She barked, tail sweeping back and forth across the floor.
“I guess we’re both excited to see you.” Taylor hooked her hands into the back pockets of my jeans and grinned at me.
“Well, I’m excited to see you both too, one of you more than the other. No offense, Minnie.”
“She’s devastated,” Taylor whispered as she tugged me closer.
“So I see.” I brought my lips to hers as Minnie whined at my feet. We kissed, seemingly ravenous for each other, until I was gasping for breath and aching with need for her.
“Um,” Taylor said when we came up for air, hazel eyes dancing with lust and amusement. “Do you want a tour, or should I take you straight to bed?”
“Funny.” I nudged my forehead against hers. “Actually, I don’t care about the tour right now.”
“Good.” She took my hand and tugged me through a door on the far side of the living room. I glimpsed wood-paneled walls and a row of small windows near the ceiling before she’d pushed me onto the bed. We scrambled out of our clothes in record time, and then Taylor settled herself against me, straddling my thigh as she bent her head to kiss me.
We’d been like this all week as we caught up on thirteen years of pent-up sexual tension. Often, sex was awkward the first few times with someone new, while we got to know each other’s bodies, but that hadn’t been the case with Taylor. We just dove in headfirst, and everything so far had beengreat.
She brought her hand between my thighs as she began to rock against me. My gasp mingled with her moan in the otherwise quiet bedroom. Taylor moved herself against my thigh while she stroked me with her fingers, and I basically just hung on for the ride, becausedamn, this was really working for me.
I came first, shuddering beneath her as release rushed through me. Taylor watched out of heavy-lidded eyes as she ground herself against my thigh, and then she was coming too. She threw her head back with a cry before lowering herself beside me on the bed. We lay together, panting and grinning like fools.
“So, welcome to my apartment,” she said once she’d caught her breath. With one hand, she toyed with my hair, something she’d always done. I hadn’t liked it when other girlfriends played with my hair, but something about Taylor’s soft, soothing touch made me melt. Or maybe I hadn’t liked it when other girlfriends played with my hair because it reminded me of Taylor, of our summer together.
“You have a great bed,” I teased. “Not sure I can offer an opinion on anything else yet.”
“We’d better fix that, then.” She stood and took my hand, tugging me out of her bed.
We rinsed off together in a quick shower before we got dressed, and then I took the opportunity to explore her apartment while she popped a pizza in the oven for us. Her bedroom was a nice size, with a full-sized bed and a dresser against the back wall, which was made of white-painted cinder bricks beneath the windows overhead, making the room feel light and bright despite being mostly underground. The other three walls were wood paneled and covered in photos. I saw Taylor’s parents, siblings, and grandparents, plus Minnie and numerous other dogs.
“How is your family?” I asked. I’d spent many afternoons with the Donovans as a girl, but I hadn’t heard much about them over the years other than what my grandma had told me.
“Chaotic as ever,” Taylor said, glancing affectionately at the wall of family photos. When I was younger, I’d been so jealous of Taylor’s big, loving family. My parents were always fighting, always pitting me against each other, always making me feel guilty for escaping to Vermont during the summers. “Kelly is married now, with two kids,” Taylor told me, pointing to a photo of her sister with her husband. “Both boys, and they’re a handful, let me tell you.”
“I bet.” I sat on the edge of the bed as she walked from photo to photo, updating me on her family.
“Minnie adores them. She’s so good with kids. Just look.” Taylor picked up a photo that sat on the dresser, handing it to me. I saw two little boys with hair the same bright, cinnamon brown as their aunt. Minnie sat between them, tongue out and looking absolutely thrilled to have them hanging all over her.
“And Luke?” I asked, remembering Taylor’s younger brother as a slightly geeky kid with braces who’d once put mud in our shoes while we were wading in the stream behind my grandma’s house.
“He got married last summer,” Taylor told me, pointing to another photo that showed a tall, handsome man I would never have recognized as that gawky kid, posing next to a beautiful blonde.
“Stop,” I said with a giggle. “Little Luke is married?”
“He’s twenty-seven now,” she told me. “He doesn’t give wedgies anymore or anything.”
“Oh geez.” I pressed a hand against my forehead. “Life goes on, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does,” she agreed. “My parents are pretty much the same, just older.”
“Aw, I miss them,” I said as she handed me another photo, showing an older couple I’d once known so well. They’d been almost like a second set of parents to me, a much warmer, happier version of my own. “Tell them hi for me, will you?”
She nodded. “I will.”
We ate pizza together and then got in her SUV to drive into Burlington. V and V was bustling by the time we got there, nearly every bar stool taken and a man with a guitar on the stage in back, singing an acoustic version of Aerosmith’s “Walk this Way.” As much as I enjoyed performing, tonight I couldn’t wait to sit back and enjoy someone else’s music.
“Oh look, there are Brendan and Elsie,” Taylor said, gesturing toward one of the tables in the middle of the room.
“Friends of yours?” I asked.
