Four years ago, I decided never to have sex again. I was healing from trauma and felt overwhelmed even by friend hugs or a date grabbing my hand. I didn’t want to be touched, ever, because it felt…

There are lots of reasons my preferred birth control method has long been condoms. They’re easy to find, free at the cafe I like off Market Street, super effective and come in neon colors! I also found out from my current boo that there’s this new variety that he calls “the dick-numbing kind;” it has a little bit of numbing gel in the tip for when I want to have sex for a longer-than-usual amount of time.

Think STI prevention kills the mood? Or that it’s always kind of a hassle? No way. A little planning makes it easy to help protect yourself against an STI. But what do you do when there’s no time to plan ahead and you really, really want to have sex? These hacks can help you stay safe in the moment without losing a minute of sexy time.

When does texting stop being cute and start to feel like too much? If a partner is texting you all the time and you feel like your thumbs can’t catch a break, it’s time to make your boundaries clear.