The name Gary landed oddly, a reminder of the life Stephanie still carried with her. Casey turned the stem of her glass between her fingers, watching the pale liquid swirl. “Half his age? That’s a little harsh on Melissa. She was only seventeen years older than me.”
Stephanie nearly choked on her next swallow. The small sound broke the quiet of the courtyard. Her eyes widened, genuine surprise cutting through whatever careful distance she usually kept between them. “Seventeen?”
Casey hummed in confirmation, the sound low in her throat. “Hmm.”
She let the silence stretch, toes circling slowly through the cool water.
“Our age difference was never a problem,” she said.
“How could it not be though?” Stephanie asked. The bewilderment in her voice sounded real.
Casey shrugged, shoulders loose even as her pulse beat a little harder at her throat. “You said you were forty-six. We’resixteen years apart. Has any of the time we’ve spent together been… I don’t know… awkward?”
Stephanie’s brow furrowed. Water dripped from her lashes as she considered the question. The pause felt long. Casey’s stomach tightened in the space of it, waiting for the answer she suddenly needed more than she wanted to admit.
“No,” Stephanie said at last, her voice soft with surprise. “It hasn’t.”
The words landed warm and dangerous in Casey’s chest. She wanted to lean in. Instead she stayed rooted on the warm tile, fighting the pull that made her new rule feel suddenly fragile.
This woman was not available. She was still untangling a twenty-year marriage. She was straight. She was leaving in a handful of weeks.
Casey took another sip of wine. The cold slid down her throat and settled heavy in her stomach. Her gaze kept drifting, against her will, to the loose dark waves now brushing Stephanie’s shoulders, the way a single damp curl had caught at the corner of her mouth.
It was safe to look.
Stephanie was straight and not looking for anything.
And definitely not with her.
Casey could sit and enjoy the quiet conversation, and let her mind wander just enough to imagine what it might feel like if Stephanie turned her head and looked at her differently.
Just for a moment.
Just in her own thoughts.
9
Stephanie’s sandals slapped softly against the cracked sidewalk. Each step released the faint scent of warm coral dust and the day’s leftover heat. The Mexican place had left her pleasantly full, cilantro and lime still bright on her tongue, mixing with the sticky humidity that clung to her skin.
Several days had passed since that night in Casey’s pool, the one interrupted by Melissa’s sharp voice cutting through the water. The memory still sat low in her stomach, warm and unresolved. She hadn’t gone back over to Casey’s since.
Casey had been working most days, and Stephanie had let the distance grow. She spent her time browsing Duval Street galleries and taking long walks in the salt air until the tension left her shoulders.
She turned the corner onto their narrow street. The bougainvillea spilled purple over the fence ahead, and her stomach gave a small, helpless flip.
Casey stood at her own gate, keys in hand. Sun-streaked hair hung loose and slightly tangled from the ocean. The thin tank top clung to the strong curve of her shoulders, the fabric damp in places where it touched skin still carrying the day’s heat. Stephanie’s gaze caught on the way Casey’s fingersworked the lock, capable, unhurried, before she forced it down to the pavement. Her pulse had already answered. The air felt suddenly thicker in her lungs.
Casey glanced up. The smile that broke across her face was easy, immediate, and it landed like warm fingers pressed lightly between Stephanie’s shoulder blades.
“Hey.”
Stephanie’s throat clicked. “Hi.” She stopped a few feet away. The space between them already felt alive. “Just home from work?”
“Yeah.” Casey pushed the gate open with her hip, the motion fluid. “Gonna throw together something quick. You want to join me? No pressure.”
The invitation tugged at something loose behind Stephanie’s ribs. Her mouth curved before she could stop it. “Thanks, but I just came from this great little Mexican place. I’m stuffed.”
Casey nodded, but her expression shifted, something sheepish slipping into the corner of her mouth. She rubbed the back of her neck, exposing the delicate skin beneath her ear that Stephanie noticed against her will. “Listen… about the other night. I’m really sorry Melissa showed up like that.”
