“Cooper, how many cloves of garlic?” Savannah called over her shoulder as she began mincing.
“Three. Four if you really want to make sure Dracula doesn’t interrupt your date, but it may decrease your chances of getting laid.” His voice sounded over the speakers of her tablet.
“You are such a perv.” Savannah shot him a look and reached for another clove.
“Well, your outfit implies you’re looking to have sex. I was just giving you a friendly warning about bad breath.” Cooper smiled at her over the webcam and sipped his beer.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Savannah said in response, ignoring his jab.
“Who would read you Abuela Carmen’s recipe if I was?”
Savannah had been grateful when Cooper picked up earlier. After she had proposed making dinner for Olivia, she realized all her recipes and her cookware were in Chicago. Abuela Carmen had been Cooper’s nanny for a few years during his early teens before her father bailed on his third wife when the money ran thin. She made a mean sautéed eggplant pizza on flatbread. Savannah stirred the ingredients in the pot and checked the time.
“You know, I can’t remember the last time we cooked together,” Cooper said.
“Coop, we had dinner together before Olivia left Chicago,” Savannah reminded him.
“Yeah, but I mean, like, just you and me. We used to do it all the time when we were younger.”
“That’s because Dad was never around and you had an insatiable appetite,” Savannah teased. “I had to feed you to keep you out of trouble.”
“You make the best mac and cheese.” Cooper nodded solemnly as he took another sip.
“Thanks, bro.”
“And you look nice, by the way. I think she’s going to like that outfit.”
Savannah stopped cleaning and sat down on the kitchen island stool in front of her brother’s image on the screen. “Thanks, Coop. I’m a little nervous.”
Cooper nodded. “I figured if you were busting out Carmenita’s eggplant panty dropper recipe, you might be.”
“I’m just not too sure how she’s going to take the news.” She thought back to the tension she felt at the office earlier. She’d hoped it was mostly sexual, and it did seem that way, but when she asked Olivia for her keys, she seemed guarded even though she had been receptive to Savannah’s affections.
“Well, I’m sure she’ll take the news better than I did.” Cooper frowned.
Savannah felt that familiar pang in her chest at Cooper’s admission. “I need to live my life for me now, Cooper.”
“I know. It doesn’t make it suck any less, though.”
“I just want to make sure I did everything I possibly could, no what-ifs, you know?”
Cooper leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head. “What are you going to do if she doesn’t react the way you’re hoping?”
“I don’t know, crawl into a hole and die?”
“That sounds like a good plan. Any alternative endings lined up?”
“Nope.” She made an oval shape with her arms. “This is my basket and these are all my eggs.”
“Sav, if you keep discussing your menstrual cycle, you are never gonna get laid. Go stir your eggplant.”
* * *
“I’m totally freaking out, Chris,” Olivia said into the phone as the cabbie honked at a meandering pedestrian.
“Why are you freaking out? It’s not like you haven’t had sex with her before.” Christine sounded bored.
“It’s not about having sex with her.” Olivia’s eyes were drawn to the cabbie’s in the rearview mirror. She lowered her voice. “It’s about all the other stuff.”
“What other stuff?”
“The I love you stuff.”
“Wait—what?” Christine sounded markedly more attentive now.
“So, you know how we agreed to have coffee last night?”
“Yes, I remember coffee. Go on.”
“Well, it went really…well and she spent the night.”
“So, you already slept with her. Good. What’s the big deal?”
Olivia groaned. “I didn’t sleep with her, she slept over.”
“In your bed?”
“Well, yes.”
“But you didn’t have sex?”
“No.”
“Did you want to?”
“Yes.” Olivia paused. “Wait, that’s not what we’re talking about.”
“It’s not?” Christine sounded perplexed.
“No. We’re talking about the I love you thing.”
“Oh, right. So you told her you loved her when you were so busy not having sex?”
“No.”
“I’m lost.”
“Christine, focus. We had a nice night, there was no sex, but I wanted there to be, sure, but there wasn’t. It was just a lot of cuddling and getting reacquainted in a PG-13 kind of way.”
“I don’t believe that for a second,” Christine said.
“Well it was mostly PG-13,” Olivia admitted as her thoughts were pulled back to the unconscious groping that sort of escalated before it was extinguished.
“And where in that mess was an I love you?”
“At the park before we went back to my place.”
“You went to the park? Which part?”
