Page 55

***

For the next three days, Aly and Lola did nothing but fuck, eat, and sleep. Or rather, Aly continued to make Lola come, and Lola quietly worried about whether she should return the favor.

Eventually, Aly turned her phone off and left it like that. The biggest event of each day was figuring out whose house to camp out at, an easier feat with Ryan being conspicuously absent from Giancarlo’s, butother than that, they were bed bound. And shower bound and couch bound. And a couple of times on the floor.

The first time Aly went down on Lola, on her knees in the shower, Lola was pretty sure she understood why people believed in God.

She didn’t know how anything could feel that good. Aly’s tongue pressed into her with the exact right pressure. Then, as her lips encircled Lola’s clit, she put one finger inside Lola while her thumb rested on Lola’s asshole, and Lola sank to the floor of the tub, unable to hold herself up any longer.

“How are you so good at this?” she said when she could speak again.

“Not to sound like a jerk, but I’ve been a lesbian for a long time.” Aly smirked. “You pick up a thing or two along the way.”

After that, Lola required Aly’s mouth on her. Sometimes Aly would drag it out, spending too much time kissing Lola’s stomach while Lola squirmed in anticipation.

All the while, Lola wondered when Aly would be ready for Lola to return the favor. If she wanted Lola to return the favor. If Lola knew how to return the favor. The many, many favors.

Finally one afternoon, after Lola had come twice in a row in Aly’s bed, she said, “I totally respect your boundaries, but I would very much like to touch you.”

Aly turned pink.

“I’m sorry,” Lola said. “I don’t have to if you don’t want me to. It’s just starting to seem unfair.”

Aly was quiet for a few seconds while Lola’s heart thundered nervously in her chest. Finally, Aly said, “I am going to need you…to cut your nails first.”

Lola blushed as she looked at her sharp, pink talons. “That’s fair.”

She flew to the bathroom and trimmed them down, doing ahorrible, uneven job. It was fine. She could get it fixed by a professional later.

But when she got back in bed, Aly’s face was drawn. She’d pulled the covers up to her chin, like she was hiding.

Lola propped herself up on her elbow. “Tell me what’s happening.”

Aly groaned, but the faraway look on her face passed. “It’s not that I don’t want you to,” she said. “I really want you to. It’s just…my worst fear is that you’ll be faced with my vagina and realize you’re not into it. How would I ever recover from that kind of rejection?”

Lola’s stomach sank as she realized that Aly was right to have that fear. She didn’t know what would happen if—when?—she formally met Aly’s pussy. Shehopedshe would like it. But that was just a theory, wasn’t it? A theory that had never been tested. In the past, when she fantasized about sex with women, she didn’t actually picture this part—or rather, theirparts.All this time, it was as if Aly could sense it.

“Are you worried I’d be bad at it?”

“Good sex is about communication,” Aly said. “And it’s also about more than just orgasms. But I mean”—she paused, looking away from Lola—“the idea of someone not knowing what to do with my body is not necessarily a turn-on for me.”

Lola’s face fell. “Oh. Right.”

Aly rushed to correct herself. “But I know you could learn. Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I guess Iamfreaking out a little.”

Lola swallowed, trying to find the words to reassure Aly without being dishonest. “Obviously this is all very new to me,” she started. “And I appreciate you letting me take it slow. But I can promise you that the way I feel about what we’ve been doing…” She trailed off. “You could probably have an alien living between your legs, and I’d be into it.”

Aly laughed. “It’s not an alien. It’s a vagina. Isn’t that scarier?”

“No,” Lola said. She was continuously surprised by how much reassurance Aly needed, but she was down to give it. “Are you kidding? I have one too.”

“I noticed,” Aly said.

“I really, really want you,” Lola said, growing desperate to build the trust between them. “I want to feel you. I want sex to be mutual. I don’t need it to be all about my body.”

“But I like your body,” Aly said, still deflecting.

“And I like yours,” Lola said, not giving up. “I’d really like the chance to get to know it better, though. Obviously, not if you don’t me to. If that’s not, like, your thing or whatever. But if there is any part of you thatdoeswant me to, please know that I am so down.”