Page 85 of Hot Tea & Bird Calls

“This will be onelongweek,” Skye mumbled, righting an edge of a rug with her foot.

God, this wasn’t making anything easier. Though she couldn’t stop herself from asking, “What can I do for you? Can I bring you something from the city?”

“No, it’s fine.” Skye shook her head, and interestingly, Celene spotted a smirk. One Skye furled into her mouth before pushing her lips out again, attractively pouty.

There wasn’t any way Celenewouldn’tbuy Skye something, though she had to tackle the immediate. “What are you hiding?”

“What time are you leaving?”

Frowning, Celene replied, “Six in the morning. What are you hiding?”

“Luce texted. She needs me to drive her to Philly tomorrow morning, so this is goodbye until next time.” Skye unfolded her arms to fit her phone into her bag. “I’ll probably wander around the Woodmere while she does business.”

Celene grasped Skye by the hips and yanked her close. They collided softly and still, Celene could cave to her any moment. “I don’t appreciate avoidance.”

Skye worried her bottom lip with her teeth, then pointed to Celene’s phone, left next to the sound machine. “Check your texts, but only after I’m gone, okay?”

“Okay,” Celene offered in reluctant acceptance. A new girlfriend meant more discoveries, pockets of surprises, and occasional misunderstandings. And she couldn’t get heads or tails around this version of Skye Florentine. “Thank you for everything today. Really.”

“I’m here for you,” Skye said, taking Celene’s face in for a kiss. “See you soon?”

Their goodbye kisses broke Celene’s heart a little. Maybe Elise’s flair for the dramatic was endemic. Nonetheless, she aligned their mouths, plunging her tongue in a way that sent Skye quivering within her arms. Not all her exes received these kisses well, which once disappointed Celene. Months of soul-searching revealed that the right woman would embrace her affection.

That’d been a vague concept, an unfinished blueprint of a nonspecific woman. Now she reckoned with someone whose grip tightened, who beckoned her for more. And the blueprint didn’t look as unclear.

Spooked by this, Celene gradually scaled back until they merely breathed each other’s air, fixing on a kiss or two for the texture alone. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

By the time they parted ways outside with enough kisses to give Ms. Greene fodder for three days’ worth of gossip, Celene tumbled to her bed, wondering if she’d doze off instead of tying on her runners.

Then, she remembered Skye’s quiet, dubious request.

Celene unlocked her phone, instinctively checking new messages from Skye. And they?—

“Oh, fuck.”

Selfies. Not typical selfies they exchanged, either. Skye’s face was cut off at the chin, leaving space in the frame for her body—her top pulled high to expose a bra, lacy and nearly see-through against her skin, more tapered midsection than Celene had ever seen from her at once, and her shorts unbuttoned. At the open juncture rested her hand, fingers suggestively dipped inside. All on Celene’s bed.

After three photos like this, Skye had left a text:

Skye – 9:05 pm

The naughty side you wanted.

Celene’s vision blurred. Positively drugged with lust. Stumbling, her fingers managed:

Celene – 9:09 pm

God

How can I use these?

Skye must’ve arrived home by now. Her response came quickly and not fast enough, as Celene resorted to pacing until the three dots bounced.

Skye – 9:14 pm

To unwind.

Shit,shit. Celene hadn’t signed up for this torment. That washerjob.