by K. T. Black
“Chandler?”
“What?” Her response was abrupt, and louder than she intended.
Alex focused her dark gaze on Chandler as she teased, “Anything in particular you’d like?”
Chandler glanced at the counter, barely seeing the available candy. Deep down it felt as if the question asked was about something else. Something that had nothing to do with snack food.
Feeling her face heat up, Chandler swallowed, trying to make her brain work. Standing next to Alex made it difficult. She felt more than embarrassment at the moment. Arousal. Memories of her time in the shower this morning, as well as their kiss, filled her mind. Alex was so close to her, enough that she could feel her body heat and smell her perfume.
“Well?” It was obvious Alex was doing whatever she could to push Chandler’s buttons.
“A Coke.” Her response was quiet. She hated when she became shy. She liked Alex, and did want to spend time with her. What she didn’t like was feeling out of control.
“And?”
Chandler pointed at a box of Butterfingers.
Alex smiled and then finished ordering. Chandler struggled to keep it together as she thought she was going to have a nervous breakdown.
Once they gathered up the snacks and drinks, they walked down the corridor toward the theater where their movie would be shown.
“Is something wrong, Chandler? You’re awfully quiet.”
“No, nothing’s wrong.” Her denial was weak. Looking straight ahead, Chandler noticed the glowing exit sign. She was tempted by the option.
“If I’ve done something wrong, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me.”
Was it possible that Alex didn’t remember the kiss they’d shared? No, she didn’t believe that. Her behavior suggested otherwise. As much as she wanted to know, she didn’t want to know.
“No. I’m having a weird day is all.” She didn’t want to discuss this. Couldn’t Alex see that?
“If you’re sure.”
“Yes.” Her nod was over exaggerated.
“Okay.”
When they reached the correct door, Chandler held back and allowed Alex to walk in first. Upon entering the theater, she noticed it was crowded. She glanced around until she found Kara seated up in the back row. When Kara waved, Alex started up the stairs. Chandler followed behind her.
Before Alex took her seat next to Kara, she handed Kara her root beer, and then gave her the bucket of popcorn to hold while she removed her rain jacket.
“Set that on top of my stuff,” Kara told Alex.
Alex nodded. Once she was free of her jacket, she accepted her drink from Chandler, and then sunk down into her seat.
Instead of giving Alex her drink to hold, Chandler set it down into the cup holder. While she shrugged out of her raincoat, Alex stared at her and made her feel like she was being ogled. She considered putting her jacket back on as she felt self-conscious under Alex’s hungry gaze. She knew she was being ridiculous, and ended up setting it down on the empty seat next to her.
Then she reached into the large pockets and pulled out the box of Butterfingers and Whoppers. As she sat down, Chandler handed the Whoppers to Alex.
“Thank you, my dear.” Alex made certain their fingers touched in the exchange.
Chandler looked up at Alex when they made contact as she felt that familiar jolt of energy pass between them. Alex tilted her head and raised an eyebrow as she returned Chandler’s gaze.
Unaware of what was going on, Kara asked Alex, “Are you all ready for school next week?”
“Oh, as much as I expect to be.”
“Are you nervous?” Kara scooped up a handful of popcorn.
“Heavens, no. I’ve taught classes before. Granted, it’s been awhile, but nothing really to it.”
“I must admit I do get a little bit nervous the first day or two. Silly, I know, after all these years.” Kara held out the popcorn so both Alex and Chandler could have some.
“I think the students are more nervous to meet me than the other way around.” Alex reached into the bucket at the same moment as Chandler. When their hands brushed together, Alex smiled and glanced over at Chandler. Pulling her hand back, Chandler waited for Alex to get some popcorn before she dared to put her hand back inside again.
“Well, that’s only understandable. You’re like a celebrity, whereas I’m just an ordinary art teacher.” Kara pulled the bucket of popcorn back into her lap once Chandler grabbed her handful.
