Anyone but You

by Chelsea M. Cameron

  “Yes, are you kidding me?” I was about ready to lose it.

  “Well, I have my own plans for you, Sutton. Lay back and enjoy the ride.” The second she touched me, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Her fingers lazily traced their way down my chest, stopping briefly to tweak my nipples before she followed their path with her tongue. She hummed softly in appreciation as she reached where I wanted her. Tuesday kissed the perimeter, but didn’t go exactly where I needed. I groaned in frustration as she widened my thighs and kissed the inside of each one.

  “Someone needs to learn a little patience,” she said in a teasing voice.

  “This is completely unfair,” I said, clenching my hands in the expensive comforter.

  “Oh, I think this is completely fair. I think I’ll take my time.” She traced a circle right around everything and I wanted to scream.

  “You said you were going to fuck me, so fuck me,” I said, looking down at her. She had her mouth poised just above me and a wicked smile on her face.

  “So demanding,” she said. “But I guess I’ve been mean enough.”

  The second her tongue touched me, I almost cried in relief. Of their own accord, my fingers dove into her hair, pulling her head closer. She chuckled and then plunged one finger inside me, following it closely with a second. Tuesday knew what she was doing, and with a few flicks of her tongue, and a few curls of her fingers, she had stars exploding behind my eyes, and screams coming from my mouth. The orgasm was so powerful that I was sure my heart stopped for a second as my body gave itself over to pure pleasure with no room for anything else. Not even for breathing.

  Wave after wave consumed me, until I finally came back down, my body trembling and weak in the aftermath of the storm. A few tears rolled down my cheeks and I wiped them away.

  “Thank you,” I finally said, and she laughed before coming up to join me again, her face shiny. I handed her the box of tissues.

  “You came so fast that I didn’t really get to show you my entire repertoire,” she said, with a smile on her face. I laughed.

  “I’m sure you’re very, very good with all of that, you don’t have to convince me. I guess I wouldn’t be upset if I got to see your entire repertoire, though.” That made her laugh and then she put her head on my chest and slung her leg over mine. My hands strayed to her hair, which was a little sweaty.

  “Do you want to take a shower?” she asked a few minutes later.

  “Sure,” I said, and it took me longer to get up than I would have anticipated. I was still completely wrung out from the orgasm.

  Tuesday led me into an attached bathroom with a huge clawfoot tub and a separate shower. I didn’t even know they had those in apartments in Boston.

  “This is a really nice apartment,” I said, as she turned on the water for the shower. I watched as her body moved and shifted, having the benefit of seeing all of it under the bright bathroom lights.

  “Your body really is incredible. I was so intimidated by you at first.”

  “Were you?” she asked, taking my hand and leading me into the shower.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  She put her arms on my shoulders and pulled me under the hot water.

  “Are you still intimidated by me?” I nodded.

  “Yup. But for different reasons.” I shouldn’t have said anything because now she was going to ask me about those reasons, and they were tricky, slippery things. Tonight something had shifted, and we’d crossed another bridge that we couldn’t turn back from.

  And I still wasn’t sure that I liked her. Guess you could just have sex without getting completely attached. Go me.

  “What are you thinking about?” Tuesday asked, and I turned my attention to her.

  “Nothing. Nothing at all.” She raised an eyebrow, skeptical, but didn’t ask me to elaborate. I kissed her to change the subject and that seemed to work.

  The two of us took our time in the shower, soaping each other up and giggling, washing each other’s hair and trying not to get soap in our eyes. It was light and fun and the perfect thing to do after the hot-as-hell sex.

  Tuesday wrapped me in a robe and we went back out to the living room together. She uncovered the turtle tank and talked to them in a soft voice.

  “What are you telling them?” I asked.

  “That they’re good babies and I’m sorry that I had to ignore them for a little while.” Same thing I would have done if we were at my place and I shut the kitties out while we fucked in the bedroom.

  “I’m sure they understand.”

  “I hope so.” She joined me back on the couch and I leaned on her shoulder.

