Page 46 of Hidden Desire

Sage snaked her hand around Stassi’s neck and drew her into a kiss. “Let’s make it higher,” She whispered before passionately kissing Stassi, slowly dipping her tongue in to taste the sound of Stassi’s groan. With the moon casting a shadow down over them, they remained in that spot, ready to reunite.

“Sage?” Stassi whispered.

“Yeah?” Sage continued to plant sensual kisses on Stassi as she waited for Stassi to continue.

“Let’s vow that the budget cuts or anything that happens in the hospital stays in the hospital and does nothing to break us. Deal?”

Sage smiled between kisses. That was a vow she could keep because right there, at that moment, she wouldn’t let anything break them, especially something that was out of their hands.

Stassi

Stassi

What sounds good to eat tonight?

Sage

Anything. I’m famished. Your choice.

Stassi

I’ll figure something out. What time should I expect you?

Sage

10. I know, so late. I’m sorry. I’ll be home ASAP. I can warm up anything.

Stassi wasn’t surprised. Two weeks into the budget cuts, her hours had already been drastically slashed. Sage’s, however, they had no choice but to keep her. They had laid off two of the Occupational Therapists, and there weren’t any other employees to treat the patients. The patient count hadn’t decreased despite the budget cuts, so the workload increased. Ten o’clock was actually early for Sage.

Over those two weeks, Sage and Stassi had gotten closer. It was nice to be the one who was there to help Sage whenever she needed it, fixing her food or whatever. And with not working as many hours, she was able to stay at Sage’s apartment and handle those certain tasks. Plus, Sage appreciated it. Her last girlfriend was more into the money Stassi could spend on her, so it was a nice change to have Sage appreciative.

Stassi also made sure that whenever she came home from work late, she had the apartment spotless; she didn’t want Sage to feel like she had to come home and pick everything up, as well. It was a unique experience for her, but Stassi had no problems taking care of Sage and being the woman of the house, even when they weren’t living together.

Stassi’s phone rang, and she grabbed it before it reached ring number two. “Hey there. Long time no talk.”

“That’s because you’ve been stuck with Sage every night.” Ariel’s tone was one of disgust. Stassi knew that Ariel felt she was neglecting their friendship, but while Sage needed her, she had to make her the priority. This is something Ariel should understand, especially when she had been spending most of her nights with Natalia. Life should be about the people who are important in your life, and Sage was that for Stassi.

“So, what you up to?” Stassi asked, hoping that the obvious switch of the subject would tell Ariel what she wanted to hear.

“Headed out to the club. Thought you might want to join me. If you can tear yourself away from Sage for two minutes.”

Stassi rolled her eyes. “I can,” she began. “But I already promised Sage that I would have supper waiting for her, and I haven’t even started. I’ll have to take a rain check.”

“Again?” Ariel muttered. She heaved a sigh. “You know, we haven’t even gotten together to celebrate your spread in the magazine. I just saw it this morning. It looks great.”

“Oh? Is that out? Completely slipped my mind.”

It wasn’t entirely the case, but she didn’t want to rub it in Sage’s nose when it was clear that was one thing that they were still separated by. “I got something from Kelly yesterday but haven’t even opened it.”

The phone went silent. She checked it to make sure that Ariel hadn’t hung up on her, then brought it back to her ear. “You certainly aren’t the same Stassi. You would have been in line the night before to grab all the copies you could.”

“You aren’t wrong,” Stassi mumbled. She leaned back on the couch. But in all fairness, what kind of woman is that? If someone can’t show some humility in their life, then all they are is a beautiful cover, and I want to be more than that. Ariel didn’t immediately reply. “But I’m the same person you knew, Ariel. I just have grown up a bit.” Again, Ariel didn’t reply. “Are you there?”

“I’m here. Just wondering if your new lifestyle has room for me.” Her voice was so low that Stassi had to hold her breath while pressing her phone into her ear. “Guess I’m a bit worried that we’ll drift apart. If we haven’t already.”

“Ariel don’t say that,” Stassi argued. “Changing and growing isn’t a bad thing. I just wish that you could see that Sage is a good woman, and we work well together. If you weren’t worried that I would move on and forget our friendship, I think you would see that.”

“Maybe.”

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