Nicole glared at me, and I felt that little twinge in my core that I got every time she gave me that look. She was magnificent angry, not that I would ever risk my life by telling her that.
“I’m not mad that you kissed me,” she said finally. “I’m mad that you made me want to kiss you again.”
And just like that, everything inside me relaxed.
Nicole
“There’s a solution for that,” Grace said. “I suggested it once already, but you shut me down.”
“I’m confused, what are you suggesting exactly?” I asked.
Honestly, I knew exactly what she was suggesting. It’s possible that some part of me had been hoping that she’d suggest it again. But I needed a moment to process whether I could have one night with her and move on, or if it would make these confusing feelings I was having for Grace even stronger.
“Let’s pick a night and fuck each other’s brains out, then once we get it out of our systems, we can work together without the horny vibes getting in the way of what we need to do.”
“And if one night doesn’t do the trick?” I asked.
I’d seen enough romantic comedies to know how badly this idea could go. That didn’t stop me from wanting to agree to it, of course.
Grace shrugged. “Then I guess we’ll just be enemies with benefits until we’re sick of each other’s bodies – or we finish the project, whichever comes first.”
I’d thought that we were becoming friends, but that didn’t seem like the point I wanted to argue right now. We were definitely fighting less than we had in the beginning.
“I must be crazy,” I said. “Because this is starting to sound like a good idea.”
A better idea would be if she suggested that we start dating, I thought with a pang.
“Of course it’s a good idea,” she said confidently. “I’m excellent in bed. You’re going to be sorry you didn’t take me up on my offer the first time.”
The way she was framing this as only being sex was bothering me for some reason. Did she feel nothing for me besides lust? Did she not consider me to be datable? I guess I was the only one feeling these pesky feelings of love.
“I find that hard to believe,” I said, only partly teasing. “You probably just lay there and expect the other person to do all the work.”
“Ha!” she scoffed. “You’re the one I pegged for a pillow princess.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, let’s try having sex so I can concentrate on work. When are we going to do it?” I asked.
“How about Friday?”
The slutty part of me protested that Friday was too far away.
“Fine,” I agreed.
The slutty part of me started cheering. She never got to do anything fun.
“Give me your address,” Grace ordered. “I’ll come to your place.”
She held out one hand, and I noticed that she had a new manicure. When did she even find time to get that done? She worked twice as much as I did, and I worked a lot.
“We can’t do it at my place,” I said quickly. “I live too close to my parents.”
“You live with your parents?” she asked in shock. “You’re thirty-five years old!”
“I don’t livewithmy parents,” I corrected. “But I do live next door. They’re prone to popping over with no notice and watching my comings and goings. It’s super annoying.”
When I told my parents I was moving out, somehow the house next door went on the market the next day. I had a feeling they were encouraged to sell by my parents. And by ‘encouraged’ I meant bribed. Not wanting to hurt my parents’ feelings, I’d purchased the house even though it wasn’t what I really wanted. I never even looked at another house. I was so pathetic.
“Yet you don’t move away from them,” Grace noted wryly.