“Nonsense. I’m not that much different than you.”
“I beg to differ.”
“I don’t have people coming up and asking for my autograph.”
“Maybe not, but I know quite a few of the students are excited to be taking a class from you.”
Looking over at Chandler, Alex said, “It’s always nice to be appreciated.”
* * * *
Chandler attempted to watch the movie, but all she could think about was the woman sitting next to her. The smell of the shampoo she used, and the perfume she wore. Her full, supple mouth as she licked her lips after each bite of popcorn. Everything about Alex, it was all distracting, and there wasn’t a way to distance herself from her without moving.
The truth was, Chandler didn’t want to move. As popcorn and candy was passed between all of them, she found herself leaning in toward Alex, to prolong contact when random touches occurred.
In the dark of the theater, Chandler let her mind wander, and allowed herself to be okay with what she was thinking and feeling. She imagined warm, soft hands touching her, caressing her breasts and stroking her between her legs, while full soft lips kissed her. It turned her on so much she found herself squirming in her seat as she felt her panties dampen with arousal.
When the lights came back up, Chandler was so lost in her thoughts it took her a minute or two to realize the movie had ended. She was still in her seat when Alex and Kara stood, and gathered up their things, preparing to leave.
“Are you coming?” Alex asked Chandler.
“Pardon?” Chandler panicked.
“Movie’s over so we thought we’d go.” The way Alex was looking at Chandler, it was as if she knew what she’d been daydreaming about all through the movie.
“Um, yes, sorry.” Chandler scrambled to gather up her things. She nearly knocked over what was left of her drink when she stood.
“How much caffeine have you had today?” Kara laughed as she regarded Chandler. “I haven’t seen you this wired in a while.”
Refusing to answer, Chandler gave Kara a dirty look before she led them out of the row so they could move down the stairs.
As they were headed toward the lobby, Alex suggested, “Why don’t we all go get something to eat?”
Chandler was about to decline when Kara said, “Yes, let’s do. It’s been awhile since I’ve done a proper ladies’ night out. I need to call and let my husband know what’s going on and then we can pick a place.”
Kara was about to make her call when her phone came to life, and played a tuneful melody that signaled an incoming call.
“Excuse me a moment, ladies. Looks like he’s beat me to the punch.” She answered her phone. “Hi, honey. I was about to call you…No, you’re kidding…It’s all right…Yes, don’t worry about it…I’ll see you in a bit.”
“What’s going on?” Chandler asked, concerned by Kara’s deflated expression.
“Jake’s mother and father just came into town unannounced, intent on spending the weekend with us.” Kara looked flustered. “Chandler, would you mind dropping Alex at her place? I’d much rather hang out with you guys, but I need to head home. I have to make a few stops first or I’ll be enduring criticism all weekend long. My in-laws tend to be the drop everything kind of people, and get pissed if the things they expect aren’t present at the house.”
“That doesn’t sound like fun,” Alex said.
“No, it’s not. But hey, there’s no reason why you two should cut your evening short because of me.” Chandl
er was about to offer up an excuse. “And don’t say you have work to do, Chandler. If you had intended on working today, you wouldn’t have suggested the movie.”
“Come on, Chandler,” Alex said. “It’ll be my treat.”
“See. It’s all settled then.”
Before Chandler could even argue, Kara was hugging her good-bye. A few minutes later, she was once again left alone with Alex.
“Well, where would you like to eat?” Chandler asked, feeling defeated.
“It’s your town. You know what’s good and what’s not.”
They started to walk toward the doors to exit the building.
“Depends what you’re in the mood for.”
“I’ve been thinking about Chinese. There’s something about rainy days and Chinese food.”
“The Golden Dragon is good, but it’s tends to be crowded on a Friday night. Can be hard to get a table.”
“We can always get takeout if there’s too long of a wait.”
