Page 78 of Hot Summer

It was scary, feeling that potential when you were with someone who mattered. But it was also probably what was making Cas’s heart squeeze in her chest, and her legs press together in a desperate attempt to relieve the tension.

Cas sat down on the end of the bed and grabbed the envelope, her finger slicing open the seal as Ada started making her way around the room, opening every drawer and door she could get her hands on.

“ ‘Cas and Ada,’ ” Cas read. “ ‘Welcome to the retreat. Cameras will go off approximately thirty minutes after you’ve entered the room. The neon light will switch off as your signal that filming has ended. You are welcome to use anything in the space, including the hot tub on the back patio. Enjoy your time, xoxo Hot Summer Production.’ ” She set the note down on the bed. “I didn’t bring a bikini. Did you know there was a hot tub?”

Ada hummed absently, her fingers trailing along the edge of the chest of drawers opposite the bed. She was clearly too preoccupied to care about a hot tub.

“What are you looking for?”

“I don’t know.” Ada tilted her entire body to the side so she could peer into the wardrobe. “What if there’s something really cool hidden in here?”

“There isn’t.” Cas leaned back onto her hands, her eyes skimming the long line of Ada’s legs, the curve of her bum. “The best you’ve got in here is the drawer under the bed.”

She tapped said drawer with her heel, and something rolled over inside. And, oh god, she knew exactly what that was.

“That’s a drawer?!”

Ada practically ran over to the bed and tugged the drawer open. Cas lifted her legs just in time, swinging them off to the side so that she didn’t get thrown off the bed with Ada’s enthusiasm.

Ada started cackling as soon as she looked inside.

“Holy shit, it’s, like, a sex shop in here.”

She wasn’t lying.

There were handcuffs, feathers, riding crops, blindfolds, and different sexy outfits. Ada dropped to her knees and reached into the drawer, pulling more things toward her.

Edible underwear.

Candy bikini.

Body paint.

There weren’t any vibrators or anything that Cas would have actually found interesting—it was probably too much of an expense, and after all, it was easier to replace or sanitize a set of handcuffs than it was a whole fucking vibrator—but the sight of everything else Ada had found laid out in a neat row inside the drawer was still enough to make Cas’s cheeks heat.

Yes, she knew what was expected of them the moment they walked through the door of the retreat, but it didn’t make the reality of this moment any less, well...

“That’s quite the collection,” Cas said. She had never sounded more middle class than she did in that moment, and she wanted to go stick her head into the hot tub on the back patio and drown herself.

Ada laughed softly, though she sounded less amused and more like she was lost in thought. “It is. Though, I can think of a few things that I’d add.”

“Can you?”

Ada hummed and slid her hand up along the outside of Cas’s calf.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” Ada said softly.

Cas felt like she was going to pass out. She needed to remember that they were on television right now.

And that as much as she wanted to slide off this bed onto the floor and tear Ada’s shorts off and—

Cas reached out, her fingers nearly trembling, and threaded her hands through the ends of Ada’s hair. It was so soft, the way it flowed over Cas’s fingers like water. Everything about Ada was velvet smooth—her hair, her curves, her smile, her laugh. It was hard to be sharp, to be the most pointed version of herself when Cas was around someone like that. Someone who made her want to go easy.

“We don’t have to do anything, you know,” Cas said. She was twirling the end of Ada’s hair between her fingers, trying to stay focused despite the fact that Ada was sliding her hand up along the outside of Cas’s thigh. “Just because we’re in this room—”

“I know.” Ada pressed up onto her knees, sliding forward so that they were practically chest to chest now. If Cas took a deep enough breath, her breasts would brush up against the side of Ada’s arm.

And, suddenly, Cas was met with an urgent need to take the deepest breath of her life.

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