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“Hello?” Alex answered, a little groggy.

“Hey! Sorry if I woke you.”

“Nope, all good. What’s up? You sound very chipper for… 9:30 am. Oh, I guess it’s not that early…” Alex muttered to herself.

“I have some news, but I thought it’d be easier over the phone.”

Alex shuffled around at the other end, coming back to the phone sounding more alert. “Is everything okay? Did you talk to your dad?”

Her stomach lurched.Nope, hadn’t dealt with that yet.

“Yes and no.” She scrubbed her face with her hand. “I meant to say it’s good news but, uh, it’s actually about Taylor.”

“You two get together?” She could picture Alex’s suggestive eyebrow aimed right at her.

“Huh? Did you talk to her?”

“No. Will and I just happen to have two sets of eyes and can seerealclearly.”

“I’m so confused right now.”

“Oh, Sam-I-am. I don’t think you’re confused, I think you like them cute girls and—what rhymes with ham?—wham!I can’t wink over the phone, but you get my drift. So did you sleep with Taylor or not?”

Alex chuckled down the line. Sam pinched the bridge of her nose, trying not to smile. Her best friend was incorrigible sometimes.

“Alex, this is a big deal and not a joke…” She twisted her fingers around in her shirt. “But you’re right, I think I do likecute girls-and-wham. A lot. Well, Taylor specifically, it turns out.”

“There we have it everybody. Applause for my little baby gay,” Alex squealed and clapped on the other end as Sam held the phone away from her ear.

“Oh shit, can I call you that? I don’t know what the protocol is,” Alex continued.

Sam chuckled. “Well neither do I.Baby gayremember? You’re the first person I’ve told, aside from Taylor, of course. I’m still figuring things out, but I’m happy.”

“Good. Well, I’m happyforyou.”

God, it felt good to tell someone. It felt real. Like this wasn’t some crazy dream she’d wake from again.

Thinking back to last night sure made her wonder how something that epic could even happen. And why had she waited thirty-two years to experience, hands down, the best sex of her life?

“Turns out I also have some news,” Alex was saying as she tuned back in.

“Let me guess, you slept with Will?”

“That obvious too?”

“Comes with the perks of being your bestie. We know too much without saying.”

“This is true. Ugh, Sam, he’s such a nerd andsonot someone I saw myself with, and yet, here we are.”

“Here we are. For the record, that makes two of us.”

“Speaking of, tell me more. I wantallthe details.”

Sam felt like she was floating for the rest of the morning, on some plane between dream and reality. She was never going toforget last night. As she sat on her couch, sipping her second coffee of the day, she revelled in all the places she was sore. If this was a regular occurrence, she wouldn’t need the gym. And shereallywanted it to be a regular occurrence.

Last night had been… everything.

It turns out Taylor was extremely attentive as a partner. They hadn’t fallen asleep until the early hours, and Sam had no idea where all that energy had come from. Being with a woman was so different. That was no one-and-done quickie last night, it was like they had all the time in the world. Fast and slow, and everything in between.