lingerie in front of him, and I feel pretty confident when we have sex, but this felt different. It was new. Not to mention there was the risk of me breaking my neck in those heels. 

"Yes, I'm serious. If he doesn't like it, I'll go over there and beat his ass."

We both laughed as my call phone went off. "Who is it?" She asked. 

I frowned at the screen. "It says UNKNOWN NUMBER. This has happened a couple times this week."

"Let me see it." She took the phone from me and answered. "Hello? Who is this? Right, heavy breathing is so sexy. Call again and we call the police, buddy."

She hung up and handed the phone back to me. "That was weird. If he keeps calling, I would tell Sean. He's a computer nerd, he can probably track it."

"He's not a computer nerd," I lied. Okay, maybe he was. But he was my computer nerd. 

"I'm just saying, you might have a stalker." 

"Ugh," I sighed. "I have enough going on. I don't need a creepy stalker. I'm sure it's just a prank caller." 

Ellie sucked her teeth as she took a sip of her water. "I hope so. Now, the most important question is...what am I wearing on my date with Physics Guy?"