Kat would know. It was because of those experiences she wanted to make good love to women like Vivian so that they never once doubted their beauty again.
Someone came out of the only bathroom in the place. Kat put the cues away and pinned Vivian up against the table. I’m either gonna get slapped or get kissed. Damn. If she was slapped in a place like this, her coworkers would never let her live it down.
Vivian blushed. Or maybe she was already flushed from the alcohol. “So is this the part where you ask me back to your place?” she squeaked. “Again?”
Kat’s struggle to remain as calm and collected as any hotshot seducer was liable to make her fray at her weakened seams. I am so not as cool as people like to make me sound! What good were stereotypes about women like her when she barely lived up to them?
Or maybe she did. Kat was about to find out.
“I could invite you back to my place if you want,” she said with a half-hearted shrug. An amazing feat, considering she was wound up enough. “Or we could take it a little slower.”
“Can’t do both, huh?”
“There ain’t much to do at my place but fool around in bed.”
Vivian bit back a giggle. “Maybe that sounds nice.”
“Nice, huh?” Kat sucked in her cheeks. “Nice, she says. After that preview I gave her…”
“It was definitely a nice preview.”
“You’re breaking my balls here, Vivi.”
“Are they blue?”
“If you’re asking if the strap-on I keep in my nightstand is blue, then… yes?”
Damnit. She had pushed it too far. Vivian was gonna be disgusted with her and…
“Blue’s my favorite color.”
“Uh huh. So then it’s in your best interest to keep my balls as blue as possible. Because then you think they’re pretty.”
Vivian laughed. She did an admirable job keeping any and all nerves out of that laughter ringing in the tiny bar. God. Kat could kiss her right now, and if Vivian were her girlfriend, she would. In front of everyone. In front of her coworkers. In front of her boss.
“Can’t see blue anything in the dark.”
“We could leave the lights on.” Kat grazed her fingers against Vivian’s arm. “You, me, and an endless supply of orgasms.”
“You sure know how to sell it.”
“Is it working? You buying my pitch?”
“I thought you played third base.”
“Touché.” Kat couldn’t take it anymore. She was about to burst from her need to kiss this woman in front of her. “Let’s cut the crap, Vivi. Should we leave things here for tonight, or should we pick up where we left off last night?”
Vivian broke eye contact, her teeth firmly against her bottom lip and her hand whipping through her tangles of straight black hair. I want to bury my face in that hair. I want to bury my face in her tits. God damnit, I want to bury my face in her pussy. Kat had been so close the night before. Close enough to get turned on beyond what was healthy for the average woman.
“Don’t suppose we could do a little of both?”
Kat tried to not let her disappointment show. “Too fast, huh?”
“More like… is there a place we could quickly go and make out like bandits?”
“Now you’re thinking like a high school kid.”
“Too immature for you?”
“No, but my blue balls ain’t gonna like it.” Kat took a step back and drew Vivian along with her. “I’ll somehow live, I guess.”
“You’re such a tease.”
“I’m a tease?”
Vivian smiled again. “Yeah. You’re teasing me into doing things I may not be ready for.”
“Just give me a little hope that it might happen eventually. Like if you give me your number and agree to go out on a real date with me. That might hold me over.”
“And making out with me wouldn’t?”
“Oh, Vivi, trust me, if we make out, it might escalate. Quickly.”
She placed a well-timed peck on Kat’s lips. “That’s it. That’s all you get.”
“You are the fucking tease!”
“You’re the one saying you can’t make out with me and leave it at that tonight. What are you? Some uncontrollable monster?”
“Yes.”
Vivian rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Not as ridiculous as what I’m about to suggest.” Kat looked around the bar to make sure nobody saw them inching toward the tiny bathroom. “Because there’s only one way to guarantee I don’t take things too far.”
“Oooh, what?”
Sure, Vivian could pretend it was a game as they snuck into the bathroom and locked the door. But Kat wasn’t playing. Not even one little bit.
***
This was a first. Sitting on the edge of a sink, back pressed up against a dingy mirror and a deliriously sexy bartender slamming her tongue down Vivian’s throat.
Yup. A first.
“One of these days,” Kat muttered between kisses, “I’m gonna kiss you lying down.”
As long as you’re still on top. Vivian threw her arms around her date’s shoulders and inhaled every breath Kat offered.
They had about five minutes before someone came knocking on the bathroom door. Too bad, because it was a cute little bathroom, with dark red walls, wicker baskets, antique-finished fixtures, and a framed poster of an old Bikini Kill concert. It was a good environment for making out with one’s potential girlfriend without worrying about things getting too crazy too quickly.
“How many girls have you made out with in here?”
Kat pulled Vivian halfway off the sink and growled into the crook of her neck. Jolts of anticipation claimed at least one of them. “Just you so far.”
“Yet you knew exactly where to come?”
“You may be my first, but we are not this bathroom’s first.” Kat silenced Vivian with another kiss that hit her like love to the heart. “Do you wanna waste time talking right now?”
No, Vivian did not want to waste any time. She wanted to torture herself with these parameters she set, because she knew if she went home with Kat, a repeat of last night would happen.
