I couldn’t move, even as her breathing became slow and heavy. What the hell? What had we done? What were we doing?
Whatever it was, it felt… awesome.
Maybe it was the wine, or the long day, but I relaxed into Jessica’s arms and let the soft rhythm of her breathing lull me into deep sleep.
6.
Jessica
Amelia was still sleeping when I sat up groggily. I untangled my legs from her and tried to piece together what had happened.
We’d kissed.
Okay.
That had been the point of inviting her over, hadn’t it?
Something had felt… weird about it. Or, not weird, exactly, but it was something. I’d felt something.
I stopped that thought—Cleo! I’d left her in my bedroom all night! I bolted to my room, surprised Amelia didn’t wake from all my movement. When I tore open my door, Cleo was sleeping peacefully on my pillow. There were no signs of separation anxiety like scratching or making a mess on my bed. She raised her head, blinking sleepily.
“Hey, did you spend the whole night all on your own?”
She stretched out her adorable little paws and rolled onto her back for me to pet her stomach.
“Wow, I’m so proud of you!” I nuzzled her soft fur. The first night I’d brought her home, she’d sat on the other side of my bedroom door whining until I let her in. Since then, she hadn’t dealt well with being separated from me for more than a couple hours, so spending the night on her own was a huge milestone.
I tiptoed out to the kitchen and quietly put some food in her dish. As Cleo ate, I peeked back into the living room where Amelia was sprawled unconscious on my couch. Had we actually both squeezed onto the sofa together? We’d really been pressed close all night.
I figured I should make the girl some breakfast for when she woke up, but I couldn’t concentrate. I ran a hand through my hair, feeling like I needed to take a run to help sort out the strange knot building in my stomach. Cleo was now cheerfully chasing around a tennis ball, so I slipped on some work-out clothes and snuck out the door.
I always felt better with the adrenaline of a run pumping through me. I ran down the tree-lined path behind my house until all the kinks from the night before eased themselves out of my body. Then there was just the kink in my mind to work out.
Something had happened last night, and I didn’t know what it was. Maybe Amelia had been right, maybe kissing a woman was a bigger deal than I’d thought it would be. But it wasn’t just the kiss, it was spending time with her, telling her about my mom—why had I told her? I never talked about my mom, let alone complete strangers.
Opening up had just felt… right.
And then the kiss, well, that had felt right too.
Which was a problem.
I pumped my legs harder, feeling the satisfying burn spread through my muscles as I sped past trees and brush. The kiss was supposed to be practice, but it had felt real. Even though I couldn’t quite say I was attracted to Amelia, the emotion had been there in our kiss. Fuck. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Was never supposed to happen between co-stars.
A twig snapped violently beneath my running shoe. I was making a bigger deal out of this than I needed to. Amelia had shown me something last night that had made me see her as a potentially great friend. The kind of friend that you have to kiss for work. Just like I’d kissed Oliver for work and tons of men before him. Maybe Amelia and I just had that extra bond because we were both women.
Yeah. That was it.
I stopped to pant breathlessly, bent over with my hands resting on my thighs. I hadn’t even realized how hard I’d been pushing myself. But like always, it’d helped to sort out what was going on in my head.
I let myself jog at a more leisurely pace on the way back. Why had I made such a big deal out of my kiss with Amelia? It made me want to laugh now! Just a kiss. Just two sets of lips meeting one another. Well, and my hands in her hair—but still. Not a big deal.
I dried the sweat from my face on one of the towels left out by the pool before pulling open the sliding glass patio doors. If Amelia still wasn’t up, I’d shower, then cook us some breakfast. Hopefully she liked scrambled eggs and bacon, because that was the extent of my culinary abilities. I checked to make sure the fridge was stocked before I looked in on her.
I almost considered telling her about what a big deal I’d made of our kiss, because it felt like a joke now. I went into the living room to check on her and—
The couch was empty.
“Amelia?” I stopped to listen and only heard Cleo playing with a squeak toy in the next room. Then I noticed her shoes were gone from the front door.