“By the duck section behind that pretzel vendor—not important, by the way.”
“I just want to set the scene, you know, taste, smell, sounds,” Christine replied.
“It was quiet, warm, after sunset, we were on a park bench, and some kids were playing soccer off to the side, I think.” Olivia humored her sister with details. “And then she told me she loved me.”
“Oh.”
“Oh? That’s it?”
“Well, what did you do?”
“I kissed her.”
“And?”
“And invited her back to my place to watch a movie and snuggle.”
“But not have sex.”
“No, Christine. No sex.”
“So, let me get this straight, you’re freaking out because Savannah is back in town and told you she loves you and you invited her over but didn’t have sex but you wanted to and she loves you and you love her. And that’s a problem?”
“Yes.” Olivia nodded as the cabbie pulled up to her curb. “Wait, no, not exactly.”
“What did I get wrong?” Christine sounded skeptical.
Olivia handed the cabbie the fare and thanked him as she closed the door and walked toward her building. “I don’t know if I’m ready for all of this.”
Christine sighed. “Olivia. Don’t do this. Don’t freak out for no reason.”
“I have every reason to freak out, Christine. There’ve been weeks of no talking and now there is I love you. Freak-outs are allowed.”
“You love her.”
Olivia paused as she reached the front door of her building. “I do.”
“Then why not just tell her and make it not so complicated? She obviously feels the same way that you do. Except she’s a little braver.”
“I resent that comment.” Olivia pouted.
“Resent it all you’d like—I don’t care,” Christine said. “It’s time you accept the fact that you need to be a little vulnerable once in a while, too.”
Olivia buzzed her apartment and waited for Savannah’s voice.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me. Buzz me in?” Olivia spoke into the intercom. The lock buzzed open and she walked through.
“Where are you?” Christine waited for the noise to fade before resuming their conversation.
“I’m in my apartment building, in the elevator. Savannah came by the office earlier today to get my house keys. She’s cooking dinner for us.”
“That’s adorable,” Christine cooed.
“I know,” Olivia agreed. “I’m so fucked, aren’t I?”
“Sounds like you are very lucky and shouldn’t let your past behavior in these situations dictate your future.”
“You sound like Yoda.” Olivia paused at her apartment door and took a deep breath.
“No, but I’m still right. Have a good night with your girl, Olivia.”
“Good night, Christine.”
* * *
“Are we really doing this?” Olivia asked.
“It would appear as though yes, we are.” Savannah refilled Olivia’s wineglass.
Olivia raised one eyebrow in challenge before she started. “Fine. Third grade, behind the seesaw on the playground at Brown Elementary, with Max Rubick.”
“Typical. First kiss with a boy? I’m unimpressed,” Savannah teased as she leaned back on the arm of Olivia’s sofa, cradling her wineglass.
“Oh, yeah? You got something better?” Olivia pulled her knees up to her chest as she reclined next to Savannah.
“Absolutely.” Savannah leaned a little closer to whisper, “I always have something better.”
Olivia didn’t miss the playful taunt. Throughout dinner and into dessert the sexual tension between them had been mounting. She thought it had hit a peak when they tumbled onto the sofa in a passionate kiss but had been surprised when Savannah had excused herself to open another bottle of wine. When she had suggested they play an abbreviated Twenty Questions, Olivia had agreed with the hope that they could continue what they had started a few minutes before. If the look in Savannah’s eyes was any indication, they were right on track.
“First kiss—fifth grade, sleepaway camp, top bunk, Molly Parker. Who, I might add, was two years older.”
“An older woman, you scoundrel.”
“You’re up. Do your worst.”
“You might regret that.” Olivia smirked. “Okay, most embarrassing sexual encounter. Who, what, and where?”
“That feels like three questions.”
Olivia merely shrugged in response.
“Back of a Greyhound bus on the bench seat during a six-hour ride, with my college girlfriend, while her face was in my lap. We were interrupted by a male passenger who went into the bathroom next to us and asked us if he could join when he came out.” Savannah paused. “We said no. At the time I was beyond mortified. In retrospect, it was kind of flattering. He was handsome and very polite about it, and he took the rejection with a gentle smile and nod. It could have been way worse.”
Olivia laughed and shook her head. “Here I was thinking we’d had a few interesting sexual encounters, and I got beat by the Greyhound bus? Damn.”
