Page 74 of Sparks Like Ours

“Who are you?” Larry Herman asked, stepping between Elle and thetelevision as Isabel handed her the controller. “Who is this, please?” he askedthe room, as if this new individual were invading the stasis of his perfectlyassembled Larry Herman world.

“My girlfriend, Elle,” Gia said. “She’s never played.”

He hesitated. “All right. But you need to understand theimportance of not letting the colored ghosts touch Ms. Pac-Man. She loseslives. And they will chase you, quite vehemently. You need to be prepared forthat inevitability. Do you feel prepared?”

Elle broke into a high-wattage smile. The kind she charmed theworld with effortlessly. “I do. Those are all very helpful tips.”

Larry blushed on cue, and stepped out of the way.

“Hadley might have herself some competition,” Isabel whispered toGia.

Gia laughed. “He should get in line.”

“Hey, sorry the tournament didn’t turn out as you’d hoped.”

“Next time. Trust me. Next time.” They fist-bumped and focused onElle’s atrocious first attempt atMs.Pac-Man. Oh, it wasbad.

“See, you want to go the opposite direction of the ghosts,” Kateexplained calmly.

Larry shook his head in disdain, crossing his arms in a huff.

“Guess you can’t be number one at everything,” Isabel murmured.

“That’s a fun game,” Elle said, as they left the apartment a shorttime later. “Not sure I have much future on the refrigerator, though.” But shewas smiling and lighthearted, one of the qualities Gia loved most about her.“Who knew you were such a nerd?” she asked and bumped Gia’s shoulder.

“Total nerd, with lots of dedication to the job.” Gia bumped herback. “You’ve been forewarned.”

“Nerds aren’t always so sexy. You are, though. What do you have tosay to that?”

“I’ll take it.” But she felt her cheeks heat. So lame. So easy.

“Look at that,” Elle said, touching her face. “Look how easilyaffected you are by just a compliment.”

Gia laughed and looked away. Her heart was full. “Know what Icould go for after traveling? A really hot shower.”

Elle raised an eyebrow, and Gia laughed. “What?” Elle asked. “I’mdoing the Gia. You always raise your eyebrow just like this.” She offered asecond overexaggerated raise.

“No, I don’t. I don’t know who you’ve been talking to.”

“More like, who I’ve been studying.” She hurried up the stairs.“Shower is this way, if memory serves.”

Gia raised her eyebrow.

“See? There it is. More of that. Just like that. Now turn yourhead to the left. Give me sexy eyes,” Elle said, mimicking the photographerfrom their numerous Trainers shoots. Gia chased her up the stairs as shescreamed.

Nine minutes later, the steam from the hot water had nothing onthem. Elle had her up against the wall of the shower and at the mercy of heramazing mouth. With Elle’s fingers pushing into her and her tongue tracingunbelievable patterns between her legs, Gia moaned low from her throat,grasping for something to hold on to, finding very little, until the releaseshe craved came over her in an earth-shattering wash. Elle held her steady,then kissed her way up Gia’s body, licking droplets of water off her as shewent, until they stood face-to-face.

“We’ve been derelict. We’ve been letting showers go to waste,”Elle said, breathless and looking pleased with herself. Her blue eyes danced.“For two people who excel in water, how did we miss this?”

“We won’t ever again,” Gia said. “I always thought shower sex wasoverrated. It’s not. I should damn well apologize to the universe for mynaïveté.” She sucked in more air and reached for Elle, eager to get her handson her and to repay the overly generous favor, and then some. Elle swore whenGia’s hand landed between her legs.

They might have lost out in Portugal, but it was a glorioushomecoming.

* * *

“It’s been forever since we’ve dished. So, tell me, if you had tocategorize things with Gia, what would you say?” Holly asked, as they draggedtheir boards back to the shoreline. It was a beautiful Saturday that came withrelatively calm waters, but they’d managed to get in a good couple of hours onwhat swells they could snag. It was the kind of morning Elle lived for. Nocompetition, no judges, no coaches. Just the unhurried love of the sportalongside her best friend.

Elle dropped her board and looked over at Holly. “Surfing is over,and now we girl talk. I see how it is.”

---