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Chapter Sixteen

NICOLE

Taylor: You coming?

Me: I’m just finishing up work.

Taylor: Can’t wait to see you!

I grinned to myself as I saved my work and closed my laptop.

I decided to run home and change, considering I had a bit of time before rugby practice was supposed to start.

I reapplied deodorant, added some blush to my cheeks, and applied a coat of mascara.

I was getting dolled up to watch Taylor at their rugby practice.

It wasn’t even a date.

It was just Taylor.

Leo and Zaid would be there. Maybe Jacqueline and Signe, depending on how her morning-but-actually-all-day sickness was going.

This would be the first time Taylor and I hung out with our mutual friends since we became, well, us .

Would they want me to kiss them hello?

Would they hold me like they have so many nights now?

I wasn’t sure. But I was excited to find out. I mean, they asked for me to come. Surely that meant that they were excited for me to be there? That they wanted their current partner to sit with everyone? Their friends?

I drove over to the field, remembering to bring a flannel cover-up to protect me against the marine layer rolling in from the ocean.

My shorts and sneakers would cool me off if it didn’t get as cold as expected.

As I strolled down the pathway from the parking lot to the grass where Taylor and their team were already practicing, I saw a person waving.

It was the tattooed dad from weeks ago.

One of Taylor’s friends.

Still wearing his sunglasses and hoodie with the hood on.

He was sitting on a picnic blanket with his blonde-haired daughter. The one who made him pay her for swearing. I waved back, intending to find my spot to sit, when I realized Jacqueline and Signe were sitting on a blanket beside them, deep in discussion.

The dad and daughter were staring at me, and even though their expressions were polite and not leering, it made my nerves erupt in my gut.

Was this guy married? Did he have a partner? Was he staring at me because he liked what he saw?

One of my least favorite things in the world was explaining to men that I was very, very gay. Most men didn’t handle the rejection well.

Because they were men.

But he was friends with Taylor, and they wouldn’t be friends with bad men.

I quietly avoided eye contact and made my way over to Signe and Jacqueline. When I did, the tattooed dad and daughter started whispering to each other.

“Hi,” I greeted my coworkers.

“Oh! What are you doing here?” Signe asked, scooting over to make room for me. She even went as far as to cover me with some of the blanket she held on her lap. I happily snuggled in.

“I came to watch Taylor,” I replied.

Jacqueline turned to look at me, her dark eyes studying my face with that quiet intensity she was known for.

“What?” I asked her.

“Can we talk about you two now?” Jacqueline asked.

Signe dramatically leaned forward to catch my eye, and her dark red eyebrows practically disappeared into her hairline. “Talk about what?”

“Um—” I was cut off when the visual of the team running near our side of the field caught my eye.

Taylor was ahead of the team. Their frame was much smaller than the men they played with.

Taylor didn’t need to wear a sports bra, but they had one on underneath their oversized cutoff t-shirt anyway.

It showed off the entirety of their waist and the lean definition of their muscles and back.

One wrong breeze, and their top could expose their entire front.

The plain black sports bra made more sense to me now.

When Taylor jogged by, glancing to the side to see me sitting between Jacqueline and Signe, they comedically skidded to a stop and backpedaled to stand in front of me.

Their smile stretched across their face, showing off all their teeth. Fine smile lines formed in the crinkles of their eyes, and they quickly scratched their septum piercing before stepping toward us.

“She’s here, T!” the blonde little girl called over. Her dad grinned before elbowing his daughter’s ribs and lifting his index finger to his mouth to shush her.

“Damn, be cool, Susie,” Taylor replied with a wink. Then they turned to me again, before crouching in front of our blanket, “Practice just started, and I only ran one lap so far.”

I glanced at Jacqueline and Signe just to double-check, but the way Taylor locked their eyes on me confirmed that they were talking to me, specifically.

“…Okay.” I felt heat stain my cheeks from their direct attention, my heart fluttering in my chest when they smirked at my response.

“What I’m saying is, I’m not sweaty and gross yet,” Taylor raised a dark eyebrow, and then their eyes lowered a fraction. They were still staring at me, or more accurately, my mouth. When their tongue darted out to moisten their bottom lip, I suspected their intention.

But…I wasn’t sure. So, I shifted forward a bit, lowering the blanket Signe shared with me just a fraction as I asked, “Um—do you, uh—” I glanced at my coworkers again.

Signe was staring wide-eyed at the two of us with the largest shit-eating grin on her face. Jacqueline was giving me a much more normal smile as she watched this interaction between Taylor and me.

