Samantha’s transition from sleep to wakefulness was slow and peaceful. For a long moment, she kept her eyes closed and listened to the second set of breaths that were perfectly in sync with her own. When she finally opened her eyes, she was greeted by Jane gazing back at her, a small smile tugging at full lips.
They were tucked into Jane’s bed, facing each other, but as far apart as they could be without one of them tumbling to the floor. By the bluish light streaming into window, Samantha knew it was just before dawn. If she hurried, she still had time to sneak out and get back to the cottage before Yaya or Pappous realized she was gone. It had been too late to call the night before.
She knew she should feel guilty for that, but falling into eyes that were almost colorless in the eerie early morning light made it hard to feel anything other than adoration. It was weird to wake up in bed with a girl, especially one she hadn’t even kissed. Then again, she’d never woken up in bed with anyone but her mother or Sully back when she was little.
Any sexual experiences she’d had were rushed and in cramped uncomfortable places like bathroom stalls or cars. Just lying close to Jane felt more intimate than anything she’d experienced so far.
“Hi,” Jane whispered sleepily, her voice rough.
Samantha sighed and sank a little deeper into sheets so soft they should be illegal. She couldn’t take her eyes off Jane, who, even with a case of spectacular bedhead, was so cute she could hardly stand it.
Slowly, Samantha reached across the space between them and pressed her finger into the delicate crease at Jane’s cleft chin. “Hi.” She’d had the urge to do that for the longest time.
Jane licked her lips and her eyelids drooped even further. “Are you still sleepy?”
Surprisingly, Samantha wasn’t. The few hours of sleep she did have had been restful and deep. But that didn’t mean her brain was running on all cylinders. When she woke naturally, with no dream to jolt her into awareness, critical thought was a slow and often arduous process. “I’m not. But you are,” she accused playfully.
Jane just nodded, close to drifting back off.
“I need to go.”
That spurred Jane into action, and she frowned and reached for the hand that had just pulled away from her chin. She tenderly stroked the skin with her thumb. “Why?” She blinked a few times and cleared the sleep from her eyes. “And why are you way over there on the very edge of the bed?”
“I dunno. It’s huge.” Samantha stretched out her legs with a bit of amazement. Her feet weren’t even close to hanging off the bottom. This bed would surely take up her entire bedroom. “Is this king-sized?”
Jane shook her head a tiny bit. “Queen.”
“Mmm…Still big.” Affectionately, Samantha brushed some hair from Jane’s forehead. She allowed the silky strands to filter between her fingers with undisguised pleasure and wondered what it would be like to bury her face in its softness and breathe in its clean, girly scent.
“Still big,” Jane agreed with a yawn.
As much as she wanted to stay, it really was time to go. Samantha bit back a sigh and sat up. She scrubbed her face and tried to shake the cobwebs loose.
Jane pushed herself up on her elbows.
“Hey, no, you don’t have to do that.” Samantha’s voice was still a whisper. It seemed to fit the hour and peaceful feeling in the room. “Go back to sleep.”
Jane’s voice was stronger now, but still quiet, and her eyes clear. “I’m not having you walk all the way home. It’s not even really morning yet.”
Samantha laughed quietly as she straightened the T-shirt Jane had given her to wear. It was a little too short, but she supposed nobody would notice. She’d worn ill-fitting clothing more times than she could count. Though she had to admit this time was vastly more satisfying than the others.
“I ran here in the dark last night and was fine, Jane. Besides, the sun will be up soon.”
“You did go all knight-in-shining-armor on me last night, didn’t you?”
Samantha felt her skin grow hot.
“It’s not as dramatic as sprinting, and I don’t have a trusty steed, so my Kia will have to do.” Jane stood and lifted her hands above her head in a languid stretch that completely captured Samantha’s attention. When she was finished, she padded into the bathroom.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
Samantha gave up the fight quickly. She wanted to be with Jane anyway. She purred her acceptance and dug her toes into the plush carpet with a sense of decadence. The bedroom wasn’t particularly fancy. But everything matched: the dressers, the bedframe, a desk with a fancy office chair. Soft, feminine colors complemented each other and blended in a way that looked effortless. Nothing leaned that wasn’t supposed to lean or appeared to have been patched together.
