The Roommate Arrangement

by Jae

  How could anyone not notice Rae? Steph didn’t get it. “But you had a crush on her?”

  “Oh yeah. God, it was embarrassing. I didn’t even know if she was interested in girls, but I knew I liked her, so I set out to impress her.”

  Steph smiled. She could easily imagine how cute teenage Rae had been. “What did you do?”

  “One day, during practice, we were swimming in the same lane, and I decided to show off my speed. But Lise thought I was trying to race her and sped up too, without me noticing. I ended up accidentally slapping her in the face.”

  Steph struggled to be true to her word and not burst out laughing. “Well, I guess you could say you left an impression.”

  “Literally. It left a red mark on her cheek for the rest of the day.” Rae groaned. “And she wouldn’t even look at me for a year afterward.”

  “Wow. How did you get her to even consider dating you?”

  “I stopped trying to impress her and just adored her from afar for the next three years,” Rae said. “Apparently, that did the trick. Seems I’m more irresistible from a distance.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. You seem pretty irresistible close-up too.” Steph lifted up on one elbow and placed a kiss on Rae’s lips. She had intended for it to be a sweet peck, but the second their lips touched, sweet went out the window.

  Rae’s mouth moved against hers with a sexy hum, while her hands continued to trace Steph’s back beneath the T-shirt, leaving behind trails of fire on her bare skin.

  The kiss deepened, and Rae’s tongue slid sensuously over her own.

  Steph tangled her fingers into Rae’s hair and pressed herself against the heat of Rae’s body beneath hers.

  On the next swipe up, Rae’s hands grazed the sides of her breasts.

  Steph tore her mouth away, turned her head, and pressed her forehead to the pillow, gasping for breath. Slow, dammit. Slow.

  “Sorry,” Rae said, her voice husky. “I know I said I wasn’t up for anything like this tonight. Talk about sending mixed messages, huh?”

  Steph willed her erratic heartbeat to slow down. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m not sure I’m up for more either, no matter what my body says.” Rae had only ever been in love with one woman—had only ever shared herself with one woman. Getting to be the second wasn’t something to take lightly. And while Steph had never been shy about sharing her body, she had never shared her heart. This wasn’t something to rush.

  Rae resumed her soothing caresses along Steph’s back. “Steph?” she whispered after a while.

  “Hmm?” Steph’s heart sped up in anticipation.

  “I…” The covers rustled. “Thank you for getting me to talk about Mike. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had the guts to talk to Kim.”

  A warmth of a different kind spread through Steph, drowning out the hum of arousal still coursing through her. “No thanks necessary. You did the hard part.”

  Rae said nothing. She rolled onto her left side, which Steph was starting to recognize as the position she usually slept in.

  When Steph did the same, Rae immediately spooned her from behind, curving her arm around Steph’s waist. Even though Rae was three inches taller, their bodies molded together in a perfect fit.

  Steph reached for Rae’s hand, pulled it up to her mouth, and pressed a gentle kiss to her palm before resting their clasped hands against her chest.

  Her day had definitely gotten a lot better. She could get used to this—and that thought was only scaring her a little now.

  CHAPTER 23

  Steph stared at the email on her phone. The Chinese restaurant that had booked her for tonight’s comedy show had canceled. Damn. The New Year’s Eve show was in two days, so she probably wouldn’t get another chance to try out the newer parts of her routine on a real audience instead of just comics at an open mic.

  But maybe it wasn’t all bad. Since she’d found out she would get to headline the biggest show of the year, she had spent nearly every waking moment either on stage, in traffic, or in her room, perfecting her material. She and Rae had barely gotten to see each other—except for very late at night, when they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  Maybe instead of trying to find another gig, she could finally spend some time with Rae or even go out on their first real date.

  God, a date. Steph hadn’t been on one in ages, except for the casual “hey, want to grab a beer?” evenings that had occasionally ended in someone else’s bed. While she certainly wouldn’t mind ending up in Rae’s bed, she wanted more than that with her. She wanted to do something special for Rae. The question was, what?

