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Aly kissed Lola on the mouth and then, still on top of her, nestled her head underneath Lola’s chin.

Lola’s muscles felt soft, immovable. Her head was empty. She felt like she had ascended to some sort of higher plane. And with the comfort of Aly’s body tucked around her and the soothing touches of her hand skating across her arm, Lola let herself not think about what just happened between them, what might change now. Instead, she simply closed her eyes and gave in to the feeling of absolute peace.

***

They were still on the couch when Lola woke sometime later. Aly was on top of her, breathing in a way that told Lola she was in a deep sleep.

Lola craned her neck to read the wall clock. It was just after 3:00 a.m. She should go home. She had probably already overstayed her welcome. But there was no way to move without disturbing the surprising and almost terrifyingly sexy person sleeping atop her.

Aly lifted her head, feeling Lola shifting. “Oh shit,” she said and then wiped some drool from her mouth and laughed. “I so did not mean to fall asleep on top of you.”

“I’m so glad you did,” Lola said, a warmth settling in her chest at the sight of the pink press on Aly’s cheek. “But I should probably go home.”

“You’re going?” Aly asked. She sounded disappointed. “Was thistoo much? Youarefreaking out, aren’t you?” Aly sat up, pulling away from her. She appeared to be shrinking into the couch.

Surprise hit Lola like a freight train, shaking the last bit of sleep from her thoughts. Cool, calm, collected Aly wasworried. About her, aboutthem. About what the two of them together actuallymeant.Lola grabbed Aly’s hand, relishing the softness. “No, I just didn’t think you’d want me to stay.I’mtrying to not be too much.”

“I want you to stay,” Aly said, her voice taking on a more earnest tone than Lola had ever heard before. “It would be so sad in my bed without you.”

“Then I guess I’m staying,” Lola said. “God forbid you’re sad in bed. And in theHamptonsof all places!”

Aly laughed, straightening again. “Exactly. I could get kicked out for my very sad, decidedly un-Hamptons -like behavior. They’d send me straight back to Brooklyn.”

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Lola stood from the couch, extending a hand down. She wasn’t ready for Aly to leave the Hamptons. Not yet.

Not without her.

***

Aly’s bedroom was painted the color of the ocean right before a storm. There were stacks of books on every surface. The bed was big and unmade, dark blue linens in an endearing twist. Lola briefly imagined a teenage Aly spending her summers here, brooding and rebellious, lazing on the bed reading Hunter S. Thompson and listening to some riot grrrl band that Lola had never heard of.

“Do you want to borrow clothes to sleep in? A T-shirt or something?” Aly asked.

“No.” Lola grinned at her. “Though I will take some underwear. These are goners.”

Aly laughed and tossed her a pair of Kallmeyer boxer briefs.

Lola went to the bathroom down the hall to change in a surprising rush of modesty given what had transpired between them on the couch. She pulled her thong off and placed it gingerly to the side of the sink, hoping she’d get to it in the morning before Aly noticed it. Then she used some of Aly’s toothpaste on her finger.

She opened the medicine cabinet and surveyed Aly’s products. It was the entire La Prairie line. She whistled under her breath.Okay, Carter.She didn’t know why she should expect anything less than luxury taste at this point.

She washed her face with hand soap, though. It was probably too soon to break into Aly’s prestige skin care.

Too soon. As if there would be a next time. She shouldn’t get her hopes up. She swallowed and tried to remind herself of the very distinct possibility that this might never happen again, that Aly had put her in the hookup box. The one-night-stand box. Theit was fun, see you around New Yorkbox. Once labeled, Lola knew it was hard to be moved into a different box, to convince someone to change their first opinion. It made her sad already. A weird kind of anticipatory heartbreak.

But when she got into bed with Aly, who was sleepy and warm in a soft tank top, Lola forgot about feeling sad at the thought that all this might be nothing. As soon as she was under the covers, Aly wrapped herself around Lola, becoming the big spoon.

ARC was a cutthroat journalist, an intellectual, a consummate cool girl. But Aly, the girl in bed? She was something else entirely. She was the embodiment of Lola’s most secret fantasies. Dominant in bedbut also caring and soft. Eager to please with flashes of vulnerability that made Lola feel understood. Funny, bright, and nonjudgmental, despite what Lola had previously believed. ARC might be a cool girl, but Aly? Aly was just cool. Cool to be around, cool to talk to. Very, very cool to kiss.

Lola fell asleep with a smile on her face.

***

She woke up to Aly kissing the back of her neck. Soft morning light dripped golden through the window.

Aly’s hands were caressing Lola’s stomach, her breasts, her arms. Lola moaned sleepily and pressed her butt into Aly’s crotch. This made Aly grip her harder. Lola turned her head back ,and they kissed.

She forgot to worry about her morning breath.