Page 11 of Love Legacy

Sage

I enter the sorority house armed with multiple bags of goodies.

While I don’t live in the Kappa house (despite tradition), I do have a set of keys to the house, as do the rest of the executive board.

The front door has a numerical keypad, and every member gets the code.

All members have twenty-four-seven access to the house, but certain spaces are locked at all times.

The basement being one of them. We mainly use the space as storage for all our rush supplies, but there are also a few other items and appliances down there, including the target of my focus—the large, industrial-sized sink.

As I walk through the house, I notice Naomi sitting at the dining room table with her roommate, Maeve. She flips through the textbook in front of her, chewing on the end of her pen in concentration. She’s so cute.

“Hey, Naomi, looking to take a break? I could use a spare set of hands right now,” I ask, giving her a wide smile. Could I do this on my own? Absolutely. Am I taking every chance I can get to spend one-on-one time with the gorgeous woman in front of me? Yes, I am.

She looks up, returning my smile before closing her textbook and leaving her pen to save her place. “I’ve been working on this assignment for a couple hours now. I can afford to take a little breather.” Naomi stands, walking toward me.

This woman is effortlessly beautiful. Even with her hair up in a curly top knot, glasses on, wearing an oversized T-shirt and leggings, she still looks every ounce as beautiful as she did all done up at Rush. “What do you need help with, Sage?”

A small shiver runs through my body, hearing my name on her lips. God, I wonder what it would sound like to hear her moan my name. With a small, imperceptible shake of my head, I release that thought before pointing to her shirt. “Is that a shirt you care if it gets ruined?”

She looks down at the shirt. It has some sort of vegetables on it, with the year 2016 and a cross. “Is that a VeggieTales shirt?” I ask with a laugh.

She smiles sheepishly. “I like it, it was the Vacation Bible School theme that summer.” She pauses, considering my previous questions before nodding. “On second thought, yes, it’s fine if this shirt gets messed up.”

“Fabulous! Follow me,” I say, handing her one of the bags before leading her down to the basement. I put the bag down on the folding table next to the sink, emptying the contents.

“So what are we doing today? Tie-dyeing T-shirts?” she asks as she checks out the gloves, bottles of dye, clips, and brushes.

“Not quite. You are going to help me dye my hair,” I say, sectioning the top part of my hair and clipping it up.

“But this is blue and purple dye!” It’s cute how surprised she is. I should have known she probably hasn’t had many friends with vibrantly colored hair.

“Yep! I’ve done the normal colors—ginger, brown, red, black, and my natural blonde. I wanted to switch things up and do a vivid color for once.” I then unzip my sweatshirt, revealing the old cheap sports bra I usually wear to dye my hair.

Naomi gasps, looking right at my chest, noticing the barbells poking through the thin fabric of the bra.

“Wait, are those nipple piercings?” she asks, whispering the word nipple.

She’s already started coming out of her shell, but it’s cute that she still gets embarrassed by certain things. Like the word nipple.

“Yep. Got them done when I was…nineteen? First piercing I got done, actually. After my ears, of course. Then I got lost down the rabbit hole of body mods,” I explain, putting gloves on and mixing up my dye.

I pin my bottom section out of the way, taking out the top.

I start applying the lavender dye to the top, fully saturating the hair.

“I just need you to make sure I’m not missing any pieces in the back. And then help me rinse the dye out.”

Naomi nods, looking at the back of my head. “Did it hurt?”

“Did what hurt?”

“The piercings,” she says, gesturing to the ones on my chest.

“Oh, like a motherfucker. But it was so worth it. Mine healed quickly, and now they’re so sensitive. Which is always a plus during a hookup.”

I can see Naomi blushing profusely out of the corner of my eye, so I pivot the conversation a little. “Ever think about getting a piercing?” I ask, pinning up the purple-coated hair before applying the darker blue dye on the bottom section of hair.

She shakes her head. “Nope. Mama always said that piercings are a sign of the devil. But now I’m not too sure if I believe that, especially since she’s the one who pierced my ears as a baby.

I don’t think those kind of piercings are right for me, but maybe another one in my ears?

