Liquid Courage

by Hildred Billings

  Nah. She would go ahead and think all that sappy shit while she continued to kiss Vivian’s warming lips.

  Eventually, though, they would need to get the hell out of the cold.

  Vivian had the brilliant idea to go to a movie matinee, her treat, since Kat had paid for lunch. Out of five available movies, they could only agree on one: a mindless superhero movie they had both already seen once before and hadn’t liked enough to see again. But that meant they could spend the next two hours cuddling close in the back row, hands venturing between each other’s thighs and giggles always fresh on one another’s ears. They managed to hold themselves back from making out like teenagers even though the theater was empty. The only reason to avoid it, honestly, was to keep from getting in trouble with the ushers.

  “My hands are still cold,” Kat insisted as her hand once more slipped between Vivian’s thighs. “You gotta help me out here. It’s the warmest place on a woman’s body.”

  Vivian clicked her tongue, so put out by this flirtation that she clearly had no choice but to open her legs enough for Kat to feel her up. Oh ho ho, I wasn’t lying! Some caped crusader smashed another man’s face in while Kat touched another woman’s heat through a pair of thick leggings.

  “Tell you what.” Vivian said with a forced sigh. “You can feel me up all you want if you promise to buy me a drink afterward.”

  “What makes you think I wasn’t gonna? You saying you don’t want me feeling you up?”

  “I mean… how badly do you wanna get me worked up before we go back to your place?”

  “So we are going back to my place later?”

  “Why? Don’t you want to?”

  “We could go right now if you want.”

  “But I’m not worked up yet…”

  Kat brushed her fingers against Vivian’s thigh. “Working on it. Give me five more minutes.”

  “Just remember that other people have to sit in this chair later.”

  “Don’t be a messy girl and it won’t be a problem.”

  Vivian sucked in her cheeks as Kat tossed a coat over their laps. “The only messy one here is you. Who the hell tries to finger a girl in a movie theater?”

  That was like… the most tried and true dating event, though! In public, anyway! “Me. I treat all my dates to it.”

  “You a slut?”

  “Trying to be,” Kat said with a shrug. “What? You shy?”

  “Do your worst.”

  This was more torturous than the first night in Kat’s apartment. More torturous than the bathroom at the bar! Because Kat had only come close to such wondrous glories on those two occasions. This was different. This was her finally getting to touch a part of Vivian that she only imagined before. In public, no less.

  Okay, so no one else was around, but someone could see them if they cared enough. There was a thrill in that, wasn’t there?

  “Were you being serious when you said you do this with all your dates?” Vivian’s tense body almost prevented Kat from slipping right into her leggings and fighting with lingerie elastic. Which pair you wearing, Vivi? She hoped it was the dark purple thong. That had immediately been Kat’s favorite when she saw the photos Vivian sent her the night before. In exchange, I wore my nicest pair of cotton undies. Everyone loves stripes, right? “Because I wanna feel special.”

  For a woman who claimed to have a lot of insecurities, Vivian sure knew how to flirt and be too fucking coy for Kat to handle. “Trust me. You’re special.” She leaned in closer, her middle finger slipping right down Vivian’s wet slit. “And you’re only the second one I’ve done this with.” She didn’t add that it had been three years since the last time.

  Vivian closed her eyes and pushed her head against the top of her seat. “Think of how much I’ll owe you later.”

  “Only thing I’m thinking about is getting you off.”

  Those eyes snapped open again. “Getting me off? Damn. You must be good. Here I thought this was merely a fact-finding mission.”

  “How about you shut up and enjoy my damn good skills?”

  Vivian sucked some of her drink out of its straw. “Mmhmm.” The cup went back into its holder. “See if you can get me off before this obnoxious fight scene is over.”

  No problem.

  It took about three minutes. During that excruciating time, Kat became quite acquainted with Vivian’s nether lips and what they contained within their confines. Well, she’s definitely soft. And warm. And holy-fucking wet. Kat only had enough wiggle room to work one finger toward Vivian’s opening, but she rubbed that clit along the way and turned this pretty woman into a heavy-breathing beauty.