She also had no explanation for staying out all night. Her sister would have known what happened last night. Tonight? She’d have to explain that she got lucky at a bar, and she wasn’t in the mood.
She would much rather make out with Kat in the bar bathroom than put herself through that.
Even though Kat’s fingers kept creeping up her skirt. Even though Vivian’s heart raced so quickly that she worried she would die.
“You know what I wanna do to you?” Kat whispered. “Take a wild guess.”
Vivian had a few wild guesses to share. Turned out they were all correct, even the ones Kat hadn’t thought of until then.
“If I give you my number…” Oh, sure. Vivian supposed she would take a hickey on the shoulder if she wasn’t taking anything else that night. “Will you be content until the weekend?”
“The weekend? I work on the weekend.”
“All night?”
“Late enough! That’s when the good tips are.”
“Even Sunday?”
“You’re gonna make me wait until Sunday?”
Vivian redirected Kat’s lips “You think you’re the only one waiting?”
“Apparently you’re the only one suffering.”
“You think this is a game, huh?” Kat tapped her finger against Vivian’s cheek. “You like fucking with me more than you like fucking me.”
“I don’t know how much I like fucking you yet.”
“Damnit!”
That was enough to bolster Vivian’s confidence for now. She hopped off the sink with one last kiss to Kat’s forehead. “You’re cute as shit when you’re losing your mind over some random woman.”
“Some random woman is right.” Kat pulled Vivian’s hand off the latch. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, and yet you’re doing this to me.”
“It’s actually my superpower.” Vivian pulled a slim cell phone out of Kat’s jeans. “Unlock this so I can give you my number.”
“You better send me nudes.”
Vivian laughed in surprise. “Maybe I will.”
“Actually, don’t. Because I will go absolutely bonkers.”
“Now I really will.”
Once Vivian punched her number into Kat’s contact lists, she smoothed down her clothing and prepared to make her grand exit from the bar. “Think of me while you’re putting your grubby little fingers all over some slimy fish, okay?”
“You’re unbearable.”
“And I’ll think of you when I touch myself later.”
“Insufferable.”
“This is what happens when you give me a little too much liquid courage. I become your worst nightmare.”
That was a flirtation meant to be the perfect sound off to a woman like Kat. But all it accomplished was a hand to the shoulder and a heavy, fantastic kiss to the lips.
Kat would have her version of the last word. If Vivian wouldn’t go home with her, then she would at least take the kind of kiss Kat offered in the bedroom. Not that this kiss was that much different from the ones last night or just now. The difference? The raw, emotional energy pouring from Kat’s mouth and encompassing Vivian’s.
“Better not stop thinking about me,” Kat said as Vivian slipped out of the door. “That’s the only way I’m letting you out of here.”
A part of that sounded so… ominous. Was that the real side of Kat Vivian had accidentally untapped? Or was it merely the side-effect of a woman losing her mind over sex?
Vivian better make sure she responded to any and all texts that came in over the next few days. Even better if she could steal a selfie here and there to torment the poor woman some more.
As soon as she stepped into the apartment she shared with her sister Priscilla, Vivian announced she was taking a bath and would have dinner afterward. The bath would not only wash away the sweat and God knew what else accumulated over the past couple of hours, but would hopefully calm poor Vivian’s body down. She needed some alone time, anyway.
Priscilla asked her some mundane questions through the door. While Vivian responded that yes, she would like some leftover pizza, and yes, she knew that the electric bill was due soon, she added Kat’s phone number to her contacts and assigned her a flaming red lipstick icon. Because every time Vivian though of this woman, she thought of the passionate kisses that smoldered upon her skin.
Kinda like the hot bath water that flushed her flesh, and the bubbles that obscured anything that Kat hadn’t seen before. Vivian kicked her bare leg over the side of the tub and held her phone high above her head. Eat your angular heart out, Shari. Vivian snapped a photo of herself enjoying this bath and sent it to Kat with the caption, “Thinking of you.”
She only received one response that night. “I really, really, really hate you.”
Who knew one woman’s admission of “hate” could make Vivian smile so much?
Chapter 6
Such heavy-handed flirtations continued well into the weekend. Kat woke up early Friday morning wishing she had taken things more slowly with Vivian – but how was she to know that the woman with wavering self-esteem found the most power in sexually charged text messages and making out in bathrooms?
Seriously, how was she supposed to know that?
“Hooooly shit,” Harriet uttered early Friday evening, right before the end-of-the-week rush began at work. Kat had shown her some of the tamer – yet still oh-so-racy – texts that had come in over the past twenty-four-hours. While careful to keep the hot bathtub photos out of it, Kat wasn’t shy about giving one of her friends a small peep into the world of Vivian’s dirty mind. “This is the girl Shari dumped the other night?”
“Yup.” Vivian pocketed her phone, looked up and down the bar, and lowered her voice as she leaned forward. “Nobody knows this yet, but I ended up taking her home that night. Things just clicked as I was trying to make her feel better, you know?”
“You dog.”
“Anyway, nothing really happened ‘cause she got cold feet, but she came back in here yesterday to apologize and… we may have picked up where we left off for a few minutes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we flirted by the pool table and then made out in the bathroom.”