Or even a small nose stud if I’m feeling wild? ”

I smile, pinning up the bottom section of my hair, setting a twenty-minute timer, and taking my gloves off. “Well, if you do decide to get a piercing or a tattoo, just let me know! I know a guy, and I can get you set up with an appointment. I’ll even go with you.”

Naomi smiles at me, running one of the spare rags I brought under the water. “Thank you, I’d like that. Now look at me, you got dye all over you.” She grips my jaw gently, using the rag to clean along my hairline, wipe my ears, and remove the stray dye from my neck.

Having Naomi this close to me has my brain and heart working in overdrive.

Her signature coconut vanilla scent floods my nostrils, and it takes the last little ounce of self-control I have not to inhale deeply.

My resolve is hanging on by a thread, hands balling into fists at my sides.

All I want to do is reach out, grab Naomi by the hips, and pull her into me.

It’s quiet for a few minutes as she wipes all the extra dye, the only sound coming from the still-running water in the sink.

“All set,” Naomi says softly, looking up at me. She doesn’t pull back, the two of us still standing chest to chest. My eyes drop down to her lips, wetting my own in the process. She inches closer to me, her lips parting. A loud ding sounds, the timer on my phone going off and dissolving the moment.

Naomi steps back, clearing her throat. “I guess it’s time to get you rinsed.”

I take a moment to collect my thoughts and emotions before grabbing one of the spare folding chairs stored down here and dragging it over to the sink.

“Okay, so this is the important part. We have to rinse the bottom of my hair completely before we rinse the top, otherwise the dark blue will bleed right into the lavender,” I say, taking a seat at the sink.

Naomi guides my head back to the water, using the handheld faucet attachment to rinse my hair.

She works in silence, carefully working her fingers through my hair.

The water may be tepid at best, but Naomi’s fingers on my scalp burned, leaving a scalding trail in their wake, the warm sensation building equally in my core.

I shift in the seat, rubbing my thighs together to try and alleviate the ache growing between them.

The slight tug on my hair as she works her fingers through the strands only adds to my arousal.

Clowns. Zombies. True crime murder scenes. Frog dissections. Malaria outbreaks. Vaginal births. I try to occupy my thoughts with plenty of un-sexy things, distracting myself until Naomi finishes. “Okay, you are all set,” she says, patting my hair dry with the towel.

I fake a little cough, regaining my composure before getting up. “Thanks, Naomi, I think I can take it from here,” I say, giving her a smile. Hers drops a little, but she quickly regains her composure.

“Well, I’ll just be in the kitchen if you need anything,” Naomi offers, quickly heading back upstairs. I sigh, watching her retreat. I clean up my mess from the dye before heading up to the second floor of the sorority house.

Usually, executive board members live in the house, but I opted to stay in my regular apartment with Gabby and Cora. We’ve all lived together since we were freshmen, so it felt weird to spend my senior year without them right down the hall.

I still have a room in the house I keep stocked with a few spare outfits and toiletries. It comes in handy if I need to take a quick shower between events on campus or if there’s a wardrobe emergency between classes.

Right now? I’m grateful to be able to take a cold shower.

I put my freshly dyed hair into a bun before stripping down as the shower warms. I step into the shower, breathing a sigh of relief as the warm water hits my skin.

I use a rag to rub the spare body wash into my skin.

Coconut vanilla . Of course, the soap shares a scent similar to that of Naomi.

I take a deep inhale of the soap, my mind flooding back to her. Her soft skin. Her delectable curves. Her luscious lips. That head full of pillowy curls. My pulse starts racing, my arousal beginning to build again. All I can see is Naomi, feeling the ghost of her skin brushing against mine.

My hand works its way down my front, searching until my fingers reach that sensitive spot between my legs. A shudder runs through my body as my knuckles graze my clit. My fingers slowly begin to circle the sensitive bud as my other hand reaches up to tug on the barbell in my right nipple.