  She had never planned a date, so she had no idea. Was a candlelight dinner at a nice restaurant too stereotypical and sappy? In the past, she had certainly thought so, but with Rae, it might actually be fun.

  Her phone rang in her hand before she could come up with an idea.

  For a second, she thought it might be the restaurant, calling to tell her the show wasn’t canceled after all. Disappointment flared through her at the thought, and that surprised her. She wanted time with Rae more than time up on stage.

  But the caller was her mother. Exhaling, she lifted the phone to her ear. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

  “I thought I’d check in with you. Your sister always calls on Sundays, and since you don’t…”

  Not that good-daughter-bad-daughter stuff again. Steph gritted her teeth. “Claire has a normal weekend. I don’t. I’m working today.”

  “If I’m keeping you from something important, I can—”

  “No, it’s fine.”

  “If you’re sure,” her mother said. “So tell me. How are you?”

  Busy. Nervous. In love. But Steph wasn’t ready for her feelings to be analyzed and dissected. What she felt for Rae was too new and fragile. “I’m fine. What’s new with you and Dad?”

  “Not much. I finally got your father to take dancing lessons with me.”

  “Oh, nice.” Dancing… Was that an option for her date with Rae? She dismissed the idea. A crowded dance floor was probably not Rae’s idea of a good time. “Um, Mom? What did you and Dad do on your first date?”

  Her mother chuckled. “We went to a talk on social psychology.”

  Steph groaned. “God, no wonder I don’t have a romantic bone in my body if you both thought that’s a great thing to do on a first date!” At least she had always assumed she didn’t have a romantic bone so far. “Second date?”

  “I think we went to the movies.”

  Hmm, movies. That was a classic, wasn’t it? And Rae liked movies. She would just have to make sure it wasn’t a 3-D movie because she’d read somewhere that those didn’t work for people with monocular vision. But would Rae really want to spend their first date in a dark, crowded room full of people?

  “Why are you asking?”

  “Oh, just curious,” Steph said.

  “Are you looking for something to do on a date with Rae? You two are dating, aren’t you?”

  Was she that transparent? So much for keeping it between her and Rae for a while. “Um, yeah. We are.”

  “I knew it!”

  God, Steph hated that all-knowing tone of voice. She fought the impulse to say something that went against her mother’s expectations. That would mean denying her relationship, and Rae deserved better than that. “Listen, Mom. Rae is special to me. I don’t want you to put our relationship under your shrink microscope, okay?”

  “What makes you think I’d do that?” Her mother sounded deeply insulted. “Can’t I just be a mother who’s happy her daughter is finally ready to open her heart?”

  “I don’t know. Can you?” Steph shot back. “Handing out business cards isn’t what mothers do.”

  Her mother sighed. “So she told you about that. Well, at least you two seem to have established good communication.”
/>   “Mom! You are doing it again.”

  “Sorry,” her mother said. “I’ll try to rein in my inner psychologist, okay? I really am happy for you. Sometimes I just seem to have problems expressing that.”

  Her mother had admitted to being the one at fault. That was a first. “Thanks. I have to go. Talk to you soon.”

  “Have a wonderful date,” her mother said before they ended the call.

  Wonderful date… Yeah, but first, she’d have to find the perfect date activity for them. She opened the browser on her phone and started her search.

  Rae opened yet another tab on her browser, scanned the recipe, and then discarded it. None of the meals she’d seen so far seemed special enough for what she had in mind. While she knew Steph didn’t have the time for an elaborate date right now, she at least wanted to surprise her with a special dinner at home before work tomorrow.

  The battery icon flashed across the iPad screen, warning her that she needed to plug in the device.

  She reached out and pulled open the drawer on her bedside table.

  But instead of the power cord, she encountered something else. When she withdrew her hand, she held her swimming goggles. How had they ended up in there?

