Hallie assumed, at least. She’d never loved busy places or crowds, but if she didn’t have her on-site apartment, she would barely be able to afford to live alone in Stoneport on her salary. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a similar paycheck in a big city, where she’d inevitably have to cram herself into an apartment with roommates. She doubted that she’d have the chemistry with a rando that she had with Brynn, at least as far as their living situations went.
“I like it here.” As Brynn spoke, her hands plucked at two different garments, seemingly trying to decide between them.
Right, Hallie remembered. Tonight, Brynn had a date. With a woman. Her name was Natalie, and she worked as a barista a few towns over. They were meeting in the early evening for a drink.
It had taken six days for the pair to go from match to meet, which was a little slower than the general trajectory for dates with men. As Hallie had learned from personal experience, men seemed more interested in seeingthe goodsin person as soon as possible. Women, conversely, wanted to chat and explore whether there was an emotional connection first.
After coming back from work tonight, Hallie had relayed all of this to Brynn, so it was no surprise when Brynn picked up that conversational thread from earlier by asking, “Are there any other differences between dating men and women?”
Hallie smirked, thinking about the women she’d slept with versus the men. “Some stereotypes in the bedroom exist for a reason.”
Brynn turned around then, holding the two different tops. One was the sweater she’d been wearing the night she’d arrivedat the inn, and the other was another equally soft-looking sweater in a dark blue. “What’s that mean?”
In Brynn’s defense, she hadn’t ever slept with a woman. Hallie tried to figure out the best way to phrase this. She decided on fairly clinical language, which she felt Brynn would appreciate. “Well, it’s not always true, but I’ve found that women, more than men, have been better sexual partners.” She unthinkingly tacked on, “When I sleep with women, it’s more of a marathon, not a sprint, if you know what I mean.”
And it was something that she did, at times, miss. It was a true tragedy that she had to put herself out there if she wanted someone else causing her orgasms.
Thus far, the juice hadn’t been worth the squeeze.
Brynn seemed to consider Hallie’s words with a slight blush. “I loved Gregory, but it was clear that there was a mismatch there. And Grant?—”
Hallie held her hand up. “I cannot believe that the women in my life put up with him as a sexual or romantic partner for as long as they did. I don’t even need to hear whatever you’re about to say because I know that old dog was too lazy to learn any new tricks.” She made a gagging sound for good measure.
Brynn laughed. “Yeah. He didn’t exactly rock my world. But to be fair…” She quieted then, and Hallie could feel the conversation taking on a more serious note. “I guess what I’m asking is…”
Talking about sex was healthy, and she didn’t want Brynn to feel otherwise. “I’m going to need you to spit out whatever it is that you’re chewing on because it could be anything from kinks to cunnilingus, fetishes to fellatio, and I have no idea where we land in between that.”
“I’m not sure if I’ve ever orgasmed,” Brynn said quietly. She placed both sweaters down on the bed. Her makeup and hair were already done, but she was wearing a pair of sweatpants anda t-shirt, which only added to the vulnerability of the moment. “I mean, I think I have? Only, I guess that I’m not sure.”
“With Gregory or Grant?” Hallie clarified. It could be difficult to come with a partner. That wasn’t a problem for Hallie, but she knew that each body worked differently.
“Like, at all,” Brynn responded meekly, sitting down on the bed next to her. Her skin was still a little flushed from her admission when she added, big eyes trained on Hallie, “But maybe I did. I followed all the steps when I was alone, too. And it feltgood. But the way people talk about them… Do you ever feel like there’s something that you’re missing? Like everyone can see a color that you can’t? It feels like the more I try, the less confident I am.”
Hallie let out a soft grunt, her fingers digging into the comforter, instinctively looking for purchase.
This was fine. Conversations between friends about sex were perfectly normal.Healthy, she reminded herself. Only, she’d never felt this way when discussing sex with anyone else. And she definitely didn’t dare clarify how often Brynn had beentrying. Possibly in this very room. In this very bed they were currently sitting on.
Why was she feeling so out of breath? It was like she’d been sprinting in the freezing cold. All she could think about—besides the fact that she needed to put a stop to this conversation right now—was that she felt restless, a need to stand overtaking her. To move. To do anything to change the tempo of the moment.
But she didn’t do any of that. Instead, she was rooted in place on the bed, unable to look away from Brynn’s piercing stare.
And she’d have been fine, honestly. She could have pushed through this moment, or whatever she’d call it when she looked back on this conversation, except that, of course, Brynn had decided to recite whatexactlypeople said about orgasms. Hallie would have usually found this endearing, but Brynn’s voice hadthis throaty timbre Hallie hadn’t heard before, a timbre that sent prickling shocks through her body. “Toe tingling. Body shaking. Rapid breathing. All-encompassing, like your muscles are aching and straining at the same time. I don’t know that I’ve ever feltthat…” And then Brynn bit her lip, looking at Hallie for some type of explanation.
Heat sank into Hallie’s chest, and she was unprepared for how quickly the sensation overtook her. This reaction, especially because it was in response to Brynn discussing her masturbation tactics, was not ideal. Hell, it was not even close to okay. At all.
Brynn was a friend. A roommate. A person Hallie had really come to enjoy spending time with. Wondering what exact steps Brynn had taken to try and make herself come or how, exactly, Brynn experienced an orgasm was not a path she could afford to go down. Especially not after whatever the hell it was she and Reese had discussed earlier tonight.
But it didn’t change the fact that she was hot all over. Suddenly, that restless feeling was back as Brynn’s words played on a loop in her brain.
She knew, with every fiber of her being, that being attracted to Brynn was a bad idea. It would fuck up Hallie’s life. It would fuck up Reese’s life. And, by extension, it would also fuck up Sydney’s life.
Not to mention whatever it would do to Brynn’s life, when Brynn seemed like she was finally finding her footing.
But her body wasn’t getting the message. It was on its own journey right now, her brain be damned. It had been so long since Hallie had felt a connection to another person, sexual or otherwise, and it had sparked to life at the most inconvenient time, the two of them alone in Brynn’s bedroom, sitting on a bed that was just begging for both of their bodies to lie flat against the mattress.
She resoundingly didn’t want to be feeling this feeling, which was annoying because it did feel really,reallygood, especially because Brynn was the one who had caused it. Every nerve ending had come alive, her traitorous body scooting closer to Brynn on the bed.
But she wasn’t an animal. She could keep her impulses in check, even if it was causing her a not-insignificant degree of discomfort when she refused to reach out and take Brynn’s hand to comfort her, like she usually would.
