“Won’t your husband object?”
Zee shook their head and sipped their soup.
“He’d better not or else he won’t be my husband. Any man who can’t handle my friendship with you is a man I don’t need in my life.” I raised my spoon and they clinked it with theirs.
“Amen to that. Same goes for me and a wife, if I can ever find one. It’s not looking so great right now.” I’d never even gotten close to that kind of commitment. I’d never even lived with a girlfriend.
“Oh, you’ll be fine. I think the time is nigh for you finding someone. I just have a feeling.” Mocha jumped up and tried to paw at my spoon, but I moved it so that she couldn’t get it.
“You wouldn’t like this, trust me.” I held up my phone and took a video of Mocha sniffing the soup and then recoiling. It was so fucking cute. I sent it immediately to Tuesday without thinking.
Zee and I finished our dinner and watched a few episodes of our favorite show before I took the kitties and got in bed with a book. I had another message from Tuesday, this time she was trying to get the turtles to do tricks and failing miserably. I got a little glimpse of where she lived and what I saw looked nice. I still knew so little about her, so I scrolled through her social media again. She didn’t have a ton of posts, and there were huge gaps where she hadn’t put up anything for months. There were a lot of lifting pictures and videos and of course I watched all those. The weights were all in kilograms and I didn’t feel like doing the math to convert them to pounds, but I could guess that it was a lot of weight.
My book forgotten, I lost myself in Tuesday’s social pages for a few hours and before I knew it, my eyes were gritty and I was falling asleep on my phone. Oops? Finally, I plugged in my phone and set it on my nightstand so I couldn’t keep scrolling.
This fascination with Tuesday was starting to impact my life, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I wasn’t just fascinated by her looks (although her body was fascinating), but I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to know how she’d felt growing up as an only child. I wanted to know if her heart had been broken, and how many times. I really, really wanted to know if she liked girls. We hadn’t broached that topic again. I wondered if she thought I’d forgotten about it. I hadn’t. It hung in the back of my mind whenever I was with her. I couldn’t put my finger on why it mattered so much.
I was attracted to Tuesday, sure. But you needed more than lust to make a relationship. And I didn’t want to date her. Hell no. Not even a little bit. Never, ever.
Not even if she begged me.
Eight
It was a relief to get back to normal and get back into my studio. Tuesday kept sending me turtle pictures and other random shit she thought would make me laugh. I found myself checking my phone a lot more often than I usually would, and Zee wouldn’t stop commenting on it.
“I feel like you don’t love me anymore,” they said, rolling on the floor in front of me on Friday night. The two of us had gone out for sushi, but had come home and ordered dessert in. We were just waiting for our cake to get here. Living in a city was amazing like that. You could order just about anything at just about any time. It was a good thing I was so broke, or else I would spend all my money ordering various items to my house.
“Shut up, you’re being dramatic,” I said, sticking my foot in their face.
“Ew, gross!” They rolled away, swatting at my foot.
“I’m just . . .” I trailed off because I had no idea what I was doing with Tuesday. Were we friends? Just two people who sort of worked near each other? I didn’t think that was the definition. I didn’t think she would call me a friend if someone asked her if I was. I didn’t know what she was to me. Too complicated. Far too complicated.
“You’re just what?” Zee asked, getting up and then leaning back on the couch, avoiding both sleeping kittens.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t know what’s going on with Tuesday and I don’t know if I want it to keep going.” Zee gave me a look. “What?”
“You definitely want it to keep going. It’s written on your face. You have a thing for her.” I sighed.
“That doesn’t mean anything. I can like the way she looks and think her turtles are funny without it being some big thing.” Zee smiled to themselves and shook their head.
“What?” I asked again. I was getting a little fed up with everyone reading too much into this.
“Sorry, sorry. I’m being annoying. I’ll stop.” They pulled my feet into their lap and started rubbing them. I closed my eyes and instantly my irritation melted away.
“That’s not fair. I can’t be cross with you when you rub my feet.” I cracked one eye open to find Zee grinning.
“I know. It’s something I’ve known for a long time and employ whenever I need to.” I wanted to argue, but I shut my eyes and decided to just enjoy this.
My phone buzzed and I thought it was probably a message from Tuesday, but I didn’t grab for it immediately, even though my fingers itched to reach for my phone. I waited for a least a minute, or so I thought.
“Wow, waiting thirty whole seconds. Impressive restraint,” Zee said when I finally went for the phone.
“Shut up,” I said, seeing another pic from Tuesday. This one was about working out. She’d started sending me goofy things about fitness and I loved them. Of course I had my group chat, but Tuesday understood certain things about my life in a way that some of my friends didn’t. It was just . . . different. I also didn’t think about my friend’s butts as much as I thought about Tuesday’s. Not even remotely close.
I didn’t think about anyone’s butt as much as Tuesday’s, and that included my own.
“I’m just teasing you. When I get my next boyfriend you can totally do the same thing. Not that Tuesday is your girlfriend or romantic partner.” The last part was added hastily.
“That’s right. She’s not.”
Zee started humming a tune I didn’t know and went back to rubbing my feet, which distracted me from thinking about Tuesday again, but not for long.