  She dropped the iPad onto her bed and rubbed her thumb over the plastic lenses. On impulse, she carefully placed them over her eyes and tightened the elastic. With the goggles on, she crossed the room and peeked outside.

  The door to Steph’s room was closed, signaling that she was still preparing for tonight’s show.

  Rae went to the bathroom and glanced into the mirror above the sink.

  She wasn’t sure what she had expected to see. The goggles looked perfectly normal. They created suction around her eye, pulling down the lower lid the tiniest bit. Would that be enough to make the prosthesis slip out? She shook her head—up, down, left, right.

  The eye stayed in place. But would it hold up to a flip turn or a plunge from the edge of a pool?

  Rae exhaled and stared at the hand-painted iris. She wasn’t sure she was quite ready to try, but for the first time since March, she felt that a little nudge of encouragement was all it would take.

  “Hey, gorgeous. Are you up for a little adventure?”

  Steph’s voice from behind startled her. Damn. She hadn’t closed the bathroom door. Quickly, she reached for the goggles to pull them off. Then she paused. Hiding the goggles so she wouldn’t have to talk about her feelings was what she would have done in the past. But she didn’t want to hide anything from Steph. She braced herself with one hand on the sink and slowly turned.

  Steph blinked. “Looks like you have your own little adventure planned already. Are you going swimming?”

  “No. Not yet.” Rae took the goggles off so she could see her better. “But maybe you and I could go together…at some point.”

  Steph came closer and trailed her index finger lightly along Rae’s skin beneath her left eye, where the goggles had rested. “I’d like that. Whenever you’re ready, just say the word.”

  Rae leaned forward, bridging the remaining space between them, and kissed her gently. “I will. Thank you.”

  They looked at each other.

  A ball of complex emotions filled Rae’s chest. She shifted and cleared her throat. “So what kind of adventure did you have in mind?”

  “I thought maybe we could…” A hint of pink dusted Steph’s cheeks. “We haven’t actually…you know…”

  Rae tilted her head. Was Steph talking about sex?

  “I mean, I’m not normally one to put a lot of thought into stuff like this, but…well, I thought, maybe it would be nice if we, um…”

  Rae couldn’t help smiling. She hadn’t expected Steph to be so shy about it. After all, Steph had been with more partners and normally didn’t hesitate to go after what she wanted. She decided to help her out, even though Steph’s blush was decidedly cute. “You want us to sleep together. And this time, do more than actually sleep.”

  “No! Yes. I mean, of course I want that, but that’s not what I…” Steph huffed out a breath as if losing patience with herself.

  Rae cupped her face and caressed Steph’s cheek with her thumb. “Just say it.”

  “How would you like to go to the movies with me?” Steph blurted out.

  Aww. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

  Steph nodded. “Yes.” Her voice was a little croaky.

  Rae found it thoroughly charming. “I’d love to go on a date with you, but we’re both working tonight.”

  A more confident grin flashed across Steph’s face. “Nope.”

  “We’re not?”

  “My show got canceled, and I called Carlos and asked if he would cover your shift for you. He owes you for that elbow to the eye.”

  Rae couldn’t help laughing. “You guilt-tripped him into covering my shift?”

  Steph shrugged. “I’m a woman on a mission. So are we going?”

  “We’re going.” Rae didn’t have the heart to tell her that she hadn’t been to the movies since losing her eye. Just finding her seat in the dim light of a movie theater was a challenge, and if the movie Steph had picked was a 3-D film, it wouldn’t work for her. But none of that mattered. She would still enjoy herself if she could cuddle up to Steph and maybe sneak a kiss or two.

  “This is the weirdest movie theater I’ve ever been to,” Rae muttered as the elevator doors closed behind them and Steph pressed the button for the top floor.

  Steph nudged her. “Just trust me.”