Savannah set both of their glasses aside. She shifted on the couch and wrapped her arm around Olivia’s shoulders where she placed a few chaste kisses on the exposed skin. “You asked me about the most embarrassing, not the best. Ask me again.”
The intensity of Savannah’s gaze on Olivia’s mouth made her stutter. “What was the best?”
Savannah moved closer, placing a leg on either side of Olivia’s knees, straddling her hips as she looped her arms behind Olivia’s neck and gave Olivia an impish grin. “The best what? The best orgasm I’ve ever had? That night you came to my hotel room by accident. I remember wanting you so bad it almost hurt, and when I finally felt your skin against mine, I thought I’d come just from the sensation alone.”
Olivia let out a soft moan and gripped Savannah’s hips, pulling her closer. “Yeah?”
Savannah nodded. “Or maybe it was the third morning of our vacation together in Phoenix, after you woke me up by caressing my naked skin and when your lips wrapped around my nipple. You made me beg for it. Maybe that was the best one.”
Olivia slid her right hand off Savannah’s hip and under her shirt, palming at Savannah’s stomach as she let the memory wash over her. She’d been pleasantly surprised at how loud Savannah had been that day. It was one of her favorite memories.
Savannah closed her eyes and dropped her head back. “No, maybe it was in Chicago at my apartment when I had you on your knees from behind and when you arched back into me and we came together. My body so close to yours it was inevitable.”
“You were unbelievable that night.” Olivia licked up Savannah’s neck. “You touched every place I needed you to. I had no idea sex could be so pleasurable.”
Savannah ground her hips down against Olivia’s when Olivia’s lips finally connected with hers. They kissed passionately, hands moving greedily over each other until Olivia shifted them so Savannah was on her back, underneath her on the couch.
“I missed you.” Olivia’s breath was hot and fast against Savannah’s lips as her hand worked its way into the waistband of Savannah’s jeans and past her panties. She stroked along the slick, heated flesh as Savannah bucked below her, moving in sloppy, teasing motions until Savannah gasped and pleaded. Her fingers scratched along Olivia’s shoulders and hip. “Tell me.”
“I missed you. I need you, please.” Savannah pulled back to look up at Olivia, her breathing labored and inefficient. “Please, Liv.”
Olivia slipped inside Savannah and increased her thrusts as she asked again, demanding what had gone unanswered as she felt Savannah start to tremble with release. “Tell me, Savannah. Tell me again. Tell me how you feel.”
Savannah whispered in understanding, “I love you.”
Olivia watched the flood of emotion cross Savannah’s face as she gave Olivia the reply she was waiting for. She saw the fear, the lust, the pain, the ecstasy, but it was the adoration that drew Olivia’s lips back to Savannah’s. She knew Savannah meant every word of it. And it gave her a sense of peace to hold her as she came down, cradling her close and kissing along her face and jaw. She felt whole and loved and it was beautiful. “Thank you.”
Savannah’s body vibrated with energy as she recovered. She snuggled with Olivia. “Liv?”
Olivia propped herself up on her elbow while the fingers of her other hand continued to caress along the flushed skin of Savannah’s neck. “What’s up, sweetheart?”
“I want this to work. I want to be with you. Can we try this again?”
“The sex? Of course,” Olivia teased but Savannah pouted. Olivia sighed as Savannah entwined their fingers and held their clasped hands against her chest. “How can we make this work, Savannah?”
“I think it’s working just fine right now.” Savannah slipped her leg between Olivia’s and pressed against her. Olivia moaned in response. “We’re good together, Liv.”
Olivia nodded in agreement. They definitely had sexual chemistry, but Reagan had been right on the flight back from Chicago. Distance was going to be a real problem for them. Olivia sat up, pulling Savannah with her as she reached for her wineglass as a distraction. “My life is here. My home is here, Savannah. I don’t think I can be with someone that I never see. I like—”
“Roots. You like having roots.” Savannah’s expression was serious when she asked, “Do you love me?”
Olivia’s lips paused on her wineglass. She licked the last drop from the rim before setting it down and facing Savannah. Christine’s advice was fresh in her mind. “I do.”
Savannah nodded. “Then let’s find a way to make this work. I don’t want to spend another moment wondering where we stand. Let me show you that this relationship is possible.” Savannah cradled Olivia’s face in her hands as she implored, “Let me love you.”
“All right, show me.” Olivia’s throat felt tight as she let herself be guided off the couch toward her bedroom.