Lust wasn’t just theoretical anymore, after that moment.
Brynn hadwanted. Deeply. To touch Hallie. To place her mouth against the hollow on Hallie’s neck again, where her lips had fit perfectly the night before. Her stomach had tightened, and beneath her towel, she’d pressed her legs together, looking to find relief from the pressure that was mounting there.
Until that moment, Brynn had never thought of herself as a sexual person. Raw desire and attraction and passion were things that she’d read about—had understood in the abstract—but she’d never experienced them for herself. It was crazy, how, in a single moment, the pieces had clicked into place. One emotion had toppled into the other, like a line of cascading dominos.
Suddenly, a longing that made an emptiness expand in her chest had overtaken her, and her hands had shook from the intensity of it.
Luckily, she didn’t think Hallie had noticed. That would be bad when Brynn herself hadn’t quite understood what was happening to her. Deep, emotional friendship? Pure sexualdesire? Some intoxicating combination of the two, which had made it a little hard for her to breathe?
That night on the sofa was the catalyst, but the feelings it had stirred up hadn’t abated. So Brynn had done what she did best: started to research everything she could possibly find about understanding attraction.
Most interestingly, what she’d learned was that, even though Hallie had said practically the exact words to her before, everyone really did experience desire and attraction differently.
For her, as close as she could figure out, sexual attraction was inextricably linked with emotional connection. And there was no one with whom she had a stronger connection than Hallie.
So, in the understanding and acceptance of that, it had all started to make sense. And even if she still felt a little insane from the strength of the want coursing through her, she was comforted by how logical her feelings actually were.
And if she understood it, she could manage it, instead of letting the needy, out-of-control feeling that seemed to crop up whenever Hallie was close lead her around like a dog chasing a bone.
This was still something she was very much working on, as she clocked Hallie for about the dozenth time in the last few minutes. She’d finally reached the bartender to place their order.
Hallie had worn her hair down today, and it was soft and dark and lustrous, and, more than once, Brynn had already resisted the desire to run her hands through it. Even from far away, Brynn could tell that Hallie’s cheeks were still flushed from the cold, and it made her whole body ache. It was the good kind of aching, like she knew that finding relief would only be the start.
And god, did Brynn want to find that relief.
Gregory had laughed at her when she’d explained herself on a call a few days ago while Hallie had been working the frontdesk. “Welcome to the human condition,” he’d said dryly, like he’d been waiting years for her to get with the program.
But, in her defense, the scientific method couldn’t be rushed. How could she have observed something that she hadn’t known existed? But, upon becoming aware of these feelings, and after her research, she’d formulated a hypothesis that these feelings that Hallie elicited in her were related to their strong connection.
She was stalled out, though, on actually testing that hypothesis. Because even though Brynn knew she liked to approach things with rigor, people weren’t science experiments.Halliewasn’t some experiment to her. Sexually, emotionally, scientifically, or otherwise. She’d never be so careless with another person’s feelings, especially when they were Hallie’s.
So, where did that leave her?
She still wasn’t sure as Hallie headed back to her, a beer in each hand. “For you,” Hallie said, handing Brynn the glass filled with a darker liquid than Hallie’s own, which was filled with a foamy, golden-colored beer.
“Let me know how much I owe you,” Brynn said as she accepted the drink.
Hallie waved her off, a look of deep offense flashing across her face. “I invited you here. The least I can do is buy you a beer.”
No one would ever argue that Brynn was incredible at reading social cues. With that in mind, she was trying to make sure that she hadn’t misinterpreted anything.
The thing was—no matter how she sliced, diced, or minced it—this did very muchfeellike a date.
But maybe that was because Brynn wanted it to be, more than the reality of the situation.
“Do you want to check out the vendors?” she asked, tilting her head to where the growing crowd seemed to be forming a natural path around the room. All the while she tried to staveoff the blush on her own cheeks at having Hallie’s undivided attention.
Hallie gave her a sweet smile that made her dimple pop. “Lead the way.”
Brynn did, conscious of Hallie right behind her, their bodies pressed close as they navigated the growing crowd. She felt Hallie’s hand gently brace on her back so that they didn’t get split up.
Brynn reviewed the facts in her head. Hallie had invited her to the annual event, which was a special occasion in Stoneport. Sydney and Reese were manning the check-in desk at The Stone’s Throw today, which made the whole situation even more strange. Brynn couldn’t imagine what Hallie would have had to offer them to pull that off. And lastly, sometimes she’d catch Hallie looking at her. It seemed very similar to the way that Brynn knew that she, too, looked at Hallie. Like they were being drawn together by an invisible string.
Tension and anticipation were constantly coursing through Brynn’s veins, and it didn’t much matter what they were doing. Sitting on the sofa together was the most difficult since Brynn refused to give up the tactile comfort that they’d discovered in one another, even with the new, complicated layer slathered on top. Even hanging out at the check-in desk wasn’t without its challenges. Hallie always looked so cute yet competent as she chatted with guests and managed the inn with a focused precision that left Brynn in awe.
By the time they reached the booth at the start of a row, Brynn thought that Hallie’s fingertips had burned through her shirt and left a mark on her skin. She took a sip of her beer, letting the flavors distract her.
A tough sell, as Hallie slipped in next to her. “Are you a big art person?”
