Anything. They hadn’t talked about anything. But Brooke knew that Anna meant the fact that they had kissed. Brooke reached up and tucked a loose strand of Anna’s hair back behind her ear.“I know.” She didn’t know how to start this conversation. She wasn’t entirely sure that her brother’s kitchen was the best spot for it. Maybe she should just stick to the things that had already happened as opposed to addressing everything all at once.“Last night was honestly amazing.” The hand that had tucked the strand of hair behind Anna’s ear had frozen, cupping Anna’s cheek.“Thank you for being here, for helping me face my mother.”
Anna sank into Brooke's palm, though she clearly braced for her question.“And the kissing you bit?”
Brooke couldn’t have stopped her smile if she had tried.“I meant what I said last night. It’s fully welcome as long as my mother’s not present.” She should say more. She should say that she likes it, that she likes Anna. She was trying to muster the courage to do just that when Anna grabbed her by the collar and pulled her in for another kiss.
They were sober, and they both tasted like mint toothpaste as opposed to a mix of alcohols. Anna hummed into the kiss, completely melting the last ounce of concern Brooke had. So, they hadn’t really talked, but they both clearly wanted to kiss each other. Maybe that was enough for now. She gently pushed Anna backwards, her hands respectfully on Anna’s waist until Anna’s back bumped up against the counter. Anna’s hands gripped tighter at Brooke's collar, pulling her in even closer. Anna’s tongue flicked out, tracing along Brooke’s bottom lip. Brooke parted her lips for her, letting her explore. Her own grip tightened on Anna’s waist, drawing the softest of moans from Anna’s lips.
Brooke could have melted on the spot. She had never been an overly sexual person. It had been an aspect of her few previous relationships, sure, but nothing had ever felt like this. She had never let herself get lost in just the feeling of a kiss, in the movement of their tongues. She had never struggled to remember to breathe. She had never caught her hands trying to wander into uncharted territory without explicit permission. She quickly moved them back to Anna’s waist.
The sound of a door opening caused them to both jump. Brooke quickly tried to fix her shirt, while Anna just watched her, her dark eyes somehow even darker. Brooke blushed when she realized that it was lust. The look in Anna’s eyes was pure, unfiltered lust. Brooke had never been looked at like that before. No one had ever stared at her so intensely like they were seriously considering pulling her into the nearest room and ripping her clothes off, but that’s exactly how Anna was looking at her now.
Brooke heard Mel pad down the hallway that led from their bedroom to the kitchen. Mel looked incredibly hungover. Her normally silky smooth, dark hair was mussed and frizzed. She had clearly gone to bed without removing her makeup because her eyeliner and mascara were smudged. She had looked so perfect, so incredibly put together every time that Brooke had seen her, it was kind of nice to see her like this.
“How are you two so alert right now?” Mel mumbled as she shuffled through the kitchen to grab a mug. Her eyes were barely open as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
Brooke swallowed, her eyes shifting from Mel to Anna. Anna was still watching her intensely. Her chest was still rising and falling too heavily. Anna pushed off the counter, blinking a few times. Brooke watched as, with each blink, Anna’s whole body language shifted from lust to her usual upbeat, happy self.“I think I’m going to have to replace my mattress with whatever you have in your guest room. I got an amazing night’s sleep.”
Brooke decided she would follow Mel’s lead and grabbed herself a plain white mug from the cupboard and filled it with fresh coffee. Mel held out the creamer for her with her eyebrows raised as a question. Brooke splashed in just a bit. She took a sip, not bothering to mix it, she needed something to distract herself from the way her heart was still pounding in her chest.
“Are you sure you two didn’t just break in your new toys until you were physically in a coma?” Mel volleyed at them.“Because I could see that putting you both in this happy little blissed out mood you’re both clearly in.”
Brooke nearly choked on the coffee in her mouth.
Mel just let her head fall back in a laugh.“I knew that would get her.” She shot Anna a wink.
Anna just bit her bottom lip mischievously and pressed a kiss to Brooke's cheek as she stepped around her and went back to prepping the bacon.“No new toys yet,” Anna responded, not offering anything else to explain how alert they were.
Brooke dared to take another sip of coffee before she picked up the bowl she had left on the counter. She mixed all the ingredients vigorously, doing her best to whisk out all of the lumps while Anna got all the bacon into a frying pan.
“Do you want to be on pancake duty?” Anna asked.
They were both very aware of the fact that Mel had climbed up on a stool at the counter and, while still half out of it, was very much watching them interact.
“Whatever you need, Chef,” Brooke said, teasing, watching as Anna blushed again. She hadn’t misread it before. Anna liked it when Brooke called her Chef. Or maybe it was more that Anna liked the idea of telling Brooke what to do. Brooke felt herself blush at the thought.
“Aw, you two are so cute it’s gross,” Mel said, letting her face rest against her palm.“Nate, your sister and her girlfriend being all cute and in love is too adorable,” Mel yelled through the flat.
“I know,” Nate yelled back.“That’s why I’m reading the newspaper in the living room. They’re too cute to watch over the news.”
Mel hopped down off her stool, carefully picked up her cup of coffee, and padded out of the room.“Yep, I’m coming to join you. I can’t watch this this early.”
Brooke and Anna had both completely frozen, their backs gone rigid. They hadn’t even confirmed that they had real feelings for each other yet, and Mel and Nate were throwing the word love around them. It was different now. Before they had kissed, the‘love’teasing had been part of the deal, a compliment to their ability to play the part, real feelings be damned, but after they had kissed—especially after they had kissed while sober—it felt incredibly serious. Brooke completely stopped breathing. She knew that she had fallen for Anna, but she wasn’t ready for Anna to know.
“Um, here,” Anna said, igniting another burner on the stove. She moved over a bit so that Brooke could scoot in next to her.
So they were going to just avoid the comment, Brooke thought. Probably best, honestly. She wasn’t ready to declare her love. It felt too intense when she wasn’t even sure if Anna genuinely liked her or if this was all physical. She still couldn’t shake the worry that Anna wanted this to be a fun England fling. They had just gotten to kissing while sober. Love was too far.
Anna handed her a spatula and offered her a shy smile.
“Thanks,” Brooke said, softly.
Anna just nodded. They stood in an uneasy silence for a while, the only sounds were the sizzling of the bacon and the high pitched whir of the burners beneath their pans. Brooke watched her pancakes carefully for the edges to start to bubble. When the tension between them was just too much and Brooke almost broke and said something, Anna just leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. And just like that, their silence became easy and suddenly gentle.
To say that Anna was correct in that she had a good pancake recipe was the understatement of Brooke's year. Brooke nearly moaned as the fluffy pancake fell apart in her mouth. She wasn’t the only one, thankfully. Nate and Mel were equally as taken by the pancakes as she was.
“Holy fuck, Anna. These are incredible,” Nate said, pulling three more off the serving plate in the middle of the table.
Anna just blushed and waved off the compliment.
