Page 22 of Always There For You

Amelia slipped into the seat across from Hadley and leaned forward, right hand cupping her chin. Her pretty brown gaze cut down to the various decks Hadley had been sorting through. “I think we kind of…fell into this. Because it was easy and we’d both wanted it for so long and I just need to even things out.” Those eyes were on her now, hot and sharp. “I feel unbalanced, Hads. And I don’t want that with you. I want to make sure we’re okay and we talk about what we…what we…”

“What we want.” She could barely force the words up out of her throat but now they hung in the air on a whisper. They were alone on the second floor, as Larsen and Sara finished up for the night on the main floor and the other staff had long ago left. But it felt like her whisper echoed all around them. “Fuck, Ames, I know. I know we’re so busy but I also want to know where we go from here.” She touched Amelia’s hand, then squeezed it; got a squeeze in return. “Cause I feel like I’ve loved you for so long and now it feels so easy, too. But there are things I want and I don’t want you to feel like I need them in order to stay by your side. I don’t. Ever.”

Amelia was quiet for a moment, her stare fixed on their joined hands. “If I’m going to be with anyone, it’s you.”

Hadley could barely stand it. The desperate beating of her heart kicked up and she could feel the air between them crackle. She was the wild, carefree one, bouncing all over the world and stealing into different beds of women who captured her fancy. But a lot of that wild, reckless energy had faded over the last few years. Maybe it was because she’d started to understand how precious Amelia was, or maybe all that bed-hopping simply lost its luster and excitement. Amelia, in her very typical way, was more methodical, more logical in her approach to relationships. There had been a few, early on, that had made something in Hadley practically boil with jealousy, but she’d been the good friend, the supportive person Amelia could call and grouse with and help nurse her broken heart through the telephone line. But her dearest didn’t get physical with just anyone. There needed to be real spark, real connection.

And Hadley was certain — quietly, beautifully so, in this very moment and so many others over decades — that she would give Amelia anything. Everything. If all they did was kiss and touch and fall asleep beside each other every night, that was more than enough. Those old notions of sex being the only way to connect with someone on a physical level had long been dashed aside in favor of her bed smelling like Amelia; of oak racks and fresh green things growing in damp soil and the shampoo they now shared.

“You want to be with me?” Hadley leaned forward, inching her way closer; tugging Amelia closer.

Amelia’s smile could have snapped her in half. “Only you. Maybe I’m old fashioned. I’m not built for anything other than slow and steady, with one person.” The smile turned into a playful smirk and the thing coiling in Hadley’s gut tightened. “But I also know that you’ll be gentle with me.”

The implication in Amelia’s words hit like a slow-motion highway pile up. “Oh.”

“That’s all you can say?”

“Now you’re just teasing me.”

“I am.” Amelia slid her hand over Hadley’s. “Should I stop?”

“Nooo, no, no, please don’t.”

“Night, you two!” Larsen’s voice echoed from downstairs. Sara's similar call also filtered up to them. She and Amelia grinned at each other before saying their goodbyes for the day.

And then they were alone somewhere that wasn’t the cottage.

Hadley pulled Amelia to her feet, pulled her close, and whispered, “I’ll be whatever you want me to with you.”

“I know.” Amelia cupped her face and pressed their foreheads together. “Let’s get takeout and go home.”

Hadley gave a fake gasp as they stood. “Who are you and what did you do with my best -“

The kiss cut her off. Hadley melted against Amelia, leaning into her, pressing her fingers into Amelia’s back and getting the soft groan she knew the touch would elicit. This last week of cuddling and kisses had been so sweet; sweet enough to twist her heart in new, pleasurable ways. But now Amelia’s mouth moved against her own with intent and there was a hand on the back of her neck. A tongue swiping at her bottom lip, leaving Hadley gasping. “Kiss me,” Amelia said between short, sharp pecks to her mouth. “Please.” Another flicker of tongue. Amelia teasing her.

The always-simmering fire in her for this woman roared to life. Hadley caved. She carefully steered them toward the bit of bare brick wall at the right edge of the bar. It was in full view of anyone pressing close to the storefront’s glass window, but she didn’t care. Amelia didn’t either, not with the way her touches turned into clutching, grasping bites of fingertips against Hadley’s skin.

Just before Amelia’s back hit the wall, Hadley slipped around her to press herself into that space instead. Understanding flickered in Amelia’s eyes, something she caught sight of for only a moment before her friend (her best friend, her one and only love) descended on her.

This was a kiss. Maybe the kiss that would stoke them both to a flashing roar of fire and need. It certainly left Hadley’s head spinning. Amelia’s tongue in her mouth, their bodies pressed so tightly together. The way Amelia leaned into her. The heat of her and the kiss. Soft red hair against her face, making her shiver. Fingertips playing at the buttoned shawl collar of her sweater, as if Amelia wanted to unwrap her from her clothes.

“Take me home,” she groaned against that soft set of lips. “Ames. Please.”

Hadley would forever deny that Amelia let out a small whimper, but it was difficult to not grin. Her stoic, beautiful best friend, reduced to a shivery gasp by a few kisses. “Let’s go.”

Their takeout went cold on the kitchen counter.

Hadley was warm underneath her, arching, moaning, gasping as Amelia kissed her throat and threaded their fingers together. They both shed their heavier outer layers, and as the bedroom fireplace crackled and sputtered, Hadley was right there. Her firm, almost too hot hands rubbing Amelia’s bare arms, fingers dipping under the sleeves of her thin t-shirt. She closed her eyes and let herself feel. And then her brain got in the way. Wondering, worrying, mildly freaking out over the fact that this was happening at all.

“Hey.”

Those same warm hands cupped her face and when Amelia looked down at Hadley, she swore she was staring into the sun. Hadley’s hair was fanned out around her, waves of dark and lighter browns still echoing with the red highlights she’d put in months ago. “Hey.”

Hadley wrinkled her nose. “Where’d you go, babe?”

“Nowhere.” Amelia sighed before flopping onto the bed and scooting close to Hadley. “Somewhere. You know me.”

A finger gently tapped her temple. “Overthinking.”

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