  “Do you want to stay the night? No pressure, but you could if you wanted to. I mean, we are going to the same place tomorrow.” That was a good point, but I missed my kitties and I enjoyed sleeping in my own bed. Staying here seemed like taking things a little too far. All of this was still so new.

  “No, that’s fine I’ll head home in a little while.” I could probably fall asleep on this couch right now if I let myself, but I really did need to go home. I got up and brushed my hair out, putting it up so it wasn’t wet and on my neck. I got dressed and met her in the living room again.

  She looked so beautiful, her hair curling damply, all bundled up in a robe with her cheeks flushed from the sex and the shower. It hit me hard how much I did not want to leave her. No, I wanted to stay and see what it was like to sleep beside her in that big, glorious bed. I’d like to know what she looked like in the morning.

  I shook my head at myself and sighed. I didn’t tell her how much I wanted to stay; she didn’t need to know.

  Tuesday got up and came over to me as I stuffed my yoga clothes in my bag and searched for my keys.

  “Tonight was amazing. I’m glad you came. How about I bring you breakfast tomorrow? You’re going to need a lot of protein.” I was still a little sore from the workout, and I knew if I didn’t stretch before bed, tomorrow was going to be brutal.

  “Thanks, that would be great.” I stood there, wondering if she was going to kiss me. She blinked, fluttering those lashes at me.

  “Goodnight,” she said in a soft voice, leaning forward to press her lips to mine.

  “Goodnight, Tuesday,” I said, and then she followed me to the door. It was a gentle end to tumultuous night. I stumbled a little going down the stairs, but I made it to my car in one piece. In a daze, I drove home and floated into my apartment. It was late, but Zee was still awake, probably waiting for me to give them the dirty details.

  There they were, sitting on the couch with the sleeping kitties in their lap and the TV on a low volume.

  “Well hello there,” they said, smirking. “I left you a little bit of cake. I figured you would want it post-coitus.” I wanted to throw a pillow at them for using the word “coitus.” Instead, I went to the kitchen and got the last piece of cake and put it on a plate.

  “It’s really weird how invested in my sex life you are, Zee,” I said, as I took my first bite. The sugar went right to my system. It didn’t matter because I was going to be up late anyway, thinking about might night with Tuesday. Had that really happened?

  “I just care about you and your sexual health. Orgasms are good for you.” I made a face at them.

  “Seriously, ew.”

  “Fine, fine. But how did things go otherwise? You don’t have to tell me about the sex parts, if there were any sex parts.” I giggled.

  “Sex parts,” I repeated.

  “Tell meeeee,” they whined, and woke up the kitties. I pulled them into my lap instead.

  “She made me dinner and we had ice cream sundaes. The whole thing had a bit of a surreal quality to it. I’m still not really sure that it happened, because holy shit, Zee. Just a few weeks ago I was annoyed as fuck at her and now . . .” I trailed off.

  “Now?” Zee said, motioning for me to elaborate.

  “Now everything has changed.” That was the bottom line: everything had changed and I wasn’t standing on
solid ground anymore. The earth beneath my feet had fractured, and I was trying to stay upright and not fall into the unknown.

  “You okay?” Zee asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

  “Yeah, my life just got a whole lot more complicated and I don’t know if I’m excited or terrified.” Zee laughed.

  “All the best things in life are equal parts exciting and terrifying.” They had that right.

  “I don’t know,” I whined, shoving my face into a pillow.

  “You’re going to be fine. And you can always talk to me about it if you want. Or not talk to me about it. Either way, I know she makes you happy, doesn’t she?”

  “I think she does? I guess I can’t get over my initial feelings about her. I go with my gut when it comes to people, and I still have those feelings lingering along with the new feelings and now I have too many feelings, Zee. Please help me get rid of my feelings.” I finished my slice of cake and was suddenly so tired that I didn’t know if I was going to make it to my bed.

  “I can’t, my dear friend. You’ve got to deal with them on your own.” I groaned and then pouted.

