Deft fingers moving effortlessly over tense strings, gliding gracefully from fret to fret, kept Elena utterly captivated. Her eyes tracked the movements of Allison’s fingers, but what Elena was most drawn to was the expression of sheer bliss and peace that settled over Allison’s face as she played. She was entirely serene in that moment, and Elena thought she had never seen her look more beautiful, even with the large bruise marring the skin between her eyes.
Chin resting atop the side of the guitar, Allison swayed gently as she strummed and hummed softly along. She didn’t play any one song in particular but rather an amalgam of melodies.
Elena’s lips parted, her fingers twisted together in her lap, and the more Allison played, the harder Elena’s heart pounded against her ribcage. It was as if she could feel her rumbling pulse in every part of her body. It throbbed in her ears and quaked in her throat. She felt it fluttering in her chest, a steady, excited rhythm. It sent tremors down her spine and whispered between her legs like a purring plea.
She could not recall a time in her life that she had been more attracted to a person. It was completely overwhelming, as the realization seemed to only heighten the attraction, the new and wonderful sensations rippling through her cells. She was so mesmerized by it all, in fact, that she didn’t even notice that Allison had stopped playing.
“Elena?”
Jolting, Elena blinked rapidly and realized that Allison was looking at her. Allison’s fingers were still, settled neatly atop the guitar that was no longer producing gentle melodies, and a smile played at her lips.
“Yes?” Elena shook her head just slightly and cleared her throat. “Apologies, dear. I seemed to have gotten lost in the music. You play incredibly well, Allison. That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
Cheeks flushing a beautiful shade of pink, Allison ducked her head a bit and shrugged as if to dismiss the compliment. “Yeah, it’s no problem. I like to play.”
“Yes, I could tell. You seemed quite peaceful.”
Allison nodded and patted the guitar. “Yeah, there’s something about playing that really mellows me out. It’s like everything in my head just gets really quiet, and all I hear is the music, you know?”
Not waiting for an answer, she popped off the couch and carried the guitar over to the wall of instruments. She settled it back in its rightful place and walked back over to the couch. “So,” she said as she plopped onto the couch much closer to Elena than before, “how bad was this date?”
As soon as the question slipped across Allison’s lips, all of Elena’s fluttering butterflies shriveled and died. Panic spilled through her cells as she tried to think of an appropriate answer. She didn’t want to lie to Allison and say that Alexis was horrible, because she wasn’t. She also didn’t want to tell the entire truth, because she didn’t want Allison to know that she had had a teenage meltdown. At the same time, Elena didn’t want to make Allison think that she had been completely taken with Alexis either, because truthfully, Elena only wanted one person.
“Wow,” Allison said. “Silence, huh? Must’ve been really bad.” Allison reached over to poke at Elena’s knee. “Was she like a total snob?”
Elena said nothing, merely shaking her head in answer.
“No? Okay, don’t tell me. Let me guess.”
“Very well,” she agreed, knowing that Allison would never guess, considering Elena hadn’t actually found anything wrong with the woman. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Elena supposed the only thing wrong with Alexis was that she wasn’t Allison, but Allison certainly was not about to guess that either.
“Okay, so she wasn’t a snob.” Allison tapped her finger, as if ticking off the first of many options. “Did she have an issue with Lucas? You know, a lot of women don’t want kids, despite the completely idiotic belief that that’s all we’re good for.”
Elena chuckled. “No, dear.” She shook her head. “Alexis seemed perfectly fine with my having a son.”
“Yeah, well she should be,” Allison said. “Because he is the cutest son ever.”
A melodious laugh slipped through. “I am in perfect agreement with you there.”
“Okay, so there goes that issue.” Allison ticked another one of her fingers. “Oh, was she like overly sexual? You know, to the point of being inappropriate or whatever?”
“Not at all.”
“Damn. Did she have bad grammar? You seem like the type of person that would be annoyed by terrible grammar. Speaking of which, you know I can actually speak really well, right? I just choose not to.”
Elena smiled. “I gathered as much, yes, but no, she spoke well.”
“Well, hell, Elena.” Allison threw her hands up. “Just tell me then, because I’m starting to think that there wasn’t anything wrong with this woman. She was hot. I know that much.”
“She was rather attractive, yes.”
“And she was definitely rich,” Allison said, “because the jewelry she had on probably could’ve paid for my entire college education.”
Elena tilted her head as if in reluctant agreement. “Yes, it likely could have.”
