Page 45 of October (New Orleans #10)

“I can’t believe we’re losing to Jacksonville,” Juliet said.

“It’s not over yet,” Molly replied. “We’re only down by fourteen.”

“With five minutes left, and Jacksonville has the ball,” Juliet pointed out.

Molly handed Juliet the bowl of chips she’d just refilled and said, “Take those to the couch and give them to my girlfriend, who is also sulking.”

“I heard that,” Finley said from the couch.

“Why aren’t you sulking?” Juliet asked. “You love this team more than I do.”

“Not much to sulk about these days,” she answered.

“I mean, look at my life right now. It’s Sunday afternoon.

I’ve got friends in my apartment, including my best friend, whose girlfriend is sitting next to my girlfriend.

I’ve got a puppy who is asleep in the corner in her bed.

” She looked over at Wells, who, indeed, was asleep and uninterested in football.

“Plus, I’ve got Fin’s new doggy here, and Carly is hanging out with her. ”

“They’re all going to be best friends, I think. Of course, Wells would have to wake up for that to happen, but I can feel the bond.” Juliet walked over to the living room. “For you from your girlfriend.” She handed the bowl to Finley.

“Thanks, babe,” Finley said.

“No problem,” Molly replied before she opened two beers and carried them into the living room as well, where she sat down next to Finley on the sofa. “Yours.” She passed one of the beers to Finley, who took it from her.

“Babe, you ready?” Gwen asked Juliet. “I don’t think the Saints are going to win this one, and you have to pack.”

“One last trip,” Juliet said, and sighed. “Thank God. I’m so ready to be done with this travel.”

“ I’m ready for you to be done with it, too,” Gwen said, standing up.

Carly jumped up instantly and walked to Gwen’s side as if she’d adopted Gwen as her person, along with Juliet, and she probably already had.

Molly looked over at Wells, who woke up, stared at the group of humans and dogs, and lowered her head back to her bed.

Molly laughed silently and rested her head on Finley’s shoulder.

“I’d walk you two out, but I don’t want to move,” she said.

“That’s okay. I get it.” Juliet winked at her and held out her hand for Gwen. “Ready?”

“Yeah. Carly needs to go out anyway,” Gwen said after she attached Carly’s leash and took Juliet’s hand in her free one. “See you two later?”

“Yeah, we have beers this week,” Finley replied.

“See you then,” Gwen said.

Juliet and Gwen walked out, leaving Molly with Finley, Wells, and Echo, a boxer-pug mix with light-brown hair, who snored when she slept.

Molly knew that because the first night after they had picked Echo up from the shelter, Molly had stayed at Finley’s with Wells.

Wells liked her bed, and Finley had bought a nearly identical one for her to have at her place.

Wells had claimed it instantly. When they had brought Echo home, though, she hadn’t wanted the bed Finley had picked out for her.

She’d preferred Finley’s. That had been a problem because Echo snored like crazy.

She was nine years old and had been in the shelter for over seven months after being found walking around by the water.

Molly loved that Finley had given her a home, and she loved that Finley and Echo had really bonded.

It was also clear that Wells loved Finley, too, which meant that Finley was stuck with Molly because Molly had no intention of ever disappointing her dog.

“So, should we accept defeat?” Finley asked.

“There’s still four minutes left,” she said. “And it’s third down. We’ll get the ball back, and then we need an onside kick, and we’re in business. We haven’t had to use one this season yet, so I don’t know how we’ll do, but there’s always a chance at a recovery.”

When Finley said nothing, Molly looked up at her.

“What?”

“It’s hot how much you know about football. Like, really, really hot,” Finley replied.

She moved until she had Molly under her on the couch.

“Babe, the game’s still on,” she said through her laughter but wrapped her arms around Finley’s neck anyway.

“I know,” Finley said, leaning in for a kiss. “But you’re here, and I’m here, and our friends are gone now.”

“You can’t wait four minutes?” she teased.

“For you? No way. Besides, you know four minutes in football is really thirty, with commercials and timeouts.” Finley’s hand moved under Molly’s shirt, and she asked, “What are you thinking right now?”

She placed her hand over Molly’s heart.

“That therapy went well this week,” Molly replied honestly.

“ That’s what you’re thinking about?”

“You asked,” she said, running her hand through Finley’s hair, loving how she could do that whenever she wanted to now.

Well, not whenever she wanted to. They couldn’t do this at work.

But everywhere else, she could hold Finley’s hand, hug her, kiss her, and run her hand through her hair.