ANOTHER WEEK PASSED and before I knew it, Tuesday’s gym was opening. I went downstairs the night before to see how she was doing, but I walked in to find her talking to someone who was almost as buff as she was.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” I was so used to only seeing her in this space, it was strange to see someone else.
Tuesday’s eyes flicked from me to the other person and back.
“It’s okay,” she said. “We were almost done.” I wondered if she would introduce me to the other person, but she didn’t seem like she was going to. So I did it.
“Hi, I’m Sutton. I own the yoga studio upstairs.” I put my hand out to shake hers and hoped it wouldn’t crush my fingers. She looked at my hand and then at me and then at Tuesday. Had she never been introduced to another human before? I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary. People introduced themselves all the time.
“I’m Kiera, nice to meet you, Sutton,” she said, and I wondered why she was putting so much emphasis on my name. Then she looked at Tuesday, who was studying the floor. Had I missed something?
“I’m just going to go. I, uh, wanted to see how things were going for tomorrow.” I’d come down to wish her luck, but I didn’t know what the situation was with this Kiera.
“Kiera is one of my coaches,” Tuesday blurted out. “She’s just here working on some details for tomorrow. That’s it.” I looked at Kiera, who had a smirk on her face. She crossed her arms and her biceps bulged. Being around this much buffness was going to give me a complex.
“Great,” I said, and wondered how to extricate myself from the room without it being weird. Or weirder than it was already.
“Well, I’m out. Nice to meet you Sutton, I’ll see you tomorrow, Tues.” Kiera grabbed a bag and slung it over her shoulder and was out of the room before I could say anything else. The door shut and I was left staring at Tuesday.
“I’m gonna head out
too. Just wanted to wish you good luck and say that I’ll be in class in a couple of days. If you need anything, I’ll be in the studio all day. It’s the least I can do after you let me use your gym space for two whole days.” I had been wondering how I was going to do that. It wasn’t a small thing she had done for me and I wanted to repay her for that kindness.
“I do,” she said, raising her eyes and revealing that her face was entirely red, and I didn’t think it was red from an intense workout.
“You do what?” I asked, and my heart started racing. I didn’t know what she was going to say, but I knew it was going to change everything.
“I do like girls. Just so you know.” I almost choked on my tongue.
“You do,” I said after a few seconds of shock.
“I do.” Our eyes locked and something unsaid passed between us. She took a shaky breath and then wiped her hands on her shorts, which drew my attention to her thighs, which were on full display.
“So do I. In case you didn’t know that already. I like girls too.” She nodded and picked at some calluses on her hands.
“That is good information to know.”
“Is it?” I asked, my voice squeaking. My feet couldn’t have moved if they tried. Tuesday looked up again and took a step closer.
“It is,” she said, and reached her hand out. It hung in the air between us and I didn’t know what she was going to do with it. She’d just admitted she liked girls, but did that include me? I still wasn’t sure how I felt about her. Everything was so jumbled and confusing around her. I’d never been this conflicted in my life about another person.
After a moment, Tuesday dropped her hand and let out a soft chuckle.
“It’s late. You should go.”
“I should,” I agreed, but I didn’t move.
When I didn’t, she made a sound of frustration. “Seriously, you should go.”
“Why? What will happen if I don’t?” I started to tremble with anticipation of what would come next. Tuesday and I were teetering on the edge of changing everything one way or another.
“You don’t want to know.”
The air was so hard to breathe, but I did my best.
“Maybe I do,” I said, surprising myself. I wasn’t bold. I wasn’t a risk-taker (except for opening the studio, but that was a completely different thing than this).
“Are you sure?”
I nodded once.
Tuesday came so close that I could see that little brown fleck in one of her eyes and see how long her eyelashes were.
“What am I doing?” Tuesday said softly to herself.
“I don’t know, but could you do whatever it is before I die from anticipation?” The words were out of my mouth before I could decide if they were the right words to say at this exact moment.
Tuesday’s mouth lifted on one side into a smirk.
“If you keep being so sassy, I might not kiss that mouth of yours.”
It was in that moment that I realized that I wanted to kiss Tuesday Grímsdóttir more than I’d wanted anything else in my entire life.
“If you don’t kiss me, I’ll die,” I said. My words were just flying out of my mouth with no filter. Being around her made my brain malfunction.
“That seems a little dramatic, princess,” she said, raising her hand and touching my cheek with callused fingers. Who would have thought that rough touch could be so sexy?
Her mouth drew closer and I decided to be the one who kissed her. There was no rule stating that Tuesday had to kiss me first. I could make a move. So I did.
Her lips trembled as I pressed mine against hers. The first kiss was a test. A brief touch to figure out if we wanted to keep going with this. That simple kiss was full of so much potential that I couldn’t let her go without more. Tuesday’s lips were soft and full and cradled mine with a delicacy I didn’t anticipate from her.
I pressed closer, needing more contact. She was just a few inches taller, but I only had to tip my mouth up a touch for everything to be lined up perfectly. Her hand was still on my face, and her other moved to gripped my shoulder. I expected Tuesday to kiss like she lifted: hard and fast. What a surprise to find that her kisses were slow and tender and sweet. So sweet.