Standing in the center of Jane’s bedroom, Samantha felt a little like a cheap-seat ticket holder who had somehow snuck her way right behind home plate and was mesmerized by the new view of basically the same thing. The proud part of her wanted to say it didn’t matter, that the differences were barely noticeable. But that would be a lie. Never mind the frilly curtains and the sleek laptop speakers tucked discreetly into the bookshelf; some luxuries—her attention strayed to Jane’s divine mattress that had cradled her like a million pillows held by friggin’ angels—were actually pretty damn nice.
Jane closed the bathroom door behind her, and before Samantha could find her sneakers and finish tying them, the toilet flushed and the door opened again. A smiling Jane emerged with a toothbrush stuffed into her mouth and white foam leaking from the corner of her lips.
Humming happily, she handed Samantha another, clearly new toothbrush already loaded with toothpaste.
Samantha stared at the toothbrush in her hand and then back at Jane. Without warning, a sense of déjà vu stole over her, and a peaceful, almost domestic feeling permeated the air like a thick perfume. She’d lived the scene before in a long-buried dream somehow just now unearthed, making the feelings that came with it both old and new. But before she could hold the dream close and examine it, it skittered away again, lost to the recesses of her mind.
“It’s called a toothbrush,” Jane teased, pointing at the purple object dangling loosely from Samantha’s fingers, and then dabbing the corner of her own mouth with her wrist. “Though I’m pretty sure you knew that.”
Samantha forced a smile and allowed the oddly comfortable sensation to pass fully and without further review. She needed information on Jane’s stalker, and all her mind was regurgitating was dreams about toothpaste. Wonderful.
With a sigh, she playfully narrowed her eyes and concentrated on Jane. “You’re one of those morning people I’ve heard about, aren’t you?”
Jane nodded eagerly. “Never seen one of us in person, huh?” She took advantage of Samantha’s inaction and scooted back into the bathroom to rinse out her mouth. When she emerged the second time, she was tying her wavy hair back into a high ponytail.
“I assumed you sort of were like the chupacabra. A fairy tale.”
“Nope. We’re real. And my dad is one too. So you were right before, we should get going.”
Samantha headed for the bathroom but turned in the doorway just as Jane began digging in her closet for clean clothes. She wasn’t ready to spend time apart from Jane, and her mind scrambled for an excuse that would keep them together. Then like a gust of fresh air, understanding swept over her. She didn’t need an excuse. She could just put on her big girl panties and ask Jane.
With her mouth bone-dry, it took a handful of heartbeats to screw up her courage. Samantha suddenly felt awash in guilt for all the times she’d pressured Sully to ask out a girl he liked. It was terrifying. “Do you have any plans for today?”
Jane hesitated, her back to Samantha. “I hope so.”
Samantha’s face fell and she silently mouthed, Shit.
Jane glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes held an edge of uncertainty. “I was hoping we could do something together? If you’re free, that is.”
Relief threatened to melt Samantha’s knees. She was a little confused over who was actually asking whom out now but quickly decided she was too relieved to care. “So you’ll spend the day with me?”
A megawatt smile flared to life on Jane’s face as she squirmed like a second-grader waiting to see what Santa had left her on Christmas morning. “Yes!”
“Jane?”
“Yeah?”
Samantha beamed back and gestured to the lovely but totally unsuitable garment in Jane’s hands. “Don’t wear a dress.”
* * *
Jane did her best not to gag. The smell was nearly as overwhelming as the joyful look on Samantha’s face.
“Oh, my God!” Samantha good-naturedly bumped shoulders with her. “It’s not that bad!”
“Yes, Sam, it actually is.”
At Samantha’s request, they’d stopped off at the docks on the way to the cottage. Samantha had jumped out of the car and jogged over to a fishing schooner that was just getting ready to head out for the day. She’d animatedly spoken to a tall, square-jawed deckhand who had laughed brightly at something she said and stood a little too close to Samantha for Jane’s comfort. Not that she could blame him.
A few minutes later, Samantha returned carrying a small metal bucket whose contents smelled like rancid fish and death. Its odor was so noxious that Jane rolled up her windows and locked her car doors. When Samantha finally stopped laughing, it took her a few minutes of cajoling to be allowed back inside the car, bucket and all.
A quick note to Leola—Gone Fishin’—and the girls sat on the rocks below Samantha’s house with the vast expanse of sea before them. The sun had risen only moments ago and was already warm and bright on their faces.
Samantha shifted to face Jane, and her eyes seemed to drink everything, including Jane, in.
Jane fought the impulse to squirm under the scrutiny. It was a heady feeling to have someone’s undivided attention. “Is there something on my face?”