  Yeaaaah, those breasts were only a little distracting to look at. Once Vivian caught on, she unbuttoned the top of her sweater dress and gave her a date a great view of the cleavage within. Not fair. Now Kat was thinking about what she would get later more than ever!

  The shit I’m gonna do to you later, Vivi. Kat had plans to smother her lips all over this pussy once they got back to her place. Vivian thought this was nice? She should try the cunnilingus express, due to leave the station in a few hours.

  “Think you’re gonna come anytime soon?” Kat purred into Vivian’s ear. “Because my hand’s getting a bit cramped.”

  Vivian enclosed one of her own hands over Kat’s mouth.

  She must have been coming, for all Kat felt for the next ten seconds was the contracting and heating up of this woman’s most sensitive place.

  Yeah, I’m good. Fuck me, I’m the best.

  Some women gained confidence from putting on a hot outfit and strutting down the street. Others put on their warrior paint before stepping out the door. So what if Kat did that too? She also gained confidence when she brought a woman to orgasm using just one finger!

  In a movie theater!

  Hell, yeah!

  Vivian brought her in for a kiss and called her naughty. Yes, in that order.

  Chapter 9

  “It’s true,” Kat said, arm on the bar counter and fingers drumming against her beer bottle. “I really did meet Chelsea Clinton.”

  “You did not.” Vivian scoffed. “Liar.”

  Another group of young men squeezed past them to get to the other end of the bar. For once, they didn’t go to Kat’s bar. Sometimes it’s nice to branch out, you know? This place, while stubbornly co-ed, was owned by one of Beverly’s friends, and Kat said they would be taken care of if someone gave them shit for being into each other. “I really did meet Chelsea,” Kat reiterated. “Please note that I’m saying ‘meet.’ You make it sound like I said I slept with her. Please. She’s a little old for me.”

  “When did you freakin’ meet her?”

  “Waaay back in high school. She came through these parts when Obama first ran. Damn. That was a long time ago.”

  “She was campaigning?”

  “You know, I have no idea what the hell she was doing. She could’ve accidentally stumbled into my high school because Google Maps told her to go through someone’s backyard and take a left at Albuquerque. Either way, the Secret Service was with her, so that was cool.”

  “Were you old enough to vote yet?”

  “Not in that election. By like… five months. Dumb.”

  “First time I voted was the local election where we decided to give more taxes to public playgrounds. I was a real adult that day.”

  “Hey! That was my first one too!”

  “I thought you were older than me?” Vivian had already done the math. Kat should have voted in at least one or two other elections before that one.

  “Yeah, well…” Kat hid her sheepishness in her beer bottle. “I was a kid, you know? Too cool for voting, especially with so much capital C Change going on.”

  “Meanwhile, I’ve voted in every election I legally could since turning 18.”

  “Aren’t you a good citizen?”

  “I try to be.”

  The Sunday night crowd swelled until Vivian was forced to scoot her stool closer to Kat�
�s. They were deep in the corner of the room, and if they wanted to leave before things started clearing out, they would have to flex their elbows to make the guys and gals move. Vivian would have liked to see that, honestly. Kat had proven herself incredibly competent in so many areas already. Fending off the hoard sounded like it was right up there in competency.

  And sexy. Because one little orgasm in the back of a dark theater wasn’t enough to satiate Vivian. Relax her? Yes, actually. It had taken some of the edge, the anxiety out of her body. For fuck’s sake, Kat had fingered her! In the pussy! What else was there to be shy about now?

  They were practically girlfriends. Now there’s a thought. She was half-tempted to ask Kat if it was true, but decided to wait until they had slept together first. To keep with the hookup aesthetic they started off with, of course.

  But if Kat did want to be girlfriends… Vivian would say yes right now.