Molly also loved the new thing she’d started doing: she put her hand in Finley’s back pocket whenever she could now.

She had never done that with anyone else because it had always seemed silly, but when they’d gone to the bar this week to hang out with Sophie, Jill, Asher, and Enid, she had walked with her hand in the back pocket of Finley’s jeans, and she’d loved it.

She’d done it wherever they’d gone ever since.

“It went well? We haven’t talked about it yet. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to.”

“It did,” Molly said. “First session in a while, but it was nice to check in. She told me that it was normal for me to be a little anxious, given my situation, and I told her I was more than a little anxious. She said that was okay, too.”

Finley smiled down at her and said, “It is okay.”

“You help, you know?”

“I do?”

“You make it feel okay to be this way sometimes.”

“It is okay, babe.”

Molly’s attention was pulled back to the TV when she heard cheering. The Saints had just scored a touchdown.

“No way!”

She pushed a little until Finley was kneeling on the couch and Molly was sitting up, staring at the TV as the kicker made the extra point.

“I can see you put football above sex.” Finley chuckled. “That’s good to know.”

“Huh?” Molly said but didn’t remove her eyes from the screen.

“Echo, should I be worried?” Finley asked the dog, who was chewing on a giant bone in the bed Molly had bought for her the previous day.

“What? No, sorry,” Molly told her. “Sex. Yes, let’s have that.”

Finley laughed wildly. Then, the Saints lined up for an onside kick.

“You really want to watch this first, don’t you?” Finley asked her.

“It’s, like, two minutes, or ten in football time. Then, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“What ever I want?” Finley lifted an eyebrow.

If any other lover had asked that question of Molly, she would have hesitated and asked what they had planned.

With Finley, though, it was different. They’d made love nearly every night since their first time.

They’d slept over at each other’s apartments every night regardless.

Molly kept waiting for Finley to ask to have a night to herself, but she never did.

Molly kept waiting for that need to be alone to come over her, too, but whenever she woke up next to Finley, she just felt like she wanted to do it again the next night and the night after that.

“Whatever you want,” she replied with confidence.

“Want to try again?” Finley asked.

Molly coughed a little then, making the mistake of taking a drink of her beer right before Finley spoke. She set it back down on the table and turned a little toward her girlfriend.

“You mean… that?”

“Yes, that,” Finley said with a smirk.

“It didn’t work last time.”

“Oh, it worked,” Finley replied.

“You know what I mean,” she said.

“Yes. And that’s why I was thinking we could try again.” Finley moved until she was straddling Molly’s thighs.

“This is weird. It’s weird with you on top.”

“But I’m a top. We’ve talked about this.” Finley lifted and pulled off her own T-shirt.

“Oh, fuck,” Molly said as her hands went immediately to Finley’s breasts over her sports bra. “You’re cheating.”

Finley stood up and said, “Just taking off my shirt.”

She then unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans.

“The Saints have the ball!”

Molly looked around Finley when she heard the announcer on the TV.

“They recovered it,” she said excitedly because the Saints had the ball on the forty-yard line with one minute and thirty-two seconds left. “Plenty of time to score and tie things up.”

Finley slipped her jeans off and left them on the floor, now standing there in her boy shorts and sports bra, looking sexy.

“What are you thinking about now?” Finley asked as she pushed her hand inside her boy shorts.

“Oh, my God,” Molly let out.

“Want to watch the game still, or…”

“Get it,” Molly told her. “Now.”

“You sure? I think I’m okay right now.”

Finley’s hand was moving inside her underwear, turning Molly on as she watched.

“You can keep doing that if you want,” Molly said. “I… like… it.”

“You don’t want to do this yourself?”

“First down!” the announcer yelled. “Twenty-five-yard line. The Saints have no timeouts, so they need to move quick.”

Molly swallowed hard and reached for the boy shorts, pulling them down Finley’s legs as Finley pulled off her own bra. Molly leaned forward and kissed Finley’s stomach over and over again.

“Second and five,” the announcer said. “They’ve got to move fast.”

“You heard him; we’ve got to move fast,” Finley said.

Molly looked up at her and replied, “I was thinking we could go slow.” She kissed Finley a little lower. “And I could be on top again.”

“Yeah?” Finley asked.

Molly’s tongue circled around Finley’s belly button.

“First down at the seven-yard line. The Saints have thirty-nine seconds to score.”

“Do I only have thirty-nine seconds?” Molly joked.

“If you touch me, I might come in thirty-nine seconds,” Finley replied.

“Let’s test that before we go into the bedroom.”