Samantha’s voice held a note of awe. “The sun makes it look like your hair is on fire.” Mesmerized, she reached out to touch it, but Jane scooted away.
“Nuh uh!” Jane scrunched up her face but couldn’t stop her smile. “Your hand has been in that disgusting gut bucket.”
Samantha laughed softly and rolled her eyes. Once again she repositioned herself on the large rock where she and Jane sat, this time facing the water. Nature had carved out an almost perfect bench into the stone. “If it’s so gross, then let me do it.”
Jane knew she looked like a wimp, and so she refused the further indignity of having Samantha bait her hook like she was a preschooler. “Just—” Gingerly, she lifted the hook. “Just show me how to do it again.”
Indulgently, Samantha nodded and fished a small green crab out of the bucket. With a quick snap she pulled off its legs and quickly worked the body from the shell.
Jane was certain her own pallor was greener than the crab’s.
One of Samantha’s eyebrows popped up. “How can this bother you when you work at Mackelroy’s?”
“I mainly waitress. Besides, his fish don’t smell or look like this!”
“The bait that caught his pretty fish did. Besides, this was free.” She held out the crab. “Okay, take the hook and thread it all the way through the leg socket and out the back. Careful, the hook is sharp.”
Jane bit the bullet and did as instructed. She managed not to gag but couldn’t stop from wrinkling her nose. She let terms like ‘slip rig’ and ‘cinch knot’ float over her head. Where they belonged.
Samantha grabbed a rag from her tackle box. She leaned way over and quickly dipped it into a puddle of seawater that had remained after the surf receded. Then she grabbed Jane’s pole. “Here. For your hands.”
Grateful, Jane accepted the rag with a twitch of her lips. “Do you always come here at the crack of dawn?”
“That’s the best time. There’s a few feet of sand at the edge of the rocks now. But at high tide even this bench is underwater.”
Jane finished wiping her fingers and sheepishly exchanged the rag for her pole. “Thanks. Now what?”
“Now you cast like I did.” Samantha held her own rod between her knees as she demonstrated. It took a few tries, re-baiting Jane’s hook and untangling their lines, but eventually both teens were fishing.
Satisfied that she couldn’t do too much more harm, Jane sucked in a breath of clean, cool air. The seaside was beautiful in a rugged, natural way that seemed to burrow beneath her skin. Much like Samantha.
“So how is it that you’ve managed to live in Locklow your entire life and never been fishing?”
Jane shrugged. When her family went to the beach, it was to the big stretches of sand where they could sunbathe, build sandcastles and body surf among the summer crowds and beach tents. In truth, however, they hadn’t gone together as a family in several years. “I guess I’ve missed out on one of life’s finer things.”
Samantha grinned wildly. “Damn straight!”
Jane had never seen Samantha so relaxed, and it made her heart ache in a good way. She glanced around. “Is it always so quiet here?” There wasn’t another soul in sight.
“Sure. ’Cept when Sully comes with me.” Conspiratorially, Samantha lowered her voice. “He baited my hook my first time too. Teased me about it for days.”
Jane laughed. “Yeah, but what were you? All of ten-years old?”
“Around that, I suppose.” She made a swiping motion in the air that showed her lack of concern. “So what if you’re a newbie? We all are once.”
“Yeah. So what,” Jane agreed happily. Samantha’s easygoing relaxed confidence had a way of making Jane feel comfortable about herself. Like she fit in her own skin, and with her surroundings, and was enough of everything.
She enjoyed the feeling of the rough but cool stone against her thighs while the denim of her shorts protected her skin. The breeze buffeted her legs. Samantha had been right, absolutely no dresses while fishing.
Samantha braced her feet on the rocks in front of them. “Hey, this is sort of out of the blue, but I remembered a dream I had the other day with you in it. That’s been happening to me more and more often.”
Jane swallowed hard and unconsciously squeezed her fishing pole so tight it creaked. She couldn’t bear to think about her stalker now. Not in this new and happy place.
“No, no. It’s nothin’ bad.” Samantha reassured her with a soft pat on the knee. “I dreamt that you were little. Maybe five or six years old.”
Jane allowed her sudden surge of worry to melt away and focused on the calm, affectionate look on Samantha’s face.
“You had both these middle teeth missing.” Samantha pointed to her own lower middle teeth. “Like a Halloween pumpkin. So freakin’ cute!”
A tiny flush crept up her neck. “Uh, Samantha…” Jane rolled her eyes, but inside she wriggled with happiness. She even banished her mother’s voice from her head and kept from correcting Samantha with ‘lower center incisors.’