  “I don’t want to.”

  Zee laughed and got up.

  “On that note, I’m heading to bed. Unless you want me to stay up with you for a little while? I have an early meeting tomorrow.” It was seriously late and I wanted to ask them to stay up with me, but I needed to go to bed. I had a full day tomorrow, as well as my second CrossFit class.

  “No, it’s fine. I’m going to bed too.” I levered myself off the couch and put my plate in the dishwasher before picking up the kittens and taking them to bed with me. I rolled out my home yoga mat and did a quick flow, focusing on stretching my tired muscles so I wouldn’t be as sore in the morning.

  Piling the kittens in bed, I turned on the TV to lull me to sleep. My body was exhausted, but my brain was still going, thinking about tonight.

  I swear I could still taste her on my lips.

  “Fuck,” I said, and closed my eyes. I could still see echoes of her gorgeous body, and hear the sounds she made when she came. I was never going to forget tonight. Ever.

  I was going to have to take each day as it came and wait to see what happened next. All I knew was that I wanted Tuesday again and again and again. I wanted her so much it made my skin ache and my teeth clench at the thought of being with her again.

  I should have stayed the night with her. My bed was so empty.

  Twelve

  Tuesday messaged me the next morning and asked what I wanted for breakfast. I put in my order with a smile on my face, and then winced as I got out of bed. Yup, I was sore. I’d hoped I wouldn’t be, but here I was. It was like going back to the days when I was doing my teacher training and taking multiple classes a day. I hadn’t done that much in years, and I felt a little guilty about it.

  I told Zee I was having breakfast with Tuesday, and I hoped they weren’t bummed since they always cooked breakfast for me. I was ravenous by the time I made it to the studio, but Tuesday was there at the top of the stairs waiting for me with food. I’d never seen anything that sexy or delicious, and I wasn’t just talking about the bags of food and coffee she held.

  I wanted to eat the food and then eat her, right on these steps. I swallowed and tried to put a cork in my lust, at least until we weren’t at work.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking the bag from her. I didn’t know if I was allowed to kiss her since no one else was around, so I didn’t.

  “Hey, come here,” she said, as I set the bag on the bench by the door so I could take off my street shoes.

  “What?” I said, looking up at her.

  “Where’s my kiss?” she said, pushing her bottom lip out in the most adorable pout I’d ever seen.

  “I didn’t know if we were doing that kind of thing. I don’t know the rules, Tuesday.” She sat down next to me.

  “You’re right. We haven’t set parameters. So how about we do that right now?” I took the coffee cup and inhaled deeply of the hazelnut latte.

  “I need caffeine first.”

  I had pretty much drained my coffee and Tuesday had eaten two sandwiches by the time I was ready to talk about rules for our relationship.

  “Okay. Let’s do this.” I cracked my neck and she gave me a funny look.

  “You look like you’re preparing for a workout, not a conversation,” she said. Feeling silly, I got up and started breathing heavily and doing exaggerated stretches and grunting.

  “Now you’re just being ridiculous,” Tuesday said, but she was trying—and failing—to hide a smile. Ha.

  I sat back down next to her.

  “Okay, serious time. What are the parameters of our relationship?” I’d wanted them from the beginning, but now that we were talking about them, I wanted to run away and hide under a pile of yoga mats.

  “I think when we’re alone, kissing is entirely allowed and encouraged, at least on my side.” I nodded, agreeing with that.

  “Yes, kissing should definitely be a priority. What about when people are around? I don’t want to only kiss in secret.” Tuesday sighed.

  “Can you give me maybe a week to adjust to all this before we go public? I’m still trying to wrap my brain around all of this.” She gestured between us.

  “Yeah, same here.” A week seemed completely fair, so I agreed to that. “What else?”

  She thought about that for a minute.

  “You have an open invitation to spend the night at my apartment whenever you’d like.” That was surprising.

  “Whenever I’d like, huh?” I said, stroking my chin. Tuesday’s eyes narrowed.

