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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/20322
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In our real world, couples almost always have sexual tension right before they are both certain that the other one wants to get physical. It's also a struggle when it's inappropriate for the two to have a sexual relationship so each person tries to deny the attraction.

I remember being a teenager and this guy kept "accidentally" bumping his hand next to mine as we were taking a walk. I knew he wanted to hold it, but I was terrified that there might be a very slight chance that he really was just bumping it by accident, and if I took his hand, he'd snatch he'd away and give me the "I'm very flattered, but ewwwww. No way!" speech.

I also remember that there was this boy I hated for over two years because every single time he spoke to me, he would sound like he was going to say something nice, but he'd end up saying something rude, obscene or otherwise personally offensive. One day we ended up taking a really long walk together alone for some reason and he just listened to me talk about my unrequited crush on one of his best friends. He ended up telling me that I was too good for his friend. I was totally confused by him saying this. He finally told me that for the last several years he had such a big crush on me that every time he tried to speak, something horrible came out of his mouth. We ended up making out, having intense sex and dated for four years. It only ended when I moved across the country and he didn't want to leave his family so he stayed home. He's still a great friend. I think we could have gotten married and been OK.

There are awkward moments where a friendly couple might be having a normal conversation or completing some task. He might accidentally notice she looks extremely attractive at a certain moment and become distracted. He unintentionally says something that could be taken as a sexual innuendo. She notices and tries not to respond or maybe attempts to turn it into a joke.

I'm not a fan of the witty one liners tactic for a book. In the movies or television, it works because the audience can't get inside the character's heads. But if you're inside someone's head and hearing their thoughts. They will be thinking about sex or trying very hard not to think about it. People aren't really ever totally blind to their sexual attraction right up until they grab each other and start making out in the middle of a fight. That just doesn't happen.

Almost everyone feels vulnerable and gets a little tense right before they begin to kick things up a notch. There's no need to go overboard with it.

Original score: 7