Page 57 of Flirting Lessons

Avery nodded. Taylor pulled cash out of her pocket and tossed it on the bar, and then saw two women standing together behind the loud dude, obviously trying to get the swamped bartender’s attention. She caught the eye of one of them, and made the universalwe’re leaving, want our seats?gesture, to which the other woman nodded gratefully. The four of them executed the switch, right under the outraged eyes of the loud man and his buddy, and she and Avery walked to the door. Taylor rested her hand on the small of Avery’s back as they moved through the crowd.

“You’re so good at that,” Avery said.

“So good at what?” Taylor asked as they got to the door of the bar.

Avery smiled.

“You know. Supporting other women.”

Taylor felt relieved by that smile. She’d suggested leaving on an impulse, once it got so crowded, and when she’d realized they’d been low-key shouting so they could hear each other for the past fifteen minutes. But once they’d gotten up to leave, she’d wondered if this would be it for tonight, if she and Avery would walk outside and Avery would take a step back from her, give Taylor one of her sweet, infectious laughs, ask for her grade on her flirting midterm, and then Taylor would simply drive her home and wave goodbye.

But Avery was still by her side, still smiling at her, still looking at her like she was a plump, juicy strawberry, just waiting to be gobbled up. Was she looking at Avery like that? Almost certainly yes.

“Where to next?” Avery asked her.

Taylor thought for a second.

“Want to walk down to the Barrel? I don’t go there that often, since as much as I adore Margot, she’s always there, and I don’t need to hang out during my off hours with my boss. But since she and Luke are on their way to San Francisco…”

“Perfect. I love that place,” Avery said.

Taylor dropped her hand from the small of Avery’s back, but they still walked closely together, Avery’s skirt brushing against her legs, their hands touching once, twice, three times, until finally their fingers intertwined. Avery’s hand was warm and soft, and her grip on Taylor’s firm. So different from earlier in the night, when Avery’s move to turn her hand over so they were—sortof—holding hands was tentative, something that could be pretended away if Taylor had moved. Now she held on to Taylor’s hand with certainty. Taylor liked it. A lot.

They stopped outside the Barrel to let a big group walk by, and Taylor looked up at Avery. She always forgot that Avery was taller than her, since so often they were sitting next to each other, not standing or walking together. Even with Avery in flats, and her in sneakers, Avery was at least four inches taller than her, tall enough that she had to look up at her.

Avery let go of Taylor’s hand and lifted hers to Taylor’s hair.

“Are you growing this out?” she asked, stroking the shaved area above Taylor’s right ear. Taylor’s eyes fluttered closed for a second at the gentle tickle as Avery’s fingers brushed against the stubble there.

“Not exactly,” she said. “I’ve been lazy about going to get it touched up, and I can’t do it myself. I’ve tried, and it was not a good experiment. I’m not very good at that kind of thing.” She raised an eyebrow at Avery, whose fingers were still in her hair. “Should I grow it out? It would definitely make things easier. Less maintenance.”

Avery moved her fingers back and forth against Taylor’s hair again, in a way that made Taylor’s whole body react.

“No,” Avery said. “Don’t grow it out. I like it.”

Avery smiled down at her. Had Avery moved closer to her, or had Taylor moved closer to Avery? Taylor didn’t know, but she knew that she wanted them to be even closer.

“Avery.”

Avery’s eyes were intent on hers.

“Yeah?” she asked, almost in a whisper.

“Now is when you kiss me.”

Avery’s hand moved from her hair to her cheek, and Averybent down to Taylor as Taylor reached up to her. Her lips barely touched Taylor’s, a soft brush of them at first, and then gentle pressure that Taylor returned. The kisses got longer, but they were still soft, gentle, light yet tantalizing kisses that reminded Taylor of that way she’d stroked Avery’s hand earlier in the night. She wanted to speed it up and pull her close, but she let Avery control this. Every brush of her lips made Taylor’s entire body quiver.

She put her hand on Avery’s waist, not hard, just so she could touch her more, feel that part of her body, feel the skin underneath her thin dress.

That must have been some sort of signal to Avery that Taylor really wanted this, though she had no idea how Avery could be ignorant of that. Avery’s tongue slid into her mouth, and Taylor could have cried out in victory. Instead, she pulled Avery flush against her body, kissed her harder, let her hands grip Avery’s waist, then roam upward until her fingers tangled in Avery’s hair. Their lips and tongues danced together, soft and hard, gentle and firm, sweet and yearning, all at the same time.

Taylor slid her lips down so she could kiss Avery’s throat, her neck, her collarbone. Avery sighed, her hands moving up Taylor’s back, gripping tightly and letting go in turn. God, it was going to be fun to learn what she liked.

Then Taylor lifted her head again and went back to Avery’s incredible lips. Avery kissed her back, harder than before, more determined, more intent. Taylor liked this side of her a lot.

“Avery?” Taylor said in a low voice.

“Mmm?”

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