“Here?”
“I live in a small world that consists of my apartment, this bar, and the fish-sorting facility down at the dock. What do you think?”
“Don’t kiss girls on the fish-sorting machine, Kat.” Harriet laughed into her drink. “Oh, man, the jokes write themselves with that one.”
“I smell enough fish all day to know.”
Kat pulled her clean rag off her shoulder. More customers had come in, and before she could get Harriet’s opinion on things, Kat needed to chat up the newcomers and get them their first round of drinks.
By the time she returned to Harriet’s corner, her friend had decided that what Kat needed was a change in perspective.
“Girl like this could be really good for you.”
Kat shook her head. “She’s driving me crazy, is what she’s doing. Is that good for me?”
“If it makes you take it seriously, then yeah, why not?”
“What do you mean?”
Harriet snorted. “How long have I known you, huh? Four years? Five years? How many real girlfriends have you had in that time?”
“Not enough. Too many. Take your pick.”
“Because your definition of a girlfriend is all over the place. Do you consider those girls you take back to your place every couple of months to really be girlfriends? Or just the ones you see more than once?”
“Guess a girlfriend is someone I enjoy for more than the sex.”
“And someone you think about even when you’re apart.”
Kat shrugged. “Guess you’re right. I don’t really think about the people I’m seeing unless we’re together.” It was true. Kat had such a laid-back approach to life and dating that she was more likely to think about her next day’s work schedule than the woman she would see after work. It didn’t mean she didn’t care about the people she dated, though. They were fun. Sometimes they were more drama than they were worth, but usually, Kat was happy to keep that part of her life in its own tightly-packed corner.
“You’re still thinking about her the next day, right?” Harriet continued. “Who knew what you needed was a woman who kept you at leash’s length?”
“I don’t know if we want to talk about leashes. I ain’t quite into that.”
“Whatever floats your boat. Can never tell who’s into that kinky shit these days.”
“Ever since we got rid of the handkerchief code, all hell has broken loose.”
“Not my fault my handkerchief always said the wrong thing!”
Kat spent the rest of the night working and intermittently flirting with Vivian via text. I don’t know how I can wait until Sunday. Between what almost happened Wednesday night, and what transpired last night, Kat was a wreck of sexual frustration. All it took was the other patrons rubbernecking at her demise every time she received another sexy text for Kat to realize what kind of knob she must have looked like.
At the same time, it was good for business, wasn’t it? A lot of women came to these venues for some kind of hope. Hope that they could be seen as normal for a little while longer. Hope that this was one of the few places they could meet the future love of their life – in reality, anyway. Kat hated dating sites, and so did most of the patrons. Oh, everyone had given it a go, whether it was the first wave of websites or the new, exciting wave of apps that promised them endless tits and ass like the straight boys got. Everyone wanted a perfect mix of sexual hookups and long-term commitment, so the websites fizzled and the apps crashed and burned before they had the chance to take off. Shame, really. Didn’t help that no matter where women went for lesbian dating, it was the same, dwi
ndling pool every time. They weren’t a hip college town where co-eds escaping rural hellscapes finally had the opportunity to explore their sexualities, nor were they a big city with endless potential. They were a midsized city. Rent was cheaper than a lot of other places, but that also meant slimmer pickings in the fields of love.
No wonder Kat burned through everyone so quickly.
No wonder she always had a front row seat to Shari’s bullshit.
Because that’s who wandered in at nine, alone. Alone? She’s alone? No date? Was it a miracle? Had Shari been stood up for once? She rarely came in here alone. She was much more likely to hang out with friends elsewhere or keep her sulky self at home. All for the better. Because Kat was the only bartender on duty, and it was up to her to serve Shari her martini and pretend there were no hard feelings between them – even though Shari had seriously hurt Vivian the other night, and even though Kat had her own history with the heartbreaking vixen sitting in front of her.
Harriet stared at them from the other end of the bar. “Wow,” she muttered.
“Thanks.” Shari continued to preen in front of her mirror when Kat put down the martini. Full, dark brown curls shook on Shari’s head when she turned around and spruced up her lipstick. The tight dress she wore reminded Kat of every time they dated in the distant past – and Shari’s current dates she had seen over the past few years.
If someone wanted to talk about a woman who was truly miserable… sheesh. Kat had spent so much time ignoring Shari because she was clearly miserable. Only a woman like that could rationalize treating people like shit on every date. Not all of her dates end terribly… just the ones she deems a waste of time. A decent person would have simply said good night to Vivian and thanked her for taking the time. Nobody had owed anybody anything beyond a modicum of respect and politeness. Kat had been on total duds for dates. She was pretty sure she never told the women that it was because they were unattractive. Who the fuck did that?
Besides Shari, anyway.
“Can I help you?” Shari snapped her mirror shut and turned toward Kat, who remained on the other side of the bar, staring at this infamous patron as if bat wings and devil horns grew out of her body. “Do I have something on my face?” She opened her mirror again and double-checked something at the corner of her eye. “I knew this pimple would be the death of me.”
Liquid Courage Page 5
