“Yeah,” Iris’s breathy voice said. “Right there. Oh, god, Jillian, yeah.”
Astrid’s hand flew to her mouth, and she all but stumbled backward. Still, Iris never did anything at half speed, including how loud she was when, apparently, having sex with her new girlfriend.
“Fuck, yes, oh god, your tongue, just... like... that.”
This was what Astrid got for being perpetually early. Her mother had pummeled punctuality into her so fiercely that even when Astridwas on time, her anxiety spiked and she went down a thought spiral of disappointing or inconveniencing whoever might be waiting for her. Hence, she was ever the early bird.
Now, though, she’d prefer being late to this awkward situation. She didn’t want to stand here and wait until Iris and Jillian finished, dear god, but she also didn’t want to turn around and leave, because where would she go? When Iris had messaged her, Claire, and Delilah in their group text earlier, suggesting a movie night and tacos, she had said six thirty. It was six twenty-five.
And yet, the moaning continued.
“You like that?” Jillian’s velvety voice came through.
“I like that. Oh, fuck, I really like that. Please, I need your mouth on my pu—”
Astrid bolted down the hall and toward the stairs before Iris could finish that sentence. Her cheeks were flaming hot, her heart pounding, and... oh, Jesus.
Her lower belly felt tight, a pressure between her legs she couldn’t ignore. Or shecould, but god. She did not come here tonight expecting to get all hot and bothered. Iris had always been very open about her sex life, but Astrid had never heard her sex life actively happening.
She stood at the top of the stairs, bottle of Riesling tucked under her arm, squirming to try and make the throbbing at her center go away. She closed her eyes, but nope, nope, that didn’t help, as Jordan’s perfect rosebud mouth bloomed into her mind, and she started imagining the carpenter’s calloused fingers sliding over her—
Shit, she needed some air.
It was a nice night. She’d just wait on the street until Claire and Delilah arrived, no big deal.
She was halfway down the stairs when Jordan Everwood came bounding up from the first floor, a six-pack of craft beer in one hand.Her phone rested in her other palm, eyes focused on the screen. Astrid felt a sudden swell of joy at the sight of her, which was ridiculous considering they’d just been together an hour ago at the inn.
They’d been together a lot in the last few days—the standard nine-to-five, plus several late nights in Jordan’s workshop, scouring fabric samples and paint colors and Etsy, to-go food containers filling the space around them.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she should feel a little threatened or territorial over her work. Together, she and Jordan had gone over both of their design plans for the entire house, and for each room, Jordan’s plan ended up being the base design. It was true, a lot of Astrid’s plans trickled through as well—a herringbone feature wall here, black-and-white photographs of Bright Falls there—but sometimes it was hard to remember who actually came up with what idea.
At least, that’s what Astrid told herself. She knew she was integral to this project’s success—Jordan was horrible at organization, and when one was juggling orders and plans for a house this size, organization was key—and Jordan didn’t make a move, didn’t click acomplete orderbutton, without Astrid’s input. Still, whenever she flipped through the images on the design software, Astrid couldn’t shake this growing sense of unease, which paired inconveniently with the pure, unadulterated happiness she felt when she was with Jordan Everwood.
Now, as more dopamine flooded her system at seeing Jordan unexpectedly, that unease was still there, like a storm cloud hovering miles away. She swallowed and focused on the good, which was a lot easier said than done. Happy was not a word that entered her sphere of experience very often.
She blinked, focusing on Jordan’s swoopy hair, her slow climb toward Astrid, and the unease ebbed a bit. Unfortunately, thefeelings Iris’s little encounter stirred up did not. At the sight of Jordan sauntering up the steps,thosefeelings rushed through her with the force of a river released from a dam.
“Hi,” she said when Jordan was a few steps away.
“Holy shit.” Jordan stumbled back a step, dropping her phone in the process so she could grab onto the railing.
“Oh, god, I’m sorry,” Astrid said, bending down to pick up the phone. As she passed it back to Jordan, she caught a glimpse of a text conversation on the screen, the nameMeredithat the top.
Her stomach plummeted to her feet, a touch of panic linking up with her myriad of emotions. Maybe she should just go home. Horny and anxiety-riddled was not a good combination.
“No worries,” Jordan said, taking the phone and stuffing it into her back pocket. She had changed out of her normal work overalls and into a pair of black jeans cuffed at the ankle and a short-sleeved button-up, this one navy blue and covered in tiny green succulents.
Astrid put on a smile, made her voice bright and perfect. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
Jordan frowned and narrowed her eyes. “Are you okay?”
Astrid’s smile dipped a little, but she managed to keep it in place. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Jordan watched her for a second, that frown still wrinkling her brow. Finally, she looked away, rubbed the back of her neck. “Iris texted Simon, who insisted on dragging me along. If he’s not saving his reclusive sister, I don’t think he knows what to do with himself.” She jutted a thumb toward the building’s main door. “He’s parking the car.”
Astrid nodded, wishing she’d been the one to invite Jordan to Iris’s, but she hadn’t seemed to be able to get the question out of her mouth. What if Jordan thought she was asking her out? What if she said no? Astrid didn’t think she could handle that, not when all ofher thoughts and feelings about Jordan felt so close to the surface lately. Jordan had already rejected her once, decreeing that Astrid couldn’t kiss her unless she really wanted to kissher, and Astrid was determined to honor her request. After all Jordan had been through, Astrid understood it. She even agreed with it. She knew she had plenty of soul-searching to do when it came to her motives.
But right now, after seeing Meredith’s name on Jordan’s phone, all she wanted to do was take Jordan’s face between her hands and kiss her until she forgot Meredith’s name altogether.