“You were. Anyway, you were telling your mom you wanted to go to school, but she wouldn’t let you.” Samantha chewed on her upper lip, obviously unsure. “I was just curious if that ever actually happened.”
Jane blinked slowly. “Jesus.” She sucked in a deep breath, her mind whirling. She’d never told anyone about that. “Just…how?”
Samantha smiled tentatively. “I know, right? Freaky! My brain is like a bottle whose cork has been loosened and now random stuff is startin’ to leak out.”
“Your brain is leaking?” Jane asked, amused.
“Kinda!” Samantha defended with a comical grimace. She reeled her line in a few feet.
“Does that mean you dreamt this when you were little too and are just now remembering it? Or that you dreamt it recently and are just now remembering it?”
Samantha paused. “I’m not sure.” For a moment it looked like not knowing was going to bother her, but then she visibly shook it off and relaxed again.
Surprised and more than a little relieved, Jane took stock of her friend. This was the first time that Samantha had mentioned her dreams without being so anxiety-ridden that it was palpable. If not full understanding, maybe this was at least the beginning of acceptance.
Jane admitted, “I did have a discussion like that with my parents at that age. Well, they talked and I listened. You know that Kyle and Chloe are about a year older than I am, right?”
“I figured, since they’re a grade higher and all.”
“When it was time for them to start school, my parents decided they weren’t quite ready. Chloe flatly refused to take orders from anyone but them, and Kyle was having major trouble with his letters and numbers, all of it.”
Samantha made a short grunting sound. “You’re clearly the pick of the litter.”
Jane’s cheeks hurt from smiling. “You do realize that when compared to Chloe and Kyle today, nobody else would consider me that?”
Samantha looked truly astonished. “Whaddya mean?”
“Never mind.” Jane decided then and there that Samantha was a treasure, and she was definitely keeping her. Besides, Sam had on her glasses again, and that always made Jane’s blood run a little hotter. “Anyway, since they weren’t ready to start school, my folks held them back a year. Then the next year, when I was supposed to start, my parents didn’t want us all three in the same grade. They thought it would be bad for Chloe and Kyle’s development to have their little sister in their class. So my parents decided to start me the next year.”
Unable to hold back a scandalized expression, Samantha asked, “Did you need to be held back? On your own, I mean?”
“Not at all.”
Jane glanced out at the churning water and gave her fishing line a needless tug. She could remember the discussion with her parents like it was yesterday. They’d patted her on the head and tried to bribe her by explaining that she’d have more playtime. But all that served to do was cement in her mind that they didn’t understand her at all. “I wasn’t exactly happy about it.”
Samantha’s eyebrows pulled together. “I’m sorry, Jane. I didn’t mean to bring up something upsetting.”
Jane shook her head. “I’m not upset. They had a point, I guess. It’s not like there aren’t interesting people in my class.” She gave a little wink. “And everything isn’t always about me, right?”
“But sometimes it needs to be about you,” Samantha insisted. “Just because they’re the squeaky wheels doesn’t mean you don’t need your own grease.”
Jane absorbed Samantha’s protectiveness like a dry wad of cotton. “You’re right,” she admitted. “Sometimes, I do. But it wasn’t a bad lesson to learn that you aren’t the center of the universe.” She poked Samantha’s foot with her own. “What about you? Tell me some sage wisdom you got from your family.”
“Oh, that’s easy. From Pops I learned that breakfast is the most important drink of the day.”
“Samantha,” Jane admonished, hoping to guide them out of such choppy waters. “I’m being serious.”
“Okay, okay.” Samantha’s jaw worked a few times, and she lowered her voice to a more reverent tone. “Don’t mistake kindness for weakness.”
Jane hummed her approval. “That’s nice. And sort of badass. Who said it?”
“My yaya said it to my father once. I was supposed to be in bed already, but I snuck down the hall to listen to them talking in the living room. Pops was being his typical dickhead self, and she wanted him to know that he could only push her so far.”
“The last person I’d consider weak is Leola Christos!” If she tried, Jane could still feel the strong but soft arms envelop her in a fierce hug that rivaled her granddaughter’s. It had been the most wonderful combination of velvet over iron.
Samantha lifted a sassy eyebrow. “I think the incident with the shovel probably convinced Pops of that once and for all.”
The girls shared small smiles. Just then, Jane’s fishing pole sprang to life with a few minor tugs and one sharp one that bent the rod nearly in half. Jane jumped to her feet in a panic. She never thought she’d actually catch a fish. She was here to spend time with Samantha. And if that meant holding a fishing rod…“Oh! Oh! What do I do?”
