“You can, you know?”
“But I want to touch you everywhere else, too,” Samara replied. “Everywhere, Dana.”
“We have time. Hours of it. And there’s always after that, too.”
“Is that what you want?” Samara asked, lowering a hand to Dana’s stomach before she sucked on Dana’s earlobe for a second. “Time?”
“I want you,” Dana said. “Slowly.”
“And I want you,” Samara said. Then, her hands stilled on Dana’s body, and the spell that had held them in place was broken. “But first, what are we doing, exactly?”
“We’re about to make love. Well, wewereabout to make love, at least.”
“No, we still are,” Samara said and moved back around to face her. “But I mean, what are we doing?”
“Go on a real date with me, Sam,” she replied. “We can pretend it’s just two really good friends hanging out to everyone else, but to you and me, it’s a date.” She moved into Samara and reached for the hem of her flesh-colored panties. “I want to date you, Samara. And to be clear, I don’t want to date anyone else.”
“Not even Kathy?”
Samara lifted an eyebrow at her.
Dana laughed and tugged at the fabric until she was on her knees in front of Samara, pulling the panties off her and tossing them onto the floor. She kissed Samara’s thighs and stomach on the way back up and gave Samara’s thigh a light tap when she stood fully.
“Not even Kathy, baby. Just you,” she said.
Samara took the hint and moved to lie back on the bed.
“I’m a lot, Dana. And I don’t know what I can actually give you. I’m not out, and I hadn’t planned on coming out right away. I still have to go shoot in Vancouver and talk to my publicist about the plan and if it’s even worth it to tell people right now. I–”
“It’s worth it,” Dana interrupted as she slid on top of her after removing her own panties. “It’s worth it foryou, babe. It’s not about them. It’s not about the rest of the world knowing. It’s worth it becauseyouwant to be yourself. You want to be able to go outside and hold someone’s hand, and if that hand happens to belong to a woman, you don’t want to have to worry about some idiot taking and posting a picture online because it’s not news. It’s just you being you, and you’ve already told people who you are.”
“Who am I, though?” Samara asked, wrapping her arms around Dana. “A woman who has OCD and is autistic? A woman who has a bad reputation on set for being difficult because she doesn’t want people to know those things? A woman who has figured out that she likes women, too, a little later than some and is scared that it could impact the career she’s had since she was eight years old? A woman whose mother’s death was front-page tabloid fodder that she still hasn’t dealtwith properly? A woman who–” Samara stopped and cupped Dana’s cheek. “Came to New Orleans because she hoped she might win an award and get some credit forplaying gay, as you put it, and ended up meeting a woman who makes her feel so… safe and… that it’s okay to be herself?”
“Yes,” Dana said. “To all of those things.” She kissed her sweetly. “And all of those things are okay, Samara. All of those things are part of who you are. They help make up the whole, but you’re more than all of them, too. No matter what happens between us, you need to know that the only thing that matters is thatyouare happy with whoyouare. Screw everyone else.”
“This is going to get more complicated before it gets easier, Dana. I can’t promise you anything, really.”
“Do you like me? And I’m not asking if you like sleeping with me. Do youlikeme? Do you want this to be more than just sex? When I touch you, can it just be softly and slowly because I can’tnotbe touching you?”
Samara nodded.
“Then, we’ll be okay. Just agree to go on a date with me already.”
Samara laughed and said, “Yes, let’s go out on a date.”
“And you should know that I won’t hold your hand or try to kiss you because we’ll be in public, but I’ll want to.” Dana smiled down at her. “I’ll want to wrap my arms around you and pull you in close.” She lowered her hips until she was settled between Samara’s thighs. “I’ll want to lean over and kiss your temple.” She rolled into Samara. “Your cheek.” She rolled again. “Your lips.”
“God,” Samara let out. “This is hot.”
“I’ll want to hold your hand and put mine on your thigh when we sit down.” Dana rolled again. “And I’llreallywant to slide it up and cup you over your clothes, hinting at what I’d want later.”
“What would you want?” Samara asked.
Dana lowered her lips to hover above Samara’s and replied, “Everything.”
???
“Okay. Are we ready?” Reed asked.
