Page 34 of Five Years

Ariana was still pressing down on her thighs; the stretch deepened along with Ariana’s touch. Her thumbs pressed into Leah’s leg muscles, her pelvic bone brushing Leah’s buttocks again, but this time it wasn’t just her buttocks. The pose exposed everything—Leah could feel her vulva throbbing against her leggings, the outline pressing out against Ariana’s thigh. If she moved just a fraction to the right, she would be—oh, shit.

Ariana pressed against her and Leah felt an electric jolt surge through her entire body.

Don’t look her in the eye, she told herself.

Leah tried to remain calm. It wasn’t sexual. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

Pull yourself together.

Leah began picturing Grace, Johnathan, even Kathy—anyone else at all. A pigeon, a squirrel, she didn’t care who. She had to stop thinking about Ariana pressing against her in such a way that made her want to—

Nope. Off limits.

“Does that feel better?” Ariana asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Why was she speaking so seductively? Was Leah imagining that?

I’m insane.

“Uh-huh, it’s really . . .erm . . .stretching me out.”

“Good,” Ariana hovered over her now, so close Leah could feel her breath if she leaned forward.

“If you want to get that little bit further, you can begin a gentle rocking motion, like this.”

Don’t rock. Don’t rock.

“Oh,” Leah’s eyes widened.

“Does that hurt?” Ariana asked, concerned.

Leah shook her head. “Nope, it feels . . .good.”

Too good.

Leah was in trouble. She could hear the voice in her head, like a humorous YouTube video:It was at that moment she knew she’d fucked up.

Ariana rocked her body back and forth. She hovered over Leah a moment longer than necessary.

“I should probably,” Ariana paused, looking deep into Leah’s soul, the freckles on her nose so close Leah could connect them with the tip of her finger, “we should probably, erm, do some less intimate poses, perhaps.”

“Yeah, I think that might be a good idea,” Leah muttered, but Ariana didn’t move. She hovered a second longer than necessary and just as her arms began to give way—

In walked Grace.

“Oh, erm, wow, sorry.” Grace put a hand to her eyes.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” Ariana jumped up.

Leah rolled out of the compromising position on her back and sprang to her feet, slyly adjusting the press of her leggings against her vagina.

“It’s absolutely not what it looks like,” Leah echoed.

“So, you’re not doing sexual yoga positions with your ex-girlfriend?” Grace lowered her hand, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Ariana and Leah exchanged a glance, nodded, then looked back at Grace.

“Okay, so it’s a little bit what it looks like,” Ariana grinned. “Although, that’s not what I initially thought you thought it looked like, which I’m glad you didn’t think because it wasn’t supposed to look like that.”