“Nicole,” Taylor shifted forward toward me, letting their knees hit the grass as their hands supported their weight on the picnic blanket. Their dark hair fell onto their forehead, so they brushed it out of their eyes as they said, “I want to kiss the shit out of you.”

My heart felt like it was beating too fast. I was getting so dizzy from their direct attention. Their baggy cutoff shirt fell loose in front of them, giving me a perfect view of their sports bra and their toned stomach.

They were too much.

I couldn’t think straight.

“Pay up!” the little girl called from the side.

“Not this time, Suse,” her dad murmured.

Taylor gave the little girl some playful side-eye before crawling toward me once more.

“Okay—” and that’s all I got out before they pounced on me.

They literally pounced on me. They pushed me down on Signe’s picnic blanket, grasped both of my cheeks, and attacked my lips with their own. Their septum piercing was cool against my lips and cheeks. They kept giving me smacking, drugging kisses again and again.

I was vaguely aware of Signe next to us, squealing with excitement and whistling.

Their thigh was between both of mine, through the blanket, and heat pooled inside me immediately.

Laughter erupted out of me whenever Taylor gave me a chance to breathe.

It was so… Taylor .

Immediately easing any spiraling concerns on how to play this out. For them to stop what they were doing and pepper kisses all over my face as soon as they saw me, not a care in the world if our mutual friends were around to see us.

I finally managed, after processing my surprise, to wrap both of my arms around their shoulders and kiss them back. They grinned against my lips, letting me try to be as aggressive as they were with me.

After Signe’s cheers and heckling quieted down, Taylor finally pulled away from me just enough to sigh, “That’s better,” against my lips.

I giggled, like a lovesick schoolgirl, “Hi.”

“Hello, babe.” Taylor brushed their nose with mine. Then gave my nose a quick peck of a kiss.

“Where’s T?” An unfamiliar woman’s voice asked.

“Being gross,” the little girl answered her.

“Grow up,” her dad replied.

“I’m nine,” she rebutted.

I laughed at the exchange before Taylor finally pushed off me and grasped my hands to pull me back into my sitting position. Kneeling in front of me, they glanced at the tattooed dad next to us.

“Can I introduce you to my friends?” Taylor asked me.

At that, Jacqueline scooted back on the blanket, getting out of the way so Taylor could introduce me to the dad and daughter, and a blonde woman who looked like the grown-up version of the little girl.

The woman held a baby, comfortably wrapped in a blanket.

The baby even wore a little beanie to cover their ears and protect them from the cool weather.

After briefly studying the four of them, I realized they must be a family.

“Nicole, these are some of my best friends,” Taylor gestured toward the woman, “This is Courtney.”

“Nice to meet you.” The blonde woman adjusted the baby on her lap, sitting cross-legged, and held a hand toward me to shake.

“Nice to meet you, too.” I noticed an oddly shaped birthmark on the top of her hand, which felt familiar to me for some reason. Perhaps she and I had already met before?

“This is their daughter, Susie,” Taylor continued with introductions.

“Hi!” The little girl shuffled forward and threw both of her arms around my shoulders. She squeezed me tight as she spoke against my shoulder, “I’m so excited to finally meet you—even if you and T grossed me out.”

I laughed, before wrapping my arms around her little waist, “I’m so sorry about that.”

“I’m not.” Taylor laughed.

Susie pulled back and looked at my face for a moment. A dimpled grin appeared on her cheeks.

“T was right. You’re really pretty.” She nodded once and looked over at Taylor, “Good job.”

Taylor snorted, “Thanks,” and gently shoved Susie off me. The nine-year-old smiled mischievously as she started darting her gaze between her dad and me.

“And this,” Taylor scooted toward me, lowering their voice just a hair, as if they were letting me in on a secret, “Is Courtney’s husband, Josh.”

“Hello.” Josh reached forward and wrapped his much larger, fully tattooed hand in mine. It was a brief handshake, which I was grateful for. I was picking up on Susie’s excitement over meeting her dad, but I couldn’t figure out why.

I barely glanced up at his sunglasses before muttering, “Hi.” To him.

“…Madey,” Taylor added, after Josh released my hand.

Madey ?

“Oh!” I turned toward Taylor with a smile at the coincidence, “Like Joshua Madey? That’s crazy! That’s just like—” I gasped after I turned back to face Josh, who had removed his sunglasses and pulled his hood down.