“Real subtle, Vi,” Phoebe said with a giggle. “I guess it’s time for your midnight snack.”
“Nursing mama’s got to eat,” I agreed, and my chest got all warm and gooey as I watched Phoebe prepare a bowl for Violet, expertly mixing the wet and dry puppy chow to fix her a high-calorie meal. She placed the bowl on the floor, and Violet dove right in, scarfing down her food.
“She’s such a good girl,” Phoebe said, giving the dog an affectionate look.
And that did it. I set my glass on the counter and pulled her in for a kiss. She gasped in surprise, eyes going wide before she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me back. This was different from the other times we’d kissed. This time, I wasn’t going to pull back after a minute and go home, and we both knew it.
Maybe there had never been any other possible outcome for us, because as her tongue slid into my mouth, crisp and cool as the glass of water she’d just drank, this felt indescribablyright. I couldn’t let her go back to Boston without knowing what it would be like with her now that we were adults, and if my heart was going to get broken, at least it would break after I’d learned all the secrets of her body that I hadn’t gotten to explore when we were sixteen.
Beside us, Violet finished her dinner and wandered down the hall toward her puppies. Phoebe and I kept kissing. I pressed her against the counter as I sank my hands into her hair, reacquainting myself with its soft depths.
“God, I missed this,” I murmured, and she smiled against my lips.
“To me, it feels brand-new.” Her breath fanned across my cheeks.
I slid my hands down her back, settling them at the curve of her waist. “How so?” Because to me, her kiss was a homecoming.
“I wassonaïve the last time we were together,” she said, gasping as I bent my head to place a kiss against the hollow of her throat. “I’d never been kissed before. I didn’t even know for sure yet that I was gay. I was just clueless about myself in general, so I guess I was always holding back.”
“And now?”
“I’m not so innocent anymore,” she whispered, angling her head so I could continue kissing her neck. “And I’m not holding anything back.”
“Nothing?” I asked, warmth blooming in my core at the thought.
“Nothing.”
I swirled my tongue over the pulse point on her neck before venturing down to her collarbone, fascinated by every inch of exposed skin. Phoebe whimpered, spreading her thighs so I could settle myself between them. She was right about one thing. She hadn’t been this bold in high school. Neither of us had been.
We owed it to ourselves to satisfy the need, the curiosity, the longing that had lingered between us since that summer. Maybe once we satisfied it, we could part ways unscathed. Probably not, but who knew? Maybe sex with Phoebe would be underwhelming.
But as she clamped her thighs around mine, I knew that wouldn’t be the case. I was already so turned on, I could hardly stand it.
“Taylor,” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Let’s not do this in the kitchen.”
I pressed my face against the warm skin of her neck as laughter gripped me, and when I raised my head, she had her bottom lip pinched between her teeth, eyes sparkling with amusement—and heat—as they met mine. “Lead the way.”
She put her hands on my chest and stepped me backward so she could slip past me, grabbing my hand as we walked down the hall. When we reached the master bedroom, though, she took one look at the whelping pen in the corner and tugged me into the guestroom instead. “Change of plans.”
“Don’t want Violet to watch?” I asked.
“She’s nosy, and puppy noises aren’t sexy.”
“All true, and maybe even more importantly, do you know how many times I fantasized about having my way with you on this very bed?” I asked as I nudged her toward the twin bed with the blue-striped quilt that we’d spent so many,manyhours on as teenagers.
“How many?” she asked as her hands found the hem of my T-shirt and slipped beneath.
“Toomany.”
Her fingers gripped my hips as she pressed her body against mine. I nudged her backward until she sat on the bed, and then I followed her down, laying her flat on the quilt as I lowered myself on top of her. She was so warm and soft beneath me, breasts pressing against mine. It was so much like our teenage make-out sessions, but not, because tonight, there was no reason to stop.
“Taylor?” she murmured, shifting beneath me so that my knee slid into the space between hers, my jeans pressed against her bare skin.
“Yes?”