  Almost seemed too good to be true, though. Kat was so put together and in control of who she was that Vivian occasionally had the urge to shrink before her. What was she compared to a woman like this? Kat could have anyone she wanted. Nobody turns her down, I bet. When she breaks up with a girlfriend, it’s because she wants to end things. Who the hell would break up with her? Not Vivian. She had to keep from bracing her hands against Kat’s legs and letting her hair close them off from the rest of the busy bar.

  Aw, fuck it. She’d do it.

  “So what made you become a bartender?” Vivian asked, palms digging into Kat’s thighs.

  Kat looked between those hands and Vivian’s face. Which one was a prettier sight? “Necessity,” Kat matter-of-factly said. “Needed a job that could get me decent money, coincide with a morning job, and didn’t require a college degree. Tending bar was the natural choice. Helps that I had good connections from other jobs and I don’t really hate talking to people.”

  “That’s why I would never be able to do it.” Dealing with a constant rotation of strangers would drive Vivian out of that job faster than she could learn to make a cosmo. “I much prefer sitting behind a desk.”

  “You wear those cute outfits, so can’t blame you. Especially if I get to look at them.”

  “Meanwhile, you get to strut around in jeans and T-shirts. What’s not to love about that?”

  “It’s definitely comfortable, yes.”

  “What do you think you’ll do in the future?”

  “You mean I don’t get to tend bar and sort fish for the rest of my life?”

  Vivian chuckled. “Probably not.”

  “Damnit. That was my grand plan!” Kat laughed until she ran out of breath. “I honestly have no idea. I’ve spent most of my life taking it one month at a time. Save when I can, try to be smart while letting myself have some fun… unfortunately, those savings always get blown on something. Like medical bills or a car exploding in your face on your way to work.”

  “I know that feeling well.” Vivian finished her drink. “The thing about medical bills. It’s crazy to think that there are people out there who don’t have to worry about getting sick and wrecking their bank accounts.”

  “In my case, it was a broken arm that did me in. Not only did my insurance suck, but I ended up losing my job because I needed two hands to do yard work. Adding insult to injury.”

  “That suuucks.”

  “Yeah. It does.” Kat chuckled again. “Found out how hard it is to take a selfie in that state as well. Only one hand? Not as easy as it looks.”

  “Why were you taking selfies?”

  “Thought I’d try my hand at online dating.”

  “You? Online dating?” Vivian had never seen someone like Kat online before. “How did that work out?”

  “Terribly! It’s a wasteland out there!”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “If women aren’t being the pickiest crabapples in the bunch…” Kat shook her head, “they’re straight-up lying to you. I don’t know how many women I started talking to asked if their husband could join in.”

  Who knew what reaction Kat was going for? If it was shock and surprise, then she wasn’t getting it – because Vivian was too familiar with the bait and switch when it came to online dating. “Isn’t it amazing how many women out there don’t understand what ‘lesbian’ means?”

  “I hear a lot of similar horror stories from bi women over at the bar.” Kat shuddered. “No matter what, the level of disrespect is unreal. What I really loved was the one woman who swore her husband wouldn’t be involved with our hookups, but I was also pretty sure he was responding to some of my messages on her behalf.”

  “What?”

  “She would reply in totally different ways. Sometimes she sounded ‘normal,’ you know, then she would start using these random abbreviations I couldn’t understand and oversexed emojis just like a guy would. I think her husband just wanted wank fodder for his fortieth birthday. Some couples are that shameless.”

  “Well?” Vivian teased. “Did you ever do that glorious threesome with a lying couple?”

  “Are you kidding me? I’d rather die.”

  “So…” The room grew quiet while Vivian paused for effect. “Would this be a really awkward time to tell you that my boyfriend is interested in a threesome?”

  “Don’t even.”

  Vivian had barely been able to get that out without cracking herself up. It was almost worth making Kat look so uncomfortable on her bar stool. The thought of me having a boyfriend… ludicrous. She had tried before. High school had been ripe with experimentations that went nowhere but into the coldfire depths of hell. The thought of sharing a girlfriend with another man was beyond preposterous. Whoever she ended up with? She wanted to be their only one, and to know that they were her only one. No men allowed.

