This is how we do it: ‘Our first sexual experience was like everyone’s: bad. We were so awkward’

After a decade together, Zara and Max now have the freedom for work-from-home quickies and experiments with sex toys

How do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymously

We probably have sex less now than when we lived apart, but it’s amazing that when the mood strikes, we can just do it

I’ve known Max since I was 10. We were friends at high school and became “lovers” through some steady teenage flirting. Our first sexual experience was after a Halloween party, unplanned. I imagine it was like everyone’s first time: bad. It’s funny looking back, thinking how awkward we were. Being so young, there was a kind of shame associated with sex: it was gossipy and a lot of people were getting called slags. When we started shagging regularly, we were just so horny and doing it whenever we could – at most, seven times a day. Once we did it in a portable toilet. It was like: “OK, we’re sexually active!”

We’ve been together for more than a decade now and are so involved in each other’s lives, sharing the same friends and hobbies. There have been phases over the years when it has been a test, emotionally and physically. At one point, we were living in different time zones and our lives felt very separate. I used to send nudes all the time. When we moved in together after university, it was exciting to no longer have to shag in our family home or with flatmates next door. We probably have sex less now than when we lived apart, but it’s amazing that when the mood strikes we can just do it: the short and sweet version, or make it a marathon over hours. There’s less pressure to have sex as soon as we see each other.