Page 109 of The Snowball Effect

She’d had so many thoughts about this mouth in the last few weeks. So, so many. Whenever Emma laughed, pursed her lips, or bit down in thought, Regan wondered.

And now, right in this moment, she knew. Now, she knew, and she would never un-know this sensation. She knew that in her very bones.

Emma breathed a shaky exhale against her lips, her firm hand on Regan’s shoulder flexing. Taking a fistful of Regan’s shirt, the grip pulling Regan inches closer.

Inches that Regan was happy to give. She’d be happy to give up all of the space; in fact, she’d be ecstatic to crawl right there into Emma’s lap. To press herself into Emma, to immerse herself in her.

Before she could do it, though, the hand Emma had on her shoulder stopped pulling her in.

Rather, it pushed her back.

Regan moved with the motion, her lips breaking away from Emma’s. As soon as the contact was broken, she could hear the disappointed whimper that escaped the back of her throat.

For just a second, she stayed in that in-between space, keeping her eyes closed as her lips tingled and her blood thrummed through her veins. She’d kissed Emma. She’d kissed Emma, and she’d really, really liked it.

A pleasant warmth followed quickly on the heels of that heated desire, her lips curling into a small smile.

“What wasthat?” Emma breathed. The hand she had still clutching Regan’s shirt tightened even more against Regan’s shoulder.

Finally, she opened her eyes to look at Emma. Who was staring at her with wide-eyed surprise, her lips pink and moist and –wow. Yes, Regan had become aware of her attraction to Emma, but when her mouth looked like that, all plump and freshly kissedby her,she felt herself throb.

“It was a kiss,” she whispered back, heart still pounding in her chest.

“Iknowit was a kiss,” Emma hissed, shaking her head vehemently. “But – butwhy?”

Regan could say that she didn’t know what possessed her to do it, but it would be a lie.

She did it because this attraction she felt for Emma refused to let up intensity; if anything, Regan felt like its hold on her only got stronger.

She did it because Emma was attracted to her, too.

She did it because it feltgoodbeing Emma’s girlfriend. Even if it wasn’t totally real, it felt good.

She did it because she’d wanted to share herself with Emma, and Emma had wanted to listen.

She did it because Emma would sing 3G with her to make her feel better after a hard day.

And, mostly, she did it because she wanted to. She really wanted to.

She still wanted to. Right now, all over again. In fact, as she traced her tongue over her own bottom lip and tasted the remnants of Emma’s chapstick, she wanted to do it again very, very badly.

Slowly, she slid her gaze back up Emma’s face to meet her eyes, a sheepish smile playing on her lips. “Um… so here’s the thing–”

Abruptly, Emma released her grip on Regan’s shirt, as if only realizing in that moment that she’d been holding onto her. She quickly pushed herself up from the couch, her movements awkward and stilted, as if she couldn’t quite catch her bearings.

“Actually, I don’t want to know,” she quickly said, holding up her hand. A hand that was shaking, Regan noticed.

“I don’t want to know anything. I don’t want you to say anything. I don’t want to talk about it. This never happened.”

Emma raised her hands and scrubbed them over her face, looking dazed. Well, more aptly, looking like she wished she could wipe that dazed feeling away.

“Emma–” she tried to start again, moving to stand up herself.

She was stopped as Emma reached out and lightly pushed her back down. “No. You – you stay. Right there.”

Regan slowly settled back onto the couch, tilting her head up at Emma, amusement mixing with confusion. “How long do I have to stay here?”

“Until I leave,” Emma countered firmly. “I’m leaving.”

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