Samantha began furiously reeling in her own line. “Jerk back hard on the tip of the rod, then start reeling.”
Jane looked at her blankly.
“Turn the spinny thing!”
Jane obeyed, startled at the instant resistance on the line. “Oh my God! I have a fish! I have a fish!” She was almost too excited to remember to reel it in.
“Keep going!” Samantha threw her head back and laughed. Giving up on reeling in her own line, she wedged her pole between two rocks and jumped down onto the sand. Fearlessly, she waded almost up to her waist, directly into the surf, and ran her hand down Jane’s fishing line as she went.
“Where are you going?” Jane watched in amazement as her pole danced in her hands, and Samantha walked out into the ocean past the point where Jane felt comfortable.
“To get your fish,” Samantha called over the waves.
“But why—”
“Keep the tip of your rod pointed up! Keep reeling!”
“Crap.” Jane quickly adjusted her rod position and continued to reel. “But-but…You forgot your net!”
In answer, Samantha followed Jane’s line into the water with her hands and came back up with a large, flapping fish.
Jane had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing right.
“Nice one!” Samantha gushed. “It’s a blackfish. I can’t believe you caught one in the surf. They usually like jetties better.” She began to slosh her way back toward the shore as the creature in her arms thrashed relentlessly.
Unable to contain her enthusiasm, Jane set down her fishing pole and carefully picked her way around a couple boulders before venturing onto the sand. Then she got a better look at what Samantha was holding. “What the—? It’s so ugly!”
The fish had dark green, not quite black skin with white splotches and an enormous head. Its belly was pale and led up to a relatively small mouth ringed with bulbous, rubbery lips.
“Yup.” Samantha sniggered. “This is at least eight pounds of tasty ugly. Wait ’til I show you its scraggly teeth.”
Jane’s feet froze. Surely she’d misheard. “You’re joking.”
Samantha’s eyes took on an impish glint. Gingerly, and using the hook as an aid, she pried open the fish’s mouth to display teeth that looked almost human and included molars. “I don’t think so.”
Jane began backing away from the hideous fish. “I-I-I—Throw him back!”
“Huh? He’s a keeper.” The fish twisted and slipped in Samantha’s grasp as she removed the hook with practiced hands.
Jane extended stiff arms straight out in front of her. “Keep that slimy thing and its disgusting teeth away from me!”
Samantha faux-pouted. “Aww…You’re hurting his feelings.” She began to advance on Jane, fish held out in front of her like a mucus-covered weapon. “He can’t help it if he’s ugly. You’ll feel differently about him with lemon and tartar sauce.”
“Keep away!” Jane squawked, laughing. She ran, sidestepping the odd rock, and Samantha merrily followed.
Samantha made a loud smacking noise. “C’mon, give us a nice smooch. You know you wanna.”
“You, yes.” Jane continued to back away, water rushing into her shoes, hands held up to ward off Samantha, ready to bolt if necessary. “But keep that thing away from me.” The thought of cold, slimy fish lips made her shiver. “My mouth isn’t getting anywhere near his!”
Samantha stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes suddenly intent. “You want to kiss me?”
Jane’s heart thundered in her ears as she replayed her words. Caught, she didn’t trust her voice, so she did the only thing she could. She slowly nodded.
Samantha cocked her head to the side, her eyes slightly narrowed. “But not with this fish in my hands?”
Another nod.
“Deal.” In a quick move, Samantha threw the fish back into the water and bolted for Jane. On the way, she bent and ran her hands through the water, then wiped them on her shorts before sweeping Jane into her arms.
It all happened so fast Jane barely had time to blink.
Cold water rushed up to Jane’s knees and her feet sank deeper into the sand. The tide tried its best to tug her away, but she was held firmly by Samantha’s long arms. Grounded.
Samantha snatched their bodies closer so that warm bellies were pressed tightly together. Jane felt a tremor start in her chest and travel all the way to her toes and heard Samantha’s quick uneven breathing at the very same time. The pull of the water almost caused them to separate and stumble but a swift shuffle of feet amid nervous laughter kept them upright.
Then, along with the tide, the rest of the world seemed to drift away, and it was just the two of them.
Jane’s head swam and a jolt of heat shot through her veins with the potency of a drug. Her heart thumped wildly. A soft hand that shook ever so slightly came to rest on her cheek and with gentle pressure tilted her chin upward to meet smooth lips in a kiss so tender, so soft but sure, it was almost impossible not to swoon.