The frown that touched Allison’s lips bit at Elena’s insides. “Was there anything wrong with her, with the date?”
“No,” Elena whispered, her gaze never fully rising to meet Allison’s. She decided to be at least partially honest and simply avoid the details. “It was actually quite nice. Alexis was a lovely date.”
“O-oh,” Allison stammered. “Oh, well…oh.”
When she finally looked up, the completely devastated expression on Allison’s face caused Elena’s heart to rise into her throat. Flares of hope burned brightly as her thoughts went into overdrive. Did this mean that Allison was interested? Did it mean that Allison reciprocated her feelings? Should she just ask and get it over with, put herself out of her own misery?
Of course not, Elena reprimanded herself. There had to be cleverer, subtler ways to go about this than to have to put everything on the line and possibly embarrass the hell out of herself. Elena mulled that over for a moment, searching her mind for a slightly probing yet still safe question.
“Should I be worried about how disappointed you seem?” She let out a small laugh. “Were you hoping that the date would be another disaster?”
“What?” Allison shook her head. “Of course not.”
“Are you certain? Because you seem rather less spirited now.”
“Yeah. I mean, no. No. It’s just, uh, I mean, nothing really to rant about if the date was awesome, huh?”
“Oh,” Elena said, “I see. I suppose you are right.”
“Yeah,” Allison whispered. She raised a hand and pressed it to her chest, rubbing a small circle over the spot as if it hurt.
Elena tried not to put too much stock in the action. She didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. “Well, shall we have a change of subject then?” she asked. “How was Lucas tonight?”
“So, you liked this chick then? Alexis.” Allison practically spat the woman’s name, as she ignored Elena’s question.
Elena reeled back a bit in shock at the sudden change in Allison’s tone. Was that jealousy? Elena certainly hoped so.
Only a brief silence passed between them before Elena decided to test the waters. “I did, yes.” She watched carefully for Allison’s reaction.
Allison nodded roughly at the same time that she sort of shrugged and even inched away from Elena a bit. “Well, that’s cool, I guess.”
The tiniest jolt of excitement rippled through Elena’s body. “Yes.” She kept her eyes locked on Allison. “She was easily the best date I’ve had thus far.”
Scoffing, Allison mumbled, “Well, you’ve only been on three, so that’s not really saying anything.”
“Allison.”
“I mean, like you shouldn’t just settle for the first good date that comes along, right? And yeah, Alexis was like really pretty and rich or whatever, but I mean, do you really wanna date someone who is basically you but in a different body?”
“Allison.”
“If you wanted pretty and rich, you could just go look in the mirror, right? Maybe you should branch out or whatever and, like, date someone a little different.”
“Allison!”
“What!” They both winced at the bite in Allison’s voice, and Allison quickly shook her head. “Shit. I’m sorry, Elena. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“It’s okay. I snapped first.” Elena reached out to lay a hand on top of one of Allison’s. “But are you all right? You seem flustered.”
Allison sighed. “I just…my head hurts a little I guess. I, uh, I think I need to get some air.”
Before Elena could utter another word, Allison jumped off the couch and ran out of the music room. Elena let out a heavy breath, her chin sinking to her chest. Her stomach churned uncomfortably as she whispered to herself, “What the hell just happened?”
* * *
Allison bolted down the stairs, through the living room, playroom, foyer, and out the front door without a second’s hesitation. As soon as the warm evening breeze ghosted across her face, she sucked in a deep breath and began to pace the short length of Elena’s stoop. “What the fuck was that?” She smacked her palm against her forehead. Her hand collided with the deep bruise between her eyes.
“Ow!” She clenched her teeth and blinked rapidly to hold back her tears as pain blasted through her forehead and face. “Stupid!”
Allison breathed heavily through the pain until it began to dwindle to a dull throb. Her brain felt like it was on fire. What the hell had just happened back there?
She had not only completely freaked out, but she had also snapped at Elena. That wasn’t cool. Why was she even freaking out to begin with?
“Oh God,” she whispered as she ran a hand through her tangled curls. “I’m jealous.”
As soon as the words slithered across her lips, Allison knew they were true, and, in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to crawl in a hole and die. She could not, could not, could not be falling for Elena fucking Vega. It was positively out of the question.
And why was it out of the question? Because, Allison told herself, you are a poor orphan student and she is a rich, successful businesswoman. She is way, way out of your lame little league!
“Just let it go, Allison,” she whispered. “Just let it go.”
