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Taylor’s hair had dried even messier than usual, giving very Kristen Stewart short hair vibes, and Sam was here for it. Thinking about it, the fact she’d paid that much attention to Kristen’s hair styles also made her question if she’d missed more signs over the years that pointed to her being into girls. Did she label herself as a lesbian now? She sucked in a breath at the thought.

“You all good?” Taylor checked in as they came back up to the fuel berth.

“Yep, sorry, spaced out there for a moment.” Now was not the time for exploring her sexuality. Though she would like to explore Taylor…

Paddleboard stored away, the three of them headed up to Sam’s place. She mentally checked if she’d tidied before she left. She knew she’d at least put all her dishes away in the morning and made the bed. Phew.

“Come in. It’ll be a quick tour,” she said with a laugh as they walked through the door.

“Uhh…” Taylor said, looking at her obviously.

Sam smacked her forehead. “Duh. Right. You’ve already been here. Even if that is, thankfully, very hazy. And no”—she held up a hand—“no need to fill in those blanks for me, thank you very much.”

Taylor held up her hands in placation. “I’d do no such thing.” Taylor chuckled.

“Now, do you want to shower?” Sam blushed furiously at the thoughts that conjured. Jesus, she felt like a hormonal teenager. Why was it so hard to act normal around Taylor? “You can borrow my clothes,again, if you’d like.”

“Careful, next I’ll be getting a U-Haul,” Taylor replied, waggling her eyebrows.

“Huh?”

Taylor waved it off. “Sorry, bad lesbian joke. You need to do some research.”

“Yeah, I’m probably a terrible…lesbian,” she almost whispered the word. Like if she said it out loud, then it would be real. It would be out there. Samantha Garner, now a Class 1 Lesbian. “If that’s even what I am yet. I have no idea. It certainly feels like I might be.”

Taylor stepped over to her then, her face full of care. “You don’t need to label anything or be anyone other than you…Sam-I-am.” She winked.

Sam rolled her eyes. “Way to ruin a cute moment, loser. That nickname is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.” Though she was glad to lighten the topic. The current subject was stillmaking her… squirmy. For all sorts of reasons. One, she hated feeling like she was on this “outer circle”, like there were all these in-jokes and references to being a lesbian that she should know about or at least understand. But maybe she was overthinking it. Two, she liked being confident in herself, her identity, and all of these new feelings and thoughts had her completely off-kilter. And three—well she’d forgotten three, because Taylor was standing there smiling at her, and goddamnit if that didn’t turn all her thoughts into fireworks, flying every which way. No speech capabilities left. Then she realised she was being asked a question.

“Sorry, what?”

“Yes to the shower and clothes. And I asked, do you have a crappy towel for Belle? I’ll just give her a wipe-down first, and she can sit on it by the window to birdwatch for a bit.”

“Right! Uhh…” She scratched her head, and made her way over to the laundry cupboard. “Got an ugly brown one in here somewhere—got it!”

She threw it over to Taylor as Belle started tap dancing on the floor.

Taylor looked at Sam, “She does this every time I try to towel her off. All right, calm down missy and come here.” Belle dived into the towel as Taylor dried her. Sam leaned on the doorway watching, and enjoying the normality of the moment.

She could picture Taylor coming home after work, taking her boots off at the door, and Belle racing down the mezzanine steps to greet her. She blinked.Okay, psycho.You’ve had one dinner-turned-date with the woman!Yeesh.

She walked back to the cupboard and got out fresh towels for Taylor, which she popped in the bathroom. Anything to stop herself acting and thinking like a total creep.

“Shower is all yours. Use whatever’s in there.Mi casa, su casaand all that.”

“Thanks.”

Upstairs, she grabbed out a pair of shorts, then smiled, spotting a particular graphic T-shirt hanging up.

Once she heard the water switch off, she waited a few minutes then knocked on the door. “Got some clothes when you’re ready.”

The door opened, steam billowing out as Taylor stood in a towel smelling like Sam’s coconut shampoo. A drip fell from her wet hair, straight down between her—she looked up—busted. Taylor smirked, one eyebrow raised.

Sam dipped her chin, cheeks burning, and held out the clothes. “Here you go.”

Taylor’s hand lingered as she took the bundle. “Cheers.” She grinned. “Be out in a minute.”

Sam was busy in the kitchen making sandwiches when she heard a throat clear. She looked up to see Taylor standing in herFeeling NautiT-shirt, looking amused.