The brush of lips was barely there at first, then as solid and real as anything Jane had ever felt. Her toes curled in her sneakers, and her soft moan was echoed by Samantha.
Panting, rosy-cheeked and elated, they ended the kiss reluctantly, foreheads still pressed together. Samantha’s breath tickled Jane’s mouth and another hit of heat assailed her, rocking Jane to the core.
Jane backed up a half a step and looked away, but the move was born more out of habit when she wanted to collect her thoughts than it was out of real awkwardness or shyness. She didn’t feel embarrassed. This felt right.
Samantha reached out to her and grazed her arm. “Hey.” The gentle touch and flash of white from Samantha’s megawatt smile unerringly attracted Jane’s gaze. “Wow.”
Jane’s own smile came unbidden. “Hey.” Jane’s mind scrambled for a bigger, more suitable reply than ‘wow.’ But she’d been upended by a kiss. She drew in a big breath to answer, but before she could utter a sound, an enormous wall of water crashed into them, swamping them completely and sending them tumbling up the beach like pieces of driftwood in the surf.
“Pah. Phfft. Wha—” It took a few seconds for Jane to realize that she was now on all fours, forehead pressed into the scratchy sand, choking on salty seawater. From the corner of her eye, she spied Samantha flat on her back a few feet away, chest heaving.
Amused but disorientated, Jane closed her eyes and hacked a few times before she felt Samantha’s hand running up her back and then smacking her between the shoulder blades.
“Are you…Are you okay?” Samantha wheezed. When Jane nodded, Samantha wiped the sand from her mouth and winced at what looked like road rash on her forearm.
“I’m so sorry, Jane. The waves…sometimes a big one is just lurking. I should have warned you.” Samantha’s glasses hung precariously off one ear, teetering there like a poorly placed Christmas decoration poised to fall.
Jane nodded and coughed again as she spat out the last remnants of ocean water along with a small gritty hunk of seaweed that left a slightly fishy aftertaste in her mouth. With a grimace, she ran her tongue against her teeth. “It’s okay.”
Samantha raggedly exhaled, but her body remained rigid with guilt, as though somehow something as inevitable as the rush of the tide had been her fault entirely.
Jane’s gaze softened with affection. “You don’t need to look like all the joy has gone out of the world, Samantha. I’m fine.”
This time, Samantha’s shoulders sagged with relief.
Jane’s eyes stung from the saltwater, and she was soaked to the bone. Sand had somehow gotten to third base without even asking her on a date, and one of her knees was scraped. Despite the morning sun, she was only seconds away from her teeth chattering. But when Samantha’s face burst into a warm, lopsided grin, she felt like she was soaring above the clouds. She couldn’t contain her smile. “How about you? Are you okay?”
Nodding, Samantha plopped down beside her. With a sigh, she plucked her glasses from her ear. Miraculously, they weren’t broken, but when she put them back on, they sat so crookedly and were so smudged with water and sand that she snatched them off again in disgust.
Jane laughed.
Samantha tented her knees and rested her forearms on them, wrists dangling. “I’m not seeing double anymore, and we missed crashin’ into the rocks. So that’s a good thing.” Then her gaze zeroed in on Jane’s lips, and her expression melted into something part wolfish, part stunned.
Jane was certain Samantha was reliving their kiss. Good! Her mind cheered. She wanted to make an indelible impression.
Suddenly realizing she was still on hands and knees, Jane eased down onto the sand and extended her legs. It wasn’t like she could get any dirtier or soggier. She trained her eyes on the mutinous surf, and the next time it crawled up the sand, it only nipped at the tips of her sodden sneakers. “You think that fish you threw back is out there laughing at us?” A chunk of wet sand dripped down from her ear onto her shoulder, creating a tiny spire.
Samantha flicked it off Jane’s shirt, eyes twinkling. “Wouldn’t you be?”
When their gazes met, both girls burst out laughing. Their next kiss was a collision of chilly lips and teeth from smiles that couldn’t be contained, their joy bubbling to the surface unbidden. When they broke apart again, Jane nuzzled Samantha’s nose, her body humming like a live wire capable of chasing away any chill.
“Sam?”
“Yeah?”
Jane’s brain short-circuited among kisses that were hot and soft and slowly devouring. She sighed happily and leaned into the warm fingertips caressing her cheeks and chin. “Wow right back at you.”