It wasn’t like they couldn’t still be friends, though Allison was going to have to get a handle on her jealousy, but yeah. She could do this. It wasn’t like this was the first time she’d crushed on a girl she couldn’t have. It would pass. She just needed a little time.
She took a deep breath and let it out in one long, easy sigh before cracking her neck to both sides, shaking out her hands, and walking calmly back into the house.
* * *
Elena was in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water, when she heard footsteps sound behind her. She looked up to see Allison standing just a few feet away, expression sheepish and feet shuffling in place. “Oh,” Elena said. “I thought you might have left.”
Allison shook her head. “No, I just needed some air.”
“I see,” Elena replied. She took a tentative step toward Allison and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Are you all right?”
Allison visibly swallowed. “Yeah, fine.”
“Are you sure? Allison, have I done something to upset you?”
“No!” Allison took a step closer and reached for Elena’s hands. She laced their fingers together. “No, Elena. You didn’t do anything.” She released one of Elena’s hands and scratched awkwardly at the back of her neck as she then avoided the woman’s gaze. “I guess pain just makes me a little grouchy.”
Elena smiled and slowly reached out to graze her fingers across the puffy, purple flesh between Allison’s eyes. “Would you like some more aspirin? Or an ice pack, perhaps?”
Allison shook her head gently back and forth against Elena’s fingertips. “Nah,” she whispered. “I should probably get going anyway. I’m sure you’ve gotta work in the morning, and I’ve got a nine a.m. class.”
“You could stay,” Elena suggested and nearly bit through her tongue the second the words escaped her. Had she really just said that?
“What?” Allison blurted. “Like overnight?”
Elena, realizing it was too late to take it back, choked down the quivering lump in her throat and nodded. “Yes. It’s late, and you’re in pain. I would offer to drive you, but then we would have to drag Lucas out of bed, and I’m still concerned about your head injury. Please, will you stay? I can drive you to school in the morning after dropping Lucas at my mother’s.”
“You’d do that?”
“Allison, of course.” She squeezed Allison’s hand, which she only just realized was still latched onto her own. “Will you stay?”
Allison smirked. “You sure you’re not just trying to get me into your bed?”
Elena was absolutely aware that Allison was joking, but her entire body exploded, regardless, at the mere thought. She sucked in a sharp breath and before she could stop herself, she summoned her courage and whispered, “If you would like to be there, you are welcome to be.”
“What do you mean?” Allison asked, her voice strained and her eyes practically boring into Elena’s.
“I just meant that it would likely be best if I could monitor you overnight, considering you could still have a concussion,” Elena explained, internally smacking the hell out of herself. So much for courage, she thought.
“O-oh. Right. Uh, I mean, I guess that’d be okay. Your bed is pretty huge anyway. Are you sure you don’t mind, because I don’t wanna inconvenience you or anything?”
Elena shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”
“Okay.”
Elena wasn’t sure who moved first, only that they had somehow gone from standing and staring at each other in the kitchen to walking slowly and silently down the hallway toward her bedroom. Their shoulders brushed occasionally as they walked, and Elena was desperately trying not to overthink the fact that Allison still had yet to let go of her hand.
The air was thick and ripe with their silence as they entered Elena’s bedroom. They stood inside the doorway for a moment, holding hands and staring at the king-sized bed before them, which now seemed terribly daunting. Elena was the first to move.
“Would you like something to sleep in?” She untangled her hand from Allison’s and moved across the room to her dresser.
“Oh no, that’s okay,” Allison said. “But do you have an extra toothbrush?”
Elena pointed toward her bathroom. “There should be one in the second drawer to the right of the sink.”
“Okay, thanks.” Allison crossed to the bathroom, and Elena heard her open a drawer and rip open the package of a new toothbrush.
When she heard the faucet running, Elena quickly changed into a small silky nightgown and settled onto the edge of her bed to apply lotion to her legs, as was part of her nightly routine. She was rubbing down the length of her left leg when she glanced up to find Allison peeking around the corner, watching her hands move.
Their eyes locked and Elena felt a wave of heat roll through her lower abdomen. Seeing Allison immediately jerk back into the bathroom almost made her laugh out loud and gave her a flare of confidence. She finished with her lotion and then took a deep breath before sauntering into the bathroom.
Preparing her own toothbrush and popping it into her mouth, Elena stood opposite Allison. Their hips leaned against the counter, and they awkwardly stared at each other while they brushed.
