I spent a night in bed with another man, and never told anyone.

When I was like 20, I attended a conference at a hotel. My stay at the hotel was covered by my college, but I drove myself there. Well, the night I had to checkout, there was this massive storm. I was terrified of driving home in it. But I was broke, and couldn’t afford to pay for a room on my own.

I was trying to work something out at the front desk, and started sobbing. A guy from my college, who I barely knew, saw me crying, and said he was staying another night. He said I could stay with him, as long as I’d be comfortable sharing a bed his room only had one.

Of course I was scared of sharing a bed with a random dude. And I was dating a horrible, jealous, and controlling man child. He’d be furious if he found out. But I was so desperate, so I just went ahead and did it.

Looking back at it, I am so lucky that nothing happened. The guy was perfectly respectful. He never once tried to make a move on me, or do something that would make me uncomfortable, for the entire night. And my boyfriend at the time (thankfully my ex now) never found out about it.

I’ve never shared this with anyone. And I still don’t think I necessarily did anything wrong. I wasn’t trying to cheat, or lead another guy on. I was just desperate, and needed somewhere to sleep.