  “I do.” Rae linked her fingers through Steph’s, and when the elevator doors opened, she let Steph guide her onto a rooftop terrace.

  Eight rows of white-and-blue-striped deck chairs had been set up in front of a huge screen. The setting sun dipped the high-rise buildings surrounding them in orange hues. The scent of popcorn trailed on the air, mingling with the mouth-watering aroma of frying burgers.

  “Wow.” Rae looked around. “A rooftop movie theater?”

  Steph nodded. “I thought you’d be more comfortable out here than cooped up in a dark room with a hundred other people.”

  “Definitely.” She tugged Steph closer by their joined hands and gave her a short but heartfelt kiss. “Thank you. This is great. How did you find out about it?”

  “I did a comedy show up here last year, and I remembered that they show a couple of movies a month even in winter.” Steph handed over her phone with the online tickets. “If you grab us headphones and pick a seat, I’ll get us some food.”

  As Steph walked toward the concession stand, Rae paused for a moment and watched her get in line. Steph said something to the guy ahead of her, gesturing animatedly and making him laugh. Rae couldn’t hear what she had said, but she couldn’t help smiling. God, she was one lucky woman. Being with Steph had brought an unexpected—and much-needed—lightness into her life.

  When the young woman handing out the headphones smiled at her, Rae realized that she was still smiling too. Maybe there was something to be said for not scowling at people, even though it was an effective technique for keeping strangers out of her personal space and avoiding small talk.

  She took the wireless headphones and the cozy blankets the woman handed her and picked a double deck chair in the last row. Thankfully, so far only about thirty people had found their way to the outdoor movie theater, so they’d have plenty of space.

  “Um, Rae? Help!” Steph said from behind her.

  Rae dropped their headphones onto the deck chair and turned around.

  Steph was struggling to carry two sodas, burgers, and a huge bucket of popcorn toward her.

  Quickly, Rae relieved her of the sodas. “I thought you wanted to get some food, not all of their food. Look at the size of that popcorn! And burgers! God, you are so bad for me.”

  Steph cocked her head. “Am I?”

 
Rae let her grin fade away and looked her in the eyes. “No. Just the opposite.”

  “Ditto.” Steph smiled softly, then shook herself. “Ugh. We’re getting sappy again.” Without being prompted, she settled on the side of their seat that would put her to Rae’s right.

  Rae loved that about her.

  As they ate their burgers and watched the previews, the sun sank beneath the horizon until only a faint orange glow remained. The stars came out, twinkling down on them along with the city lights. The temperature dropped, and Rae spread both of their blankets over their laps.

  When Steph cuddled up to her, Rae quickly finished her burger so she could wrap her arms around her. Mmm. Steph smelled even better than the food. Best date ever.

  Steph poked her. “Hey, the movie is starting. You need to watch.”

  Rae directed her attention to the giant screen, where a magician was performing coin tricks. Then Richard Gere appeared, talking on the phone. She threw Steph a disbelieving look. “Pretty Woman?”

  “Oh, don’t pretend you’re not into it. I saw it on your Netflix watch list.”

  Rae’s cheeks heated. “Damn. Guess it’s impossible to maintain an air of mystery when you’re dating your roommate.”

  Laughing, Steph scooped up a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into her mouth without caring how it looked.

  That was another thing Rae liked about her.

  Despite her claim that Steph had bought too much food, they managed to finish off the popcorn not even halfway through the movie. The popcorn was hot and fresh, but what Rae enjoyed even more than the buttery treat was the way their hands brushed whenever they reached into the bucket at the same time.

  Her face heated even more as she watched Steph lick a bit of melted butter off her fingers, and she took a big gulp of her cold soda. It was Coke, which she didn’t normally drink. She looked from the extra-large paper cup to Steph. “Christ, that’s enough caffeine to kick-start a herd of elephants. Are you planning to keep me up all night?”

  Steph’s eyes seemed to smolder in the near darkness. “I am,” she whispered, her voice low and intimate.