  She took Kat’s hand on top of the bar. I wonder if she could be my only one. “Thanks for going out with me today.” Damn, where had something as embarrassing as that come from? Why was she thanking Kat for a date? She made it sound like they were just a couple of gals being pals frolicking about to keep each other company on a cold and drizzly Sunday! “I mean…”

  “I should be the one thanking you.” Kat squeezed her date’s hand. “But maybe I want to believe that the third time is a charm.”

  “The third time?”

  “You know what I mean, Vivi.”

  Third time trying to get into bed with me. Vivian couldn’t help but giggle. “Guess I have been pretty silly.”

  “Nah. You know your boundaries and what you want. Nothing wrong with that.”

  Vivian pursed her lips. “Could say the same thing about some other women. Like Shari. She definitely knew what she wanted, and it wasn’t me.”

  “But if she hadn’t dumped you, we wouldn’t have met.”

  Vivian cocked her head. “You think that’s a good thing, huh? That we met?”

  “Of course I do?” Kat leaned in closer, her lips mind-numbingly close to Vivian’s. “Because now I get three shots with you.”

  “What makes you think you only get three total?”

  “Consider it a self-motivated challenge.”

  “C’mon…” Vivian averted her lips before a kiss could be sealed between them. “You technically got into my pussy already. What more do you want?”

  “Um, my face in your pussy?”

  I can’t deny it’s a thought I’m totally into. Vivian only hoped that she hadn’t overhyped the event in her mind. Yet Kat had to be good in bed, yes? Someone as confident and sexy as her… oof, Vivian might as well have wondered if the Pope was still Catholic. I’m sure his holiness would appreciate me having these lusty lesbian thoughts, too!

  Vivian left her lips only an inch away from Kat’s. “That might be something we can arrange tonight.”

  “You sure about that? Because I could totally take you home right now.”

  “You haven’t finished your beer yet.”

  Hand still interlocked with Vivian’s, Kat knocked back the last of her drink and slammed the bott
le back down onto the counter. Before she could ask her date back to her place one more time, Kat slammed a kiss upon Vivian’s lips.

  Someone whistled only a few feet away. Vivian opened one eye to spot two buddies clinking their bottles together and enjoying the hot show at the bar. Eat your hearts out, dudes. Vivian slipped Kat the tiniest bit of tongue before sitting back again and saying, “We seem to have an audience.”

  “So let’s get out of here.”

  “You’re formally asking me back to your place for a nightcap, Ms. Kat?”

  Kat was already coaxing Vivian off her stool. “Do you need me to hire a skywriter to make my point any clearer? You. Me. My place a few blocks away from here.”

  Vivian stayed close as they made their way toward the door. “What if I say no?”

  “I’ll probably let you jerk me around some more. And I’ll probably like it.”

  As fun as that sounded, Vivian decided she would much rather cash in her prize now. The faster they could get back to Kat’s place, the better. Not because Vivian might change her mind, but because every neuron in her body screamed for Kat to take her now.

  Chapter 10

  Back at the scene of the initial crime, where it all began, and the place where Vivian might have made a million mistakes if she didn’t take a step back and reevaluate her own ego… yeah, that about summed up Kat’s little apartment.

  “Well, here we are.” Kat latched the front door shut and tossed her winter wear onto a hook. Vivian stayed dress in hers, although she considered taking off her boots. “Now what? I’ve got a comfy couch with your ass’s name on it.”

  “You know my ass’s name?”

  “No,” Kat admitted. “But I’d very much like to learn it.”

  She gently pushed Vivian back up against the wall, where she had been four days before. Only four days! All of this has happened in four days? Sometimes she swore time slowed as much as it sped up the older she got. How quickly does time go by if you’re kissing somebody? Maybe Vivian should find out.

  “I’m warning you,” she said, while Kat surrounded her. “If you start kissing me, we ain’t gonna stop until I’m passed out naked in your bed.”