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Thoughts of Morgan.

Chloë had realized all day long that she missed Morgan. They hadn’t seen each other since Saturday night, the night Chloë got her tattoo, and Chloë had felt her absence. It was silly, she thought, and she hated how at times she was beginning to feel like that awkward teenager with a crush on her teacher. Still, though…putting aside the still potent sexual attraction she continued to feel for Morgan, Chloë felt like she and Morgan just simply got along so well and really connected as two people. She wondered if Morgan felt the same way.

After standing still for several moments, thinking about what she was about to do, she bent, picked up her phone from the coffee table and tapped out a text to Morgan.

Bored. What are you up to?

The response, thrillingly, was almost instantaneous.

Being bored too! LOL! I just finished grading papers.

I just finished studying. How was the rest of your weekend?

This time, the response took a little longer.

It was odd, actually, but that’s a long story I won’t bother you with.

Intrigued, Chloë was trying to come up with an appropriate but clever response when her phone pinged again.

Want to be bored together?

Chloë gasped, her heart fluttering.

Chill the fuck out! It wasn’t a marriage proposal!

Biting her lip, she typed her answer.

What did you have in mind?

Ice cream?

***

To Chloë, it felt odd to be going out for ice cream at nearly eight o’clock on a school night. After all, she was still young enough to recall the strictures of childhood. It didn’t help that she was still, for all intents and purposes, living with her parents, which at times made her feel like she was seventeen. But she was an adult now, she reminded herself, and if she wanted to go out for ice cream with a friend this late, she could.

Though technically, she shouldn’t. She hadn’t even had dinner.

She also had to remind herself that there was nothing wrong with who she was meeting. Miss Banks was a former teacher of Chloë’s, from way back when Chloë was still in high school, which she wasn’t, she reminded herself now as she waited for a light to change on Carlsbad Village Drive.

I’m not in high school! I’m twenty-four! An adult meeting another adult friend who happens to have been one of my teachers. Nothing to see here, folks!

The light changed and Chloë drove forward half a block and turned into the parking lot of Surf Girl Ice Cream Parlor, spotting Morgan’s Civic already there.

“Hey!” Morgan greeted when both women were out of their cars.

“Hey!” Chloë said.

They embraced and Chloë didn’t want to let go. Why on earth do they fit together so well? she wondered. It didn’t help that Morgan looked very cute with her hair done up in a ponytail, skinny jeans on and what looked to be an incredibly comfy down jacket that was fitted to her curves.

After they separated, Morgan looked at Chloë and chuckled.

“Do you ever wear pants?” she asked, eyeing Chloë’s purple casual swing dress, which was underneath her down puffer coat.

Chloë, ballet flats on her feet, easily did a twirl, making Morgan laugh.

“I have fabulous legs,” Chloë said. “Why wouldn’t I show them off?”

“That is true,” Morgan said, appraising Chloë’s legs, sheathed in patterned tights. Chloë could swear she felt the caress of the other woman’s eyeballs on them. “Throw away all your pants, if you actually have any. I prefer the dresses.”