  “Within reason,” she added.

  “Oh, that’s no fun.” She hit me lightly on the shoulder. “Okay, fine. You’re also welcome at my place, but I don’t know if you want to deal with my roommate constantly asking you probing questions and two kittens that will die without constant attention.” Tuesday shrugged one shoulder.

  “I think I can handle both of those things.”

  “You seem awfully confident about that,” I said. Tuesday hadn’t experienced the entirety of Zee, and I was dying to see how that first interaction was going to go.

  I finished my own sandwich, as well as a small cup of fruit. I was already wired from the caffeine. Teaching today was going to be interesting.

  “Look, I should get downstairs, I have to get ready for my first session, but do you want to get lunch later?” she asked. I shook my head.

  “Can’t today. I teach the noon class, so no lunch for me. I’m just going to live on kombucha and almonds today.” Tuesday stood up.

  “No, that’s not acceptable. I’ll bring you something. So I guess I’ll see you at seven?” Ugh, I didn’t want to think about another CrossFit workout right now. It was far too early.

  “Yup, can’t wait,” I said, giving her a week smile.

  “You’ll be fine.” She patted my shoulder and then kissed my cheek. I pointed to my lips with one finger and she laughed before she pressed a quick kiss to my lips. That wasn’t enough for me, so I grabbed her shirt and kissed her more thoroughly until my head spun.

  “Stop that,” she said into my mouth. “If you keep kissing me like that, we’re never going to get any work done.”

  “Oh well,” I said, trying to kiss her again, but she dove away and pointed at me.

  “You stay there. I’m going downstairs. I’ll see you later.” I grumbled, but let her go. It was good she left because, not two minutes later, my first student came up the stairs. He was early, but it was a reminder that Tuesday and I were surrounded by people most of the time.

  I tried to get my mind on teaching, so I went to check the room and get the heat started, but all I could think about was the dirty, delicious things I was going to do to her tonight.

  I SENT ZEE A MESSAGE that I was going over to Tuesday’s again and they sent back a pouting emoji, but also told me to have a good time. They really did need to get a boyfriend. Then I wouldn’t feel s
o guilty about spending so much time away from them. I didn’t want to be the kind of friend who would toss their BFF away when they got into a romantic relationship. Zee and I had been through too much to let that happen.

  I’d never had an issue choosing a relationship over Zee, but then again, I’d never been in a relationship that felt like this. This thing with Tuesday . . .

  If I thought about it too much, it scared the absolute shit out of me. We’d been together for only a few days, but it felt like so much longer. I’d never been in a relationship that moved this fast. I’d also never been in a relationship with anyone like Tuesday, so there was that as well.

  She brought me lunch in the middle of the day, and I didn’t even have a chance to thank her for it because I was on the phone dealing with a customer account issue. She left it on the desk and gave me a little wave before going back downstairs.

  I got off the phone and devoured the chicken wrap and chopped salad in less than two minutes. I sent her a kissy face video to thank her. The rest of the day was go, go, go and I was almost looking forward to CrossFit because at least I wouldn’t have to think while I was doing it. I’d only have to worry about the next rep, and my arms and legs not giving out on me. Fun times.

  At last, it was seven and I said goodnight to Priya and went downstairs. A few of the same people were there and this time I tried to make conversation. The tiny woman next to me who didn’t look like she could lift a kitten, let alone a barbell, was Victoria, and she was doing this because she wanted to be able to open spaghetti jars and not always have to ask her boyfriend. A worthy goal, I told her. There was also Chloe, who was here because her wife, Dimple, who was much more into CrossFit than Chloe and she’d wanted to have a hobby they could do together.

  “I hope I don’t die. I just don’t want to die or hurt myself,” Chloe said, looking at the equipment as if it was going to leap out and bite her.

  “You could come upstairs and do yoga. I run Breathe Yoga. I can’t guarantee you won’t hurt yourself, because that’s always a risk, but I can guarantee you won’t die.” She laughed and said she might take me up on that.