Another minute passed, maybe two or three before Rosaline withdrew her fingers with a sigh Poppy would swear sounded reluctant. Poppy frowned and pressed her knees together, drawing them a little closer to her chest, empty in a way she really didn’t like.
Another of those soft whines she didn’t mean to make escaped her lips and—god,she wasn’t normally like this. She needed to get a grip. Pull herself together before Rosaline got the wrong idea and thought she was a needy mess with a bad habit of taking a mile when someone gave her an inch.
Poppy frowned.
The right idea, maybe.
Rosaline pressed another of those too-sweet-for-what-this-was kisses to the side of Poppy’s jaw and stretched out her arm, snagging a slice of forgotten pizza from the box on the coffee table. She brought it to Poppy’s mouth. “Eat.”
Poppy let go of the passing thought that Rosaline was holding the slice with the hand that had just been down Poppy’s panties, those same fingers that had been inside her now pinching the crust, and opened her mouth for a bite. Rosaline heldthe slice for her until she had made it all the way to the garlic butter–covered crust, which she stole for herself.
Slowly, Poppy came back to planet Earth, blinking back the fog that had wrapped around her mind like her favorite weighted blanket. She tilted her head, letting it loll against Rosaline’s shoulder. Rosaline was already staring down at her, lids heavy and pupils eating up all but a thin ring of vibrant green. A smile played at the edges of her lips, very cat that got the cream. Satisfied, even though Poppy was the one who’d just come so hard her brain had leaked out her ears.
“That was really... wow.”
“Wow?Really? That’s what you’re going with?” Rosaline’s pinky continued to sweep against Poppy’s skin, driving her to distraction. “Not, I don’t know, phenomenal? Spectacular? I mean, Jesus, Poppy, come on. Stroke my ego.”
She bit her lip, trying and failing not to smile. “I could always stroke something else?”
Rosaline’s expression flattened and she gave Poppy the most deadpan of stares. “That was terrible.”
“Sorry.” Poppy shrugged. “Guess my brain’s still coming back online.”
Rosaline grinned. “See? Now, that’s more like what I want to hear.”
The pizza had been great and all, but between all the gasping and panting, Poppy was parched. Her tongue slipped out, wetting her lips, and Rosaline’s eyes flitted downward, following the move with laser sharp focus.
Poppy’s breath stuttered and stalled and, for a wild second, it seemed like Rosalinewasgoing to kiss her. That she was going to—
Her face was cast in sudden stark relief as too-bright headlightsflashed through the gauzy curtains covering the front window. Poppy held her breath, fingers crossed it was just a car turning around in the driveway. The lights blinked out and a car door opened a second later, dashing her hopes.
Rosaline blew out a frustrated breath and scooted backward on the couch, putting a foot of distance between them that felt chasmal. A similar yawning pit opened inside Poppy’s stomach. “I’m guessing that’s Curran.”
She sounded about as happy with his arrival as Poppy felt.
Poppy frowned. “You didn’t get to—”
“It’s fine,” Rosaline said, shifting until her feet were flat on the floor.
Poppy begged to differ.
Her reluctance must’ve shown on her face because Rosaline said, “Hey. Seriously, it’s fine, Poppy.” She reached out with her pinky extended and hooked it around Poppy’s. She lifted their joined hands and pressed her lips to her own fist, sealing whatever promise they were about to make with a kiss. Something inside Poppy’s chest splintered, cracking like a glow stick at just how silly the gesture wasperiod,but especially coming from Rosaline. “You’ll get me next time.”
She tried to laugh, but it came out as a shaky exhale. “So, thereisgoing to be a next time?”
Rosaline looked at her incredulously. “What about my having a list as long as my arm of things I’d like to do to you was unclear?” Uncertainty flickered across her face. “Unlessyoudon’t want to—”
“No. I mean, I’m a little skeptical this isn’t all part of some dastardly plan of yours to kill me, but I do. Want to. Again.”
Rosaline chuckled, warm and throaty. “But what a way to go, right?”
The front door swung open, and Cash and Lyric stumbled inside joined at the lips, the way she was blindly working to tug Cash’s belt through the buckle suggesting they were about three minutes from being joined at the hips too.
He pulled away from Lyric with a gasping laugh and stared down at her borrowed jersey with uncensored awe splashed across his face. More of Lyric’s lipstick was smeared on his chin and the tip of his nose than left on her mouth. “Goddamn, girl.” He whistled. “Did I tell you how good you look wearing my last name?”
“Lyric!” Rosaline barked.
“Holy shit.” She pressed her palm to her chest. “What the fuck, Roz? What are you doing here?”