Her tongue reached for my bottom lip, caressing it with care before I opened my mouth and let her do the same to the inside of my mouth. Our tongues swirled around one another, doing a slow dance that set my blood on fire. Now the fingers gripping my shoulder dug in and I heard the desperation in her gasping breaths.
That moment the tone of her kisses changed, and I caught a glimpse of the other side of Tuesday. The side with the demanding lips and tongue who ravished my mouth with a thoroughness that I could only admire. Not that I hadn’t been kissed before this, but never like this. There was nothing beyond this kiss, beyond Tuesday.
Strange whimpering noises emerged from my throat and I was powerless to stop them. Tuesday smiled, and gave me a series of little nipping kisses before pulling back. My eyes opened slowly and it was like waking up after a vivid dream. I wasn’t sure what was reality anymore. Tuesday had rearranged everything.
“Well,” she said, her tongue licking her lips as if she wanted to savor the taste of me.
“Well, what?” I said, my voice weak.
“Well that was a surprise.” Our faces were still so close, and I wanted to be kissing her again and not talking. I didn’t need to talk ever again if it would take up time that we could spend kissing each other.
“A good surprise?” If she hadn’t enjoyed that kiss then I would eat all of my yoga mats.
“Mmm, you could say that.” Tuesday stepped back and released me. I swayed on my feet a little.
“What happens now?” That was the ultimate question. We’d crossed a boundary and now we were on a completely uncharted path. I still didn’t know if she liked me. I didn’t know if I liked her. The only thing I did know was that if I never kissed her again, I would probably die.
“I don’t know,” she said with a sigh. “I didn’t anticipate this. I thought if I kissed you, it might be bad, or that we wouldn’t click, or that it would get you out of my system. But that is not what happened.” Oh. So she had been thinking about kissing me. That was an interesting revelation.
“Am I in your system?” She was certainly in mine.
Tuesday laughed a little.
“You could say that. I’m not even going to tell you what I did to try and get your attention.” What was she talking about? I couldn’t think right now.
“So you thought kissing me would help you stop thinking about me?” Tuesday walked over to one of the wooden boxes and sat down heavily on it. I followed her and sat on the box as well. She pulled her feet up and faced me.
“I don’t know what to do here, Sutton. I’m not used to being in this situation and I’m not even sure this is anything that would work out. I mean, I don’t know if I like you.” She put her hands on her knees.
“That makes two of us, because I’m not sure if I like you either,” I snapped. Our eyes met and we both grinned at each other.
“This is really weird,” she said.
“Agreed.”
“Weird enough not to want to kiss me again?” she asked, and leaned forward.
“No. I mean, yes. I mean, I want you to kiss me again. Definitely.” My phone went off and I pulled it out of my pocket. It was Zee, asking if enchiladas were okay for dinner.
“My roommate,” I said, typing that I did want enchiladas. That sounded amazing right now. “Asking what I wanted for dinner.”
“Your roommate, huh?” Tuesday asked, and I was confused for a second.
“They’re literally just my roommate. They aren’t into girls.” Not even a little bit.
“Good to know.” Tuesday got off the box and walked in a little circle. “So, I don’t know what we’re doing, and I don’t know why we’re doing it, but I think we owe it to ourselves to see what the hell this is. Don’t you think?” I was up for that, and I
told her so.
“I’ll send you some turtle videos later,” Tuesday said.
“That’s not as good as kissing,” I said, trying not to pout. I wasn’t going to beg for more kisses, but also . . .
Tuesday laughed a little.
“Fair enough. But I’m not sure if we should kiss any more tonight.” I felt the color drain from my face.
“Why not?” Oh crap, did she not want to kiss me anymore? Could I have blown it in the past few moments?
“Because if I kiss you again, I might not stop with kissing.” She walked back to her little office and shut the light off. Looked like she was getting ready to lock up and go home. I also had kittens and enchiladas waiting for me and I was hungry and missed my babies. But kissing.
“And that’s a problem because . . .” I trailed off and she groaned.
“You are stubborn when you want something, aren’t you?” she said, grabbing her bag and then starting to turn off some of the other lights.
“Yes, you should probably know that about me now.” I might not be an impulsive person, but I was stubborn as hell when there was something I wanted.
“Got it,” she said, and shut all the lights off. The only illumination came from some of the windows and the glass front door where the light from the lobby came through.
“You’re kicking me out,” I said. “Rude.”
“I’m not kicking you out. I’m ending the night because I don’t want either of us to rush into anything that we might regret. I’ve done that before and I don’t want to go down that road again.” I saw her profile in the weak light and I could tell there was definitely more to it.
“There’s so much I don’t know about you, Tuesday,” I said.
“Exactly. And I think there are some things you should know if this is . . . something. I still have no idea if that’s what I want.” Me neither. I started to walk toward the door and she followed me. I waited while she set the alarm for the gym, and then for the whole building. We walked out to our cars, which happened to be parked right next to each other.
Anyone but You Page 10
