Page 36 of Love and Cherish

Why was that?

Unfortunately, she’d have to wait another week to talk to Jackson about it since he was at an intense work thing. Haylee let Cherish lead the way down the sidewalk. Darkness had already cast itself over the city, but the streetlights were bright enough that they could make their way to where Cherish had parked.

They stopped at the street, waiting for the light to change and the cars to stop so they could cross. Cherish still held onto her hand tightly, fingers clasped together, like they were a real couple. Haylee’s heart hammered. None of this made sense. Yesterday Cherish was giving her the cold shoulder, today was just flat out awkward as fuck, and tonight? Tonight they could be mistaken for a regular couple out on a date.

A car drove by fast, its wheels loud in the puddles. Haylee lifted her chin just in time to see it coming. It wasn’t stopping. She turned her back to it, grasping Cherish’s other arm and pressing Cherish’s head against her chest. She held on as the cold splash of water sprayed all over her back, soaking into her clothes and drenching her from head to toe.

“Fuck,” Cherish muttered, but she didn’t move. She didn’t step back.

Haylee’s heart raced as she unclenched her eyes. She didn’t regret it for a second. Haylee lifted her chin, staring directly into Cherish’s shadowed eyes. They were wide, but not with fear. Surprise. Concern. And was that endearment?

Reaching up, Cherish cupped Haylee’s cheek, her thin fingers with plain beige nail polish pressed into Haylee’s wet cheek. “Why did you do that?”

Haylee shrugged. “Your clothes are nicer than mine.”

Cherish snorted and shook her head. “No, really. Why did you do that?”

“I don’t know,” Haylee whispered. Was the wine getting to her? She must have drunk one glass too many. She should have stopped at two.

Cherish took a step closer, their bodies lining up—hip to hip, chest to chest. Her mouth was only inches away from Haylee’s. The light changed, the incessant beeping for those who were blind to walk echoed in her ears, but Haylee didn’t make a move to walk across the street. Neither did Cherish. The rain started in heavier, large cold drops landing on top of Haylee’s head as she hunched down against it. But again, Cherish didn’t move. Haylee was completely entranced with the moment, the closeness, the arousal that coursed through her.

“Cherish,” Haylee murmured, wrapping her hand around Cherish’s side, the curve of her waist, under her blazer to the small of her back. The scent of her shampoo was so subtle, but this close, Haylee couldn’t mistake that note of intoxicating lavender. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” Cherish whispered back. “For once, I don’t know.”

Cherish tilted her head up, nuzzling her nose against Haylee’s cheek. She sucked in a breath, the sound loud in Haylee’s ears. The rain around them started to hit harder, pounding the pavement, but for some reason, it didn’t touch them. Haylee’s heart hammered, and she pressed her fingers into the small of Cherish’s back, pulling her closer.

“I’m just…going with the flow.” Cherish turned her cheek, her lips brushing lightly against Haylee’s skin, just on the edge of her jaw.

“Are you?” Haylee’s eyes fluttered shut. What was she supposed to do? This wasn’t something she had ever expected to happen.

“You were right earlier.” Cherish’s lips were on Haylee’s jaw again. Haylee dug her fingers into Cherish’s back, holding on tight. “I don’t take risks.”

“I think we’ve both had too much wine.”

“Probably.” Cherish let out the most adorable chuckle in the back of her throat, a mix between a laugh and a moan. “Right now I think I want to take a risk.”

“Risk what?” Haylee turned her face into Cherish’s, pressing their cheeks fully against each other.

Cherish backed away slightly, enough that she could look up into Haylee’s eyes. Their lips were so close that it wouldn’t take much for Haylee to lean forward and press their mouths together, but she couldn’t do that, could she? This would mean so much more than a quick fling, and Haylee didn’t do relationships like that. She didn’t dive deep. But it was obvious that Cherish did. No one would ever accuse her of being flighty.

“Everything.” Moving in, Cherish fluttered her lips across Haylee’s.

Haylee’s breath caught. Her heart stopped briefly. Her knees went weak. She had to hold tightly onto Cherish just to stay upright. Water dripped down her forehead, over her eyes and mingled on her lips as Cherish slid the tip of her tongue across them. Warm and cold mixed. Haylee’s entire body lit up with pleasure.

“Cherish,” she whispered just as Cherish dove in for a deeper kiss.

Their mouths melded together, Cherish’s hands wild in Haylee’s hair, pushing the long strands to the side to reveal the buzzed undercut on the side of her head that she’d been so careful to hide from Febe. Cherish scraped her nails against Haylee’s scalp, sucking in another large breath before slowly sliding her tongue between Haylee’s lips. Cherish whined.

Haylee very nearly fell to the sidewalk, dragging Cherish with her. This was the best damn first kiss she had ever experienced. Nothing compared to this. Diving her fingers into Cherish’s long red hair, Haylee tangled them together even more. She nipped at Cherish’s lower lip and shoved her thigh between Cherish’s legs, hoping that Cherish would press more tightly against her.

The loud splash shocked both of them but not as much as the sudden dump of cold street water over their heads. Breaking the kiss, Haylee hunched down again before backing away to look Cherish over to make sure she was all right. She was drier than Haylee at least. Spinning around, Haylee glared at whatever car was now long gone.

Cherish giggled, the sound flowing up and out of her lips pure and beautiful. She snagged Haylee’s hand and dragged her back for another quick kiss. “We should probably get home.”

That didn’t sound like an offer to continue what they’d started. “Yeah,” Haylee answered on a shiver. “You’re not as wet as I am.”

Haylee smacked her forehead. She was an idiot.

---