“Oh fuck…” I let out a shaky breath, increasing the pace of strokes between my legs. I dip a finger into my cunt, then a second, picturing it’s Naomi’s fingers inside me. Curling my fingers, the change in angle has me brushing against that soft, spongy spot that has me seeing stars.

I continue to finger fuck myself, rubbing my clit with my thumb, imagining that I’m riding Naomi’s hand. I reach for the wall, as I pick up the pace, attempting to hold on as I ride out my orgasm. Turning the water off, I slump against the shower wall, trying to regain my composure.

Stars dance across my vision as aftershocks of my orgasm have me trembling. I don’t think I’ve climaxed that hard in a long time, and definitely not at my own hands, while thinking of a friend.

I get out of the shower and put on spandex bike shorts, a halter tank with a built-in bra, and a large T-shirt. Delaying returning to Naomi, I take my time blow-drying my hair straight and giving it some volume. With no plans for the rest of the day, I decide not to put any makeup on.

“Can’t hide up here forever…” I mumble to myself, grabbing my bag and heading back downstairs.

“Ta-da!” I enter the kitchen, catching the attention of Naomi, Maeve, and Gabby, who are all sitting in the kitchen. Gabby must have just gotten out of class because she wasn’t here before when I came in.

“Damn, Sage! I love that color combo on you,” Maeve says, reaching out to run her fingers through the layers of my hair.

“So that’s why you were gone for so long…

It looks nice!” Gabby says, raising an eyebrow.

Considering that Naomi returned to the kitchen long before I did, I have a sinking feeling she knows I was doing more than just blow-drying my hair.

I give her a small shake of my head, hoping she won’t push it any further. She nods, mouthing, “Later.”

“It really does look good, Sage,” Naomi says softly, looking up at me from the kitchen table. I give her a wide smile, brushing the back of her neck as I pass.

“Couldn’t have done it without you,” I say with a wink, grabbing a bottled iced coffee from the fridge. She blushes, her hand reaching up to rub the back of her neck where my fingers touched.

Gabby checks her phone. “Hey, Sage, we have to head out. Exec meeting in thirty at Happy Sprout, and we still have to swing home to grab our laptops and the PNM files.”

I nod, grabbing my belongings off the kitchen table.

“Alright. See you in a few, Maeve, and thank you for your help today, Naomi. If I don’t see you guys before then, I’ll see you at the Halloween party.

Make sure your costumes kill it.” I give them both a wave, heading out the house to the car and tossing my keys to Gabby.

“You drive.”

“I’ll drive…if you tell me what happened with you and Naomi,” Gabby says, holding the keys out with a smirk.

I sigh. “Fine, just get in the damn car.”

We both get in, and she starts the drive back to our apartment. “So…? What happened?”

“Nothing happened, Gabs.”

“Bullshit, Sage. I’ve lived with you for the last three years, remember? I know how long it takes you to shower and do your hair. You were gone for double the amount of time. Plus, Naomi looked flustered when she came up from the basement.”

Guess I’m not getting out of this one. “Naomi and I had a…moment.”

“What kind of moment?” Gabby asks, her eyes darting between me and the road.

“A moment . As in a ‘I thought we were going to kiss’ moment.”

“Naomi? Kissing you? Are we talking about the same church girl that was literally wearing a Veggie Tales T-shirt today?”

I laugh dryly. “Yep, that’s the one. I know it sounds ridiculous, all things considered, but I’m telling you, there was so much tension. And then her running her fingers through my hair to rinse the dye out didn’t help either.”

“So when you went upstairs to take a shower, you were—”

“Masturbating in the shower, picturing it was Naomi fingering me? Yup,” I say, covering my face out of sheer embarrassment.

Gabby starts laughing uncontrollably as she pulls into the parking lot of our apartment complex.

“What’s so funny?” I ask, completely confused.

“Just admiring the irony of it all. We were just talking at the start of the semester about how you need to start developing deeper connections instead of hooking up with all the eligible women on campus. And of course, the first woman you feel deeply connected to is fundamentally unavailable. You’ve got it bad for Naomi. ”

I let out a large sigh. She was completely right. In the cruelest kind of joke from the universe, I’m hooked on a woman I can’t have.