“Or there’s this really good pizza place.” She could deal with being alone with Alex if they were out at a restaurant surrounded by people. If they got takeout, they would end up at either Alex’s or her house, all alone. Who knows what would happen then?
“I’m sure, but I’ve got my mouth all set for Chinese.”
“Okay.” Chandler gave in.
Chapter 6
“You haven’t said much today,” Alex observed. She was holding a full sack of food on her lap. “Are you certain something isn’t wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” Chandler focused on the road. She wished she’d stop asking her.
“You keep saying that, but I don’t believe you. You were so chatty last night. What’s changed?”
She let out a shaky breath. “I’m kind of off today. I’m not used to drinking as much as we did.”
“I’m sorry. You should have stopped me. I’m afraid I have rather large appetites when it comes to certain things.”
Chandler glanced at Alex, and wondered what she meant by that, when Alex’s tongue darted out to wet her lips. Alex smirked as she noticed Chandler shift position in her seat. She was having trouble determining whether Alex was screwing with her or flat out flirting. What she was certain of was how wet she was becoming, and how her hard her nipples were.
As they pulled into Chandler’s driveway, Alex suggested, “As much as I would love to see your home, would you mind eating at my place? I need to make sure I feed Zelda and give her a certain amount of attention. She can be a bit spiteful if I leave her on her own for too long.”
“Sure, okay.” Chandler knew she’d never tell her no.
After they entered Alex’s house, Chandler slipped out of her shoes and left them by the front door. Most of the caked-on mud had dropped off, but there was enough remnants of dirt remaining that she didn’t want to track it through Alex's home.
Alex placed the bag of food on the kitchen counter, and then turned to look at Chandler. “So, no wine with dinner for you tonight?”
She wanted a drink, a little something to help steady her nerves, but the way she felt when she first woke up this morning made her second guess that. Plus she didn’t like how easy alcohol made bad ideas seem like good ones.
“I promise, only one glass this time.”
Chandler shrugged as she continued to consider it.
“Here, give me your jacket and I’ll hang it up.”
She removed her jacket and handed it to her. When Alex stepped out of the room, Chandler began removing warm cartons of food until everything was out of the large paper sack.
Chandler was folding up the empty bag when Zelda entered the kitchen. The cat raised her head and examined Chandler with curious eyes before she headed over to where her water bowl was located. She sat down and looked at Chandler expectantly. Chandler assumed the cat was waiting for her dinner to be served.
When Alex returned to the kitchen, Zelda came to life, running over to rub up against her mistress’s legs, verbally scolding her for taking too long to provide her dinner.
“Well, hello to you too, Zelda. Are you hungry? Should we feed you?”
Zelda yowled back as if she understood every word.
“Then let’s get you fed.” Alex headed over to her refrigerator. She opened it up and pulled out a round white container with a plastic lid. After she set it on the counter, she walked over to one of the kitchen cabinets. When she opened it up, she picked up one of the stainless steel cat bowls. On her way back, she stopped long enough to get a spoon from the drawer.
“What’s that?” Chandler pulled a face as Alex scooped up what was inside the container. She expected to see a can of cat food, not what was inside the container.
“It’s fresh beef kidney.”
“You don’t feed your cat regular cat food?”
“I know it looks horrid, but it’s much better for her than the crap they put in cans.” Alex bent down and put Zelda’s bowl on the floor. The cat attacked her food as soon as it was on the ground. “As finicky as she is, I doubt Zelda would ever eat regular cat food.”
Once she’d returned the sealed container back inside the fridge, Alex washed her hands, then walked over to the cupboard and got two plates. She stopped at one of the drawers and gathered up some silverware, and then placed the items on the counter next to all the cartons.
“So, have you decided whether or not you want a glass of wine?”
“If it’s only one glass, then I guess so.”
“One glass,” Alex repeated, and went to the cupboard to get two large wine glasses. “Would you like what we had last night, or would you like to try something else?”
