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Lisa had a date and even Max was “indisposed”—his term, which Sally took to mean having a date of his own.

What Sally really wanted to do was Amy. That is, what she really wanted to do was hang out with Amy, although, truth be told, she also wanted to do Amy. The problem was, Amy was also indisposed tonight. Apparently, she had underestimated the amount of effort it was going to take to craft that presentation for…who was it again? A councilwoman or something? Sally couldn’t remember. Anyway, to craft that super important presentation about the equal rights amendment. Earlier, Amy had texted Sally, telling her that her boss was coming over this evening to help and that it was unlikely she’d be able to go on a date tonight or do anything else fun.

Sally, though disappointed, understood. What Amy was striving for was important and if she could support her by simply staying out of the way, then that is what she would do.

So, her Friday night was going to be one of her typical home alone Friday nights.

After taking a shower and changing into pink pj shorts and a tank, she heated up some leftovers for dinner and put on her new favorite show on Netflix: Kim’s Convenience. It didn’t have any lesbians in it but it was hilarious. She binged two seasons worth of it, having some chocolate chip ice cream with caramel sauce dribbled on top of it halfway through season three.

Having had enough TV, she told Alexa to play her favorite reading playlist, picked up her Kindle and continued reading a fun f/f sci-fi adventure one of her Twitter friends had recommended. She wondered if Max would consider having Jillian write a sci-fi lesbian romance. She’d have to mention it to him.

Finally, she started yawning. The clock told her it was just past eleven and since she had no real reason to stay up super late, decided to head to bed. Tomorrow morning she’d get up early, go for a run and maybe have coffee down at the beach.

Then her phone pinged.

Amy!

You still up?

Sally eagerly texted back.

I am!

Thank god! was Amy’s reply.

LOL! Why?

Amy’s answer came quickly…

I need RELEASE!

Chapter 23

Amy couldn’t sit still.

Sally was on her way and the anticipation of her arrival was making Amy’s body practically buzz with excitement because she needed Sally!

The past two days had been hell. But a good hell, she supposed, because though it had been hard work, the cause was important. Yesterday and today, both at the office and at home, Amy had been busting her ass getting ready for her and Makeda’s meeting on Tuesday with Supervisor Edelmann. They weren’t going to be able to just walk into her office and say, “Make it happen!” Amy knew that most politicians today think the ERA is a relic from the past and a waste of time. They argue that much of what the ERA proposes is already guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the US constitution, which grants equal protection of the laws to everyone. What’s more, there are already numerous protections against discrimination for women, such as Title IX, for example, and statutory protections against pay discrimination and gender-based violence. The problem, however, is that there are still too many conservative-minded politicians and jurists—with real power—who actively work at undermining those protections. Therefore, until the ERA is officially ratified and thus made federal law, women’s rights were technically still at risk.

In the meantime, until the ERA is ratified at the federal level, a movement has been occurring throughout the country to at least get counties, cities and other such entities to add equal rights amendments to their constitutions and charters in the hope that getting enough of these smaller pieces of America to officially declare that women have the same rights and protections as men—by law—the federal government will finally take action and make the Equal Rights Amendment part of the U.S. constitution.

The trick would be convincing Supervisor Edelmann to help push this cause forward at the county level. Amy and Makeda knew they had a potential champion in Christine Edelmann because of on-the-record comments she had made in the past supporting not only the federal ERA but also an ERA for San Diego County.

Yesterday and today, Amy had worked long hours, both at the office and at home. This evening, Makeda had come over to help with some of the research to include in their presentation on Tuesday and to offer insight into and critique of Amy’s work so far. The session had been a success, in Amy’s opinion, and she felt like she was finally taming this beast of a project.

She still wasn’t done, though. She would need to continue working through the weekend, which she was more than willing to do. But for tonight…she needed to be fucked. Getting herself off wasn’t going to cut it; not this time.

Her doorbell rang and she practically sprinted to open it. When she did, she pulled Sally inside and started kissing her straight away. She didn’t care if it was rude and by Sally’s reaction, neither did Sally. They hadn’t seen each other since Thursday morning, when Sally had left Amy’s apartment to go to work and though Amy had been super busy since then, she had missed Sally. Having sex with her was like taking a drug.

“Hi,” Amy said when their lips separated briefly for air.

“Hi,” Sally returned, and then that was it for talking. Never breaking their lip lock, Amy expertly—and walking backwards—guided them both to her bedroom and once inside, the two women began undressing themselves until, nude, they fell on the bed, Amy pulling Sally on top of her.

“Babe, I need hard and rough,” Amy growled and then groaned when Sally gave her an absolutely predatory look with those emerald-green eyes.

“Where do you keep them?” Sally asked and Amy knew exactly what she meant.