“Okay, that’smaybea little harsh. She loves me. I know she does. But I think they adopted me because my dad wanted a kid.”
“You’re close to your dad?”
“Very.” A splat of rain hit the windshield, followed by another and another. “All this to say that maybe you don’t know what’s happening with your sister’s marriage. And maybe she could use somebody to talk to.”
“So your vote is yes, I should say something to her.” Adley chewed a fry thoughtfully. “I think I should, too.”
“Yeah?”
“I just needed somebody else to give me a nudge.” Adley met her gaze and held it.
“I get that.”
They were quiet as the rain increased, and then the sky opened up, dropping buckets. The car became rhythmic, and Sabrina felt somehow safe and protected, ensconced inside with Adley next to her, the scent of french fries still prevalent in the air.
“Why do you think your mom didn’t want kids?” Adley asked softly. It was growing darker by the minute, deep gray clouds rolling in off the lake, but Adley’s eyes somehow stood out as she focused on Sabrina.
Sabrina inhaled and let it out slowly. “I heard her talking once. To her secretary. I’d stopped by after school to say hi, and she didn’t know I was there. I had a basketball game that night, and I wanted to remind her, make sure she was coming.” She swallowed, the memory stinging her more than she’d expected it to, though she wasn’t sure why. “And as I approached her office, I heard her secretary remind her of a meeting, but then tell her she couldn’t run it too long because I had a game that night. And my mom sort of made this scoffing sound and then a groan like my game was the biggest hassle she’d have to deal with all day. Then she said—and I’ll never forget it—Do yourself a favor, Jeannie, don’t have kids until you’re over thirty and have a better handle on life. They are little energy vampires.” She kept her eyes onthe storm through the windshield and had to work really hard to keep her eyes from welling up. Why? She’d replayed those words in her head a thousand times in the twenty years that had passed since. Why were they affecting her so deeply now? And then she felt it. Adley’s hand on her forearm.
“Oh, Sabrina, I’m so sorry. That’s awful.” And what Sabrina appreciated most—besides the physical touch, which she was starting to understand she craved more than she’d realized—was that Adley didn’t try to make her feel better. She didn’t make excuses for her mother, try to suggest she was having a bad day or something. Though maybe she had been. She just touched her arm, rubbed it softly, and sat with her. Several quiet moments went by before Adley spoke again. “I’m curious about something, though.”
Sabrina turned to look at her, but Adley continued looking straight ahead. “What?”
Adley faced her, and there was a glimmer of something in her eyes that Sabrina couldn’t quite make out in the dark. “How did somebody as short as you actually make the basketball team?”
A beat of silence went by as their gazes held before Sabrina gasped loudly. “How dare you?” She playfully took a swipe at Adley, who laughed and dodged away, and then they were grabbing at each other in the small front seat of the BMW. “I’ll have you know I was scrappy andveryfast.”
“I bet you were. Tell me, how fast can we get into that back seat?”
And before she even realized she was doing it, Sabrina hauled herself between the front seats and plopped into the back in a matter of about four seconds.
“Wow,” Adley said, eyes wide, clearly impressed. “You didn’t even spill the drinks.” Again, their gazes held, but there was something primal this time. Something raw.
“Get your hot little ass back here,” Sabrina whispered, and then she watched Adley swallow, her eyes going impossibly darker.
“Yes, ma’am.” But instead of crawling over the console, she popped her door open, then opened the back door, and launched herself onto Sabrina. Five seconds in the pouring rain had nearly soaked her, but Adley didn’t seem to care and neither did Sabrina. In the next second, Adley’s mouth was on hers, her tongue pushing in, kissing her hard and deep.
Yes…
In that moment, Sabrina realized this was what she’d been waiting for all day. This woman’s body. This woman’s mouth. This woman’s hands. This woman.
This woman.
Chapter Six
“Bitch, where have you been?”
Teagan’s voice was cheerfully teasing over the FaceTime screen, their smile wide, their hair high and not as perfect as usual, since it was early for them. Sabrina missed them so much it made her chest hurt.
“Where haveyoubeen?” she tossed back.
“Listen, I amverybusy.” Teagan winked at the phone—they were the only person Sabrina had ever met who could wink and not look like a dork doing it. She wished more than anything that Teagan was there in the room with her. “I kid. I’ve been working nonstop on that fuck—er—freaking nursery.”
“Nice dodge on the profanity.”
“You have no idea how hard it is, but I promised Kyra I’d try.”
Sabrina laughed but stopped abruptly. “Wait…I thought you’d finished the nursery. Like, last month.” Sabrina was making herself some eggs for breakfast before she had to go to the new site. The frying pan at her Airbnb was awesome, heavy and nonstick, and she made a mental note to jot down the brand and order herself one for home.
