When she got in around ten, Alanna wasn’t in the living room. Keira supposed she was having an early night. That sounded alright to Keira. She could climb into bed and finish that murder mystery book she was near the end of. The person who wrote it, she could say without arrogance, wasn’t as good as she was. The solution to the mystery screamed out. Keira was almost certain she knew the culprit, but it was always good to get your suspicions canonically confirmed by the author, if only to roll your eyes and say, ‘Yeah, no shit, it was the woman who runs the sewing shop. Sheobviouslyput one of her knitting needles in that vicar’s head for telling everyone she banged the butcher behind her husband’s back.’
Keira headed to her bedroom, which was right next to Alanna’s. But before she entered, she stopped to look at Alanna’s door. She suddenly felt less tired.
When Keira realised what she was thinking, she quickly went into her bedroom, shutting the door quietly. She got undressed and started to laugh to herself. Where the hell hadthatcrazy thought popped out of? Keira didn’t see Alanna that way. She’d decided not to ages ago, and when Keira decided things like that, she stuck to her guns.
What the hell was that little instinct she’d had a minute ago to knock on Alanna’s door. For what? Forthat? No chance. Alanna would laugh in her face, just for starters. But the odd thing was that she and Alanna were enmeshed. They lived together. Keira understood that for some people, emotional intimacy could lead to sex. But not for her.
It didn’t matter if she and Alanna were more than just flatmates or people with an agreement to help each other out. Yes, they were friends now, and Keira could accept that. She wasn’t mad about it or anything like that. It was alright. It was nice sometimes, even. Fun. Keira was alone so much with her thoughts, it felt good occasionally to let them spill out to something besides her laptop. Because Alanna really listened. And she made her laugh. And she was…
Hot.
Unacceptable. Keira wouldn’t have this. She did not want to bang her faux girlfriend. Who did things like that? Animals, that was who. People without self-control. Keira had that. She had it in spades. That was how she never went back for seconds even with the best of them. She drew a line and stood right behind it, never dipping so much as a toe over.
So why hadn’t she just dipped her toe into Tilly tonight, so to speak? Why had she gotten bored even before the metaphorical entrée was on the table? Alright, so Tilly wasn’t a big brain. But Keira had never given two tiny shits about things like that. Has she got a good face, a nice body, and a pleasant manner? Yes? Great… Go time. No problems. That was how Keira worked. She didn’t ask for much. Just to trade orgasms with another soul in need of the same.
Except she didn’t want it tonight. Not from Tilly. Even though she hit the checkboxes. Somehow, it just wasn’t… enough.
Maybe this was about Amazon Kelly. Maybe Keira was a bit more traumatised by all that than she’d wanted to believe. That was feasible, wasn’t it? Buyable? A wrecked window, some light catfishing. It would cause anyone to falter. Keira had been striding with pride for a long time, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t misstep now and again.
Fucking Kelly. That girl was too much. Keira got angrier and angrier the more she thought about it. How dare she interrupt Keira’s peace?
It was fine, though. Now that Keira knew what the malfunction in her system was, she could deal with it. Having settled that for herself, she fell asleep, satisfied.
***
The next morning, Keira woke and headed for a much-needed coffee. She was feeling pretty amused about last night as she grabbed a bag of beans out of the cupboard. It all seemed like a moment of madness now.
‘You couldn’t do me one, could you?’ Alanna asked, startling Keira.
Keira turned to Alanna in her pyjamas. The weather was warm, so they were quite sparing garments. Little shorts, a vest. Not suggestive as such, but certainly complimentary to what were quite a few gifts in Alanna’s possession. Keira had noticed those gifts before because she had eyes. But now, looking at her in those little shorty shorts, set off with that hair running right down to her arse? It felt different.
Keira was no longer amused.
‘Oh, yeah, I’ll do you one… do you… one, yeah, sure,’ Keira stuttered. What the hell was this? Why was she going to pieces right now? Because Alanna had walked out in pyjamas like she’d done a dozen times before?
‘Can you do my coffee black this morning?’ Alanna asked. ‘I didn’t sleep so well last night; I feel like I need to mainline the purest caffeine this morning just to get my brain online.’
‘You did-didn’t sleep?’ Keira asked. ‘I’ve got this ridiculously strong coffee for emergencies, let me find it.’ She rooted around her cupboard, knocking stuff over, spilling packets everywhere. Keira felt like someone had stolen her personality and left a generic brand personality in its place. Because Keira Evans sweated for no one. Who was this goddamn drip she was being? Keira didn’t like her.
‘You OK? You seem a bit…’ Alanna asked.
‘Me? What? What do I seem?’ Keira asked more frantically than she meant to, making the coffee.
‘On edge, maybe,’ Alanna completed.
‘Must be the coffee.’
‘You haven’t had one yet. Hang on, where’s your…’ Alanna lowered her voice. ‘Do we have aguest? I didn’t get a text.’
‘Nobody here, just us. You and me. Just, just, just me and...’ Keira cleared her throat. ‘You.’
‘She left already?’ Alanna asked.
Keira blinked. ‘Yep. Early bird. Left to catch a worm.’
Alanna nodded. ‘Did you have… fun? Last night?’
Keira shrugged. ‘Sure.’
