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“Maybe you can let me see, instead?”

Anna fell onto the pillow beside Hayley, into the place she never wanted to leave. She turned onto her side and they gazed at each other for a moment. Hayley had that look of desire in her eyes that Anna could happily bathe in forever.

Holding eye contact with her, Hayley reached in between Anna’s legs. When her fingers made contact, it was apparent just how excited Anna was. She was so hot and wet, it was almost embarrassing, but Anna didn’t give a fuck about that any more. While Hayley’s fingers slid all over Anna’s desire for her, Hayley leaned over and kissed Anna so hard it pushed her back onto the pillow. Their tongues clashed and Anna felt another hot flood of arousal spill onto Hayley’s hand. “Anna, I”?Hayley breathed, in between kisses?“I love you so much.”

Anna smiled into Hayley’s lips, never having been more certain of anything in her entire life. “I love you, too.”

Twenty-Two

Anna was working up a sweat. She swung the axe down hard on the wood. It made a satisfying slice right down the middle and a loud crack. She was making good progress on the stack and would hopefully get through it before Hayley got home. This was as good as going to the gym if she worked fast like this.

“You look super hot doing that.”

Anna turned to see Hayley leaning against the doorframe of the backdoor, arms folded across her chest as if she’d been standing there awhile. “When did you get home?”

“Long enough to make me feel like a creeper, standing here perving on you like this.”

Anna crossed the small back garden and kissed Hayley on the lips once. She put her arms around Hayley’s waist and pulled her in close. “You’re my girlfriend now.” She kissed Hayley on the lips again. “You’re allowed to openly lust after me.”

“Honey, I openly lusted after you plenty when we were just friends. You just didn’t see it.”

“That’s true. Not until I was giving you a lap dance and you were practically drooling.”

“I was not drooling.”

Anna raised an eyebrow.

“Okay. Maybe I was. But in fairness, you were being so sexy it was actually painful not to make a move.”

Anna took a deep breath and gave Hayley a hug, resting her head on her shoulder. “I’m nearly finished with the wood. We can do some more planning for the trip this afternoon.”

“Sounds good. I’ll go make some tea.”

Anna stacked the wood in the log store and cleared up the smaller flakes scattered around the chopping block. She had a tenant moving in and she wanted to get the place perfect for them. It was going to be strange being away from her house, but she was ready. They were about to embark on a year-long trip starting in South East Asia and ending in the US where Anna would get to meet Hayley’s family and friends. Most things were in place: visas, plane tickets, airport transfers, first few days accommodation, a rough itinerary – Anna had conceded on that one – and agreements on key places they both wanted to visit. It had been so much fun planning it together. Today was about getting an idea for buying a campervan in Australia or renting one.

Sitting on the sofa, they huddled around Anna’s laptop. “Maybe we should just rent one,” Anna said, after an hour of getting nowhere. “I won’t have my tools with me to do it up like the last one. They all look like they either need work or are astronomical in price.”

“You’re right. Let’s do that.”

“That way we can mix and match. When we are in the cities, we won’t need a van. We can go on foot and explore without having to think about where to park. Or we can rent cars as and when we need them to go to places like the Blue Mountains.”

“Look at you all willing to be spontaneous.”

“I wouldn’t get too excited. This is me planning flexibility into the trip.”

Hayley laughed. “I’ve noticed you’re more relaxed these days.”

“You’re right. I am more relaxed.” Part of that was to do with being with Hayley. Part of it was to do with Anna addressing the root cause and getting better at managing her thoughts. “Sex and meditation. It works.”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that.”

“You just did.”

Hayley smiled, then leaned over and kissed Anna’s cheek. She lingered at the side of her face. “I’m proud of you.”

Even this small gesture had Anna trembling at the knees, wanting to take things into the bedroom. Instead, she stood and went into the bedroom on her own. She brought back the collage picture frame she’d made and handed it to Hayley. “This is for you, my love.”

Hayley’s eyes widened. “What is it?”