“We can watch a rom-com, you know,” Sawyer said with a soft chuckle. “I’m not anti-romance.”
“Oh, but your blog says different,” Jenna countered, but her tone was playful.
“I will never live that blog down.”
“Not ever.”
That moment of comfort Sawyer had felt in the kitchen stretched into an entire evening of it. They ate, they drank, they watched, all side by side with their thighs pressed together—which Sawyer was keenly,keenlyaware of.
She tried hard to pay attention to the movie. She really did. Pretty sure it was about a woman building her own company from the ground up…a food company of some sort…or something like that? Frustrated with her inability to concentrate, it only got worse when Jenna sighed and sort of snuggled a bit closer without actually snuggling. How that could possibly make sense, Sawyer didn’t know, but it was the only way her brain could describe the way Jenna was somehow closer to her now, head leaning against Sawyer’s arm. She could feel her—her warmth, her presence. She could smell her. God, could she smell her, that delicious scent that somehow seemed to wrap around Sawyer, teasing her, running its imaginary nails along her skin and causing goose bumps to erupt on her arms.
And then came the moment when she ventured a glance. She’d been dutifully staring at the TV—despite having almost no clue what she was watching because she was paying it so little attention—when she finally turned her head to look at Jenna. Just look. She simply wanted a peek at the beautiful woman next to her.
And Jenna was looking back at her.
That was all it took.
She turned slightly, grasped Jenna’s face in both hands, andcrushed their mouths together like she couldn’t wait another second to kiss her. Because she couldn’t.
Jenna released a sound that was a combination sigh/hum, and it did things to Sawyer. Sexy things. Erotic things. She pulled her closer.
What was it about kissing Jenna Murphy that seemed to elevate…well, everything? Sawyer couldn’t figure it out. She’d kissed plenty of women in her lifetime, and none of them had felt like this. It was sexy and sensual and an enormous turn-on, yes. But it also made her feel safe and wanted and cared for. Held. Valued.
Okay. Getting kind of deep here.
She pulled back only enough to catch her breath and gaze into the rich brown of Jenna’s eyes.
“You okay?” Jenna asked on a whisper.
Sawyer nodded, and her smile came all on its own. “Hundred percent. I just really, really like kissing you.”Oh, God. What a juvenile thing to say.But the thought was driven out by the way Jenna’s face lit up.
“Oh, yeah? Well, I really, really like kissing you too.”
“What a happy coincidence,” she whispered, and kissed her again.
Things went from zero to sixty very quickly, which wasn’t a surprise to Sawyer, given how badly she wanted Jenna. They were practically horizontal on the couch, Jenna on the bottom, Sawyer with her hand under Jenna’s shirt and pressed against the warm skin of her stomach, when Jenna wrenched her mouth free and whispered, “Wait.”
Sawyer pulled back immediately, breathless. “What? Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Jenna shook her head as Sawyer sat up and Jenna followed suit. “No, not at all. I just…” She cleared her throat and used a finger to swipe at the corner of her mouth. “I just think maybe we should stop.”
“Oh. Okay. Yeah, sure. Whatever you want.” Sawyer was doing a shitty job of hiding her disappointment, and she knew it.
Jenna reached out and grasped her arm. “For now. Just for now.”
Sawyer nodded. “Okay.” She took a deep breath and willed her own heart to slow down. After a moment, she said it again, but this time, with more confidence. “Okay.”
Jenna turned and tucked a leg under her butt so she was facing Sawyer. Still holding on to her arm, she said, “Listen. That was—I wasgonna say fun, but no. That’s the wrong word. It was hot. Kissing you is…” She gazed off into the room and swallowed audibly. “It’s fucking hot,” she said quietly, returning her gaze to Sawyer, and her words sent a shot of dampness to Sawyer’s center. She groaned softly, and Jenna laughed. “Exactly. And given everything we’ve…” She looked up at the ceiling as if maybe the words were painted on it. “Everything we’ve been dealing with, I just don’t want us to move too fast. Does that make sense?” She asked it softly, a slight expression of worry on her gorgeous face.
Sawyer nodded. “It does. Yeah.”
“Okay. Good. Do you”—she indicated the TV—“wanna keep watching?”
“Absolutely.” Deciding to go home in that moment would basically indicate that Sawyer was only there for sex, and that wasn’t true. While she absolutely did want to sleep with Jenna—with absolutely zero actual sleeping involved—she also wanted to simply be with her, be around her, be close to her. She rearranged her position on the couch so she was lounging back against the end. Then she made room for Jenna to snuggle in next to her and lifted her arm, and the smile that blossomed across Jenna’s face told her it was exactly the right move. Jenna tucked herself against Sawyer’s body, aimed the remote at the TV, rewound the movie to where they’d left off when their make-out session had begun, and hit play.
Sawyer tightened her arm around Jenna, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and settled in, surprised by the fact that being close like this, being wrapped up in each other, warm and safe, this was almost better than making out with Jenna.
Almost.