There it was again, that suggestive tone that made Chandler wonder if Alex was talking about something else. “I’ll let you choose.”
“Go on. Start dishing up your food.” Alex walked over to select a bottle of wine.
“Aren’t we going to eat in here?”
“I thought we’d eat in the other room. We can watch a movie while we eat.”
“Oh, okay.” Chandler tried to hide her apprehension as she stared at the room where they’d shared the kiss.
“That’s all right, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, sure.” It would be all right, she told herself. Just two friends having dinner.
“Good.”
Once they’d dished up their food, they headed into the other room, with Alex leading the way. As soon as Chandler entered the room, she started to feel anxious. The plate of food sat heavy in her hand, unappetizing.
“Come in and set your food down on the coffee table.” Alex encouraged her as she opened up the cabinet full of DVDs. “You can pick the movie.”
Chandler put her glass of wine and plate of food down next to Alex’s. As soon as she moved closer to the television cabinet, Alex turned and smiled at her. With her right arm extended, she directed Chandler to her collection of movies and television shows.
“As you can see, I have a sizeable selection.”
Nodding, Chandler took a step forward, and scanned the eclectic assortment of movie titles. When Chandler felt Alex enter her personal space, she lost her train of thought.
“I don’t think I’ve seen even a quarter of these. Been too busy before now.” Alex moved closer. “But we don’t have to watch anything if you don’t want. Other things we could do.”
Chandler looked up away from the DVDs, staring straight ahead, her feet frozen in place. She had a sense of wanting to both flee and jump into Alex’s arms at the same time. It was all very confusing.
Moving up behind Chandler, Alex leaned forward until they were almost touching. She put her mouth close to Chandler’s right ear. “Do I make you nervous?”
Chandler clenched her hands, her eyelids fluttering as Alex’s warm breath spilled across her skin. Goosebumps formed on her flesh as Chandler shivered. The woman definitely made her nervous, but she wasn’t about to admit it out loud. She didn’t need to. It was more than obvious.
Wr
apping her arms around Chandler’s waist, Alex pulled her back, pressing their bodies together. Chandler’s heart thudded in anticipation.
“You’ve been thinking about the kiss, haven’t you? That’s why you left without a word this morning. Why you tried to run away, tried to avoid me. I’ve been thinking about the kiss too. I know you felt what I did, what I do.”
Lost in the moment, arousal replaced any fear Chandler felt. Her mouth hanging open, breathing heavily, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be seduced by Alex’s words.
Hyperaware of Alex’s hands at her waist, she wondered if they would remain stationary or decide to wander. As she wished for the latter, her nipples contracted and strained against her shirt, while her sex grew warmer, and throbbed in excitement as her wetness soaked her underwear.
“You didn’t actually believe that I didn’t remember kissing you, did you? That’s not possible, Chandler.” Alex paused. “I know you’re new to this, and I can stop if you want me to, but you don’t want me to, do you?”
Chandler couldn’t speak. As Alex’s hot breath caressed her neck, she trembled in her arms, waiting for the inevitable to happen.
“What would happen if I moved a hand down into your jeans, past the barrier of your panties? Would I find your pussy hot and wet, just aching for my fingers to touch it?”
Chandler let out a shuddering breath as she imagined it, willing it to happen. Oh God, how she needed it to happen.
“Would I, Chandler?”
Her eyes opened, and she looked down. She stared at Alex’s hands as her mind raced. She knew what her body wanted, but she was unable to answer. Worried this was moving too fast, she hesitated. She barely knew Alex, and the fact that Alex was a woman still kind of messed with her head, even though her body was screaming that it didn’t care. All she knew for certain was that once she crossed this line, there was no going back.
“What do you want, Chandler? Tell me what you want and I’ll do it.”
Time appeared to stand still as Chandler weighed her options. Part of her hated that Alex was leaving this up to her. The choice she made, it would be all on her, no one but herself to claim responsibility for it.
