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“I don’t know if I fully believe in fate or destiny or whatever you’d want to call it. But I do believe that there are things in this life that are meant for you and there are people in this life you’re meant to meet.”

Jade looked up at Franny finally, her eyes soft around the corners. Just as soft as her touch on the back of Franny’s hand. “I want to believe that I was meant to meet you, Francesca. I do believe it.”

“What about after the meeting?” Franny asked quietly. “What comes after that?”

“I think that’s the part that’s up to us. We control what we do with what the world gives us.”

They shared the bread and the entrées. They laughed at how the pasta Jade had ordered ultimately tasted like a recipe from the back of a jar of Ragú. They salivated at Franny’s perfectly seared stuffed chicken thighs. They made eyes at each other over a shared ramekin of crème brûlée. Jade had handled the bill before Franny could snatch up the check, and far too soon, they were standing around the entrance of Blu House, illuminated under the twinkling lights of the perfectly paved pathway.

“Is it awful that I’m not ready to go home?” Franny had her arms wrapped around herself, still trying to push away the desire to wrap them around the woman in front of her.

Jade shook her head. “I’m not ready for the night to be over.”

“We could always keep in line with the storied tradition of queer women and the never-ending first date.”

“We’d only be doing our foremothers proud, right?”

Franny laughed. “I’d say we owe it to them, honestly.”

Jade put a hand on Franny’s arms just where they met. Theprompting made Franny immediately unravel them and gasp in surprise when Jade interlocked their fingers.

“My house is closer.” Jade’s tone was gentle. “We could go there.”

“I can meet you there.”

Jade refused to let go of her hand. “Ride with me. I’ll bring you back to your car tomorrow.”

“Can’t stand to be separated even for a minute, huh?” It was only half-joking.

“No.”

A few minutes later, they were on the road. Franny sat in the passenger seat of Jade’s old truck, listening as the noisy engine chugged along. She couldn’t take her eyes off the other woman’s side profile. The slope of her jaw, the wide bridge of her nose, the curves of her lips. Franny’s entire body thrummed with the promise of change and the anticipation of something long desired. How long had she wanted this? How deeply had she believed it wouldn’t ever happen? The feelings were so heady she almost felt as if she were dreaming. Everything felt hazy and shiny at the same time. Like this moment couldn’t possibly be anything close to reality.

Instead of pinching herself to be sure, she reached out to Jade. Walking her fingertips along the exposed bit of thigh unhidden by her dress. Her flesh was hot to the touch and too soft to properly describe. Franny felt the muscles underneath tense, then relax in rhythm with her touches. Even the subtle way Jade pressed her inner thighs together for a few brief moments didn’t escape her notice.

Franny slid over as much as her seat belt would allow, just enough so that she could press her lips to that soft jaw. Kissing first, then sucking gently at the skin there.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Jade’s voice was ragged.

“I’m trying to prove to myself that you’re real.”

“If you could feel what I’m feeling right now, you’d know I am.”

Franny worked her way down to Jade’s neck, kissing and sucking, nipping gently as she reminded herself that they were far too old for hickeys—sad as it was.

“Tell me what you’re feeling.”

The circles she made on Jade’s thigh became slower, steadier.

“Hot.” Jade’s fingers flexed around the steering wheel. “And wet.”

“Can I feel?”

“Please.”

She didn’t need to be begged—at least not now, at this moment. As cool as she was trying to play it, Franny was just as desperate. So desperate that she couldn’t even bring herself to wait until they were at Jade’s to delve her fingers into the other woman’s panties. Instead, she did it right there at a red light, only a few streets away.

They both cursed at the same time when Franny made direct contact with wet, searing skin.