Elena chuckled low in her throat when a long stream of toothpaste dribbled out of Allison’s mouth and down her chin. She smiled around her toothbrush at her, but when she did, a stream dripped down her own chin, and that caused Allison to erupt into laughter as well. They cackled at each other as they each tried to catch their own minty drool, swiping at their chins and spitting their excess toothpaste into the sink.
The laughter helped to calm Elena’s nerves—that is, until they re-entered the bedroom and faced the daunting bed once more. “Are you sure you don’t want something to sleep in?” Elena asked again.
Allison nodded as she rounded the bed. “I usually just sleep in my boy shorts and a tank top. Is that okay?”
Heat sparked in Elena’s body again, curling low in her stomach, but she did her best to appear casual and unaffected by simply nodding and slipping into the bed on her usual side. She tried to avert her gaze, but it was hopeless. Her eyes had other plans, and she found herself covertly sneaking glances in Allison’s direction as she undressed.
First went Allison’s boots and socks, then her belt. Elena clenched her fists tightly around her blankets as she watched Allison somewhat slowly unbutton her shirt before letting it drop to the floor, leaving her in only a thin tank top and jeans. Finally, Allison popped the button on her jeans and shimmied out of them with some difficulty, so that she only wore that thin tank top and boy-short panties.
Allison was quick to slide beneath the covers once she was exposed; so quick, in fact, that Elena barely got a glance at her long and muscled legs. Still, a glance was enough. Elena’s entire body felt that glance.
They lay on their backs several feet away from one another, staring up at the ceiling. Elena reached over and clicked off her bedside lamp. Once the room was fully encased in darkness, she quietly said, “Goodnight Allison.”
“Night,” Allison replied.
Elena didn’t close her eyes but continued to stare up at the ceiling. The air in the room seemed to grow thicker in the darkness. Allison shifted a few inches closer before rolling toward the center of the bed, and Elena turned on her side and inched over like a caterpillar until they met in the middle. They stopped when there was only about a foot of empty space between their bodies, and Elena’s heart pounded.
She lay awake for a long time, long enough that it felt as if hours had passed, though she wasn’t sure. She could have easily just rolled over and checked the time on her clock, but Elena couldn’t bring herself to move. She was still on her side, facing Allison.
Elena slowly opened her eyes and it took a few seconds to adjust to the darkness so that she could see the woman lying beside her. Allison was positioned on her back, and Elena strained to see her better. She let out a sigh of relief when she noticed the way Allison’s chest rose slowly, indicating that she was breathing deeply—a sure sign that Allison was fast asleep.
Her heart stammered and her stomach clenched as she reached across the small space between them, her fingers slipping slowly through the dark. She could barely make out Allison’s serene features through the shadows, facing upward toward the ceiling. Elena tentatively grazed her fingertips over Allison’s cheek as she whispered, “I wish I were braver, brave enough to have said this when you were awake.” She let out a shaky breath. “Allison, I adore you.”
Elena sighed as she then moved to retract her arm, but jolted in place when a hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist. Her heart blasted against her ribcage, panic spilling through her chest, as Allison turned quickly on the mattress to face her. She was awake. Allison’s eyes locked onto her in the dark, and Elena’s breathing grew fast and shallow.
“Do you mean that?”
“Yes.”
The silence that followed seemed almost loud, and Elena’s stomach rolled at the thought that she might have just ruined everything, but then Allison tightened her grip, and Elena felt a tug on her arm and followed the motion, shifting closer to Allison until they were a mere inch or two from one another. The warmth of their combined body heat quickly devoured the hair’s width between them. Elena took in shallow breaths as their noses brushed and Allison’s grip loosened, but only so her hand could slide up and tangle with Elena’s.
It felt like electricity sparked in the dark, fueled by the energy flowing between their buzzing bodies as their noses bumped again and their fingers clenched tightly together. Elena could feel Allison’s breath in hot puffs against her face, and then Allison whispered, “Elena?”
The breathy sound of her name sent tingles rippling down Elena’s spine and pooling at the base of her back in a near-painful knot of tension. “Yes?” she breathed.
Allison nudged her nose against Elena’s again. “Can I—”
Elena couldn’t help the raspy moan that escaped her as she cut Allison off. “Please kiss me.”
Allison closed the minute distance between them and tenderly pressed her lips to Elena’s. Elena melted into her in a hard shudder, their bodies molding together beneath the sheets as shockwaves rippled through her at that first heated press of lips and breath.
