“Do you remember the story you told me about your teddy bear when you were a kid? You carried it everywhere, and during a camping trip, you accidentally left it. Upon realizing, you begged your dad to turn the car around, but he wouldn’t since he’d already been driving five hours and it was getting dark.”
I squinted at the teddy bear, and it did seem familiar. “It’s not the same—”
Josh cut me off, laughing. “I’m not Houdini. But I asked your mom for a photo and scoured the shops in Texas.” He ruffled the teddy bear’s ears. “Pretty darn close if I say so myself.”
“He is.” I cradled the bear against my chest. “But I don’t understand. We broke up.”
Josh peeked at his tennis shoes. “I know. He was actually your Christmas gift, hence the paper, but then you dumped me.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Each morning this past semester, the first thing I saw on my desk was this… gift.” He tugged on one of the bear’s legs. “I think he knows he belongs to you.”
“Thanks, Josh. I love him.”
He stared at me with an odd expression as if he wanted to cry but couldn’t.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m getting married.”
I jerked upright in the lounger. “What?”
He nodded as an explanation.
“To who?”
“Darla?”
“You’re marrying Darla Barfla?”
Darla had been my perfect friend ever since I could remember. Everyone loved her, even Mom. If only they knew the real Darla, like I did. The backstabbing bitch who had to have everything I wanted, no matter the cost.
“After you dumped me, I ran into her at Ryan’s New Year’s Eve party. One thing led to another.” He ruffled the back of his head, causing his hair to stand up. “I’m going to be a dad.”
“You’re only nineteen!” I squealed.
“My parents were that young when they had my sister.” His voice was flat as if repeating something he’d been told but didn’t entirely believe.
“That was a lifetime ago. Things are different. What about college?”
He shrugged. “I’m considering night classes at a community college. Dad got me a job at the bank. Teller.” He kicked a rock from the deck into the gravel lining the grass.
“But…”
Josh waited for me to finish the sentence.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Congratulations, I guess.” He shrugged.
“Congratulations. I really hope for the best.” I tossed my arms around his neck. He was going to need it. Darla Barfla?
“There you two are.” Mom stepped onto the deck. “Josh, are you staying for dinner? Rick’s grilling steaks, your favorite.”
“No thanks, Mrs. Ferber. I have a family thing.” Josh moved closer, his shadow eclipsing me. “I’ll give you a call.”
“I’ll walk you to your car,” I said robotically.
Neither of us spoke. Josh unlocked the driver’s side door to his white Ford F-150. “Well, the next time you see me, I’ll be a married man.”
“I can’t believe it. A wife and a kid.” I still felt like a child to a certain degree, and Josh and I were the same age. I couldn’t imagine having a baby on the way.
“A twofer,” he chuckled.
“You scared?” The clouds over the foothills deepened into a dark gray mass, and I hugged my arms tightly around my chest.
He straightened his spine. “Nah. Just not how I pictured it.”
“Tell Barfl—Darla hi for me.”
Josh smiled, knowing that was my name for my former best friend. “I hope the minister doesn’t say, ‘Do you take Barfla…?’”
“I’m sure he won’t.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Stay in touch, okay?”
“Yeah.” There was a crack of thunder. “I’m not religious, but I think that was a sign.”
“What did it mean?”
“That you best get inside before it starts raining.”
A few drops splattered on the truck’s windshield.
“See ya on the flipside.” I gave him a quick hug and ran inside the garage just before the deluge. His Ford disappeared around the bend, turning onto Wood Lane, leading out of the neighborhood.
“Tegan? You’re going to catch your death in only your bikini and tank top,” Mom admonished.
My bare feet stayed rooted on the garage floor.
“What’s wrong?” Mom asked.
“Josh is getting married to Darla.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. They’re both children.”
“Soon to have a baby of their own.”
“What?” Mom screeched.
I nodded. “Josh knocked up Darla at a New Year’s Eve party.”
Mom blinked. “He always seemed like such a nice boy.”
I rolled my eyes. “He is. A mistake doesn’t undo that. You should know better than most.”
Hellfire burned in her eyes. “Your father will be here soon. Get changed for dinner.”
I was tempted to tell her she never had to worry. There was no way Gemma could impregnate me. Then again, she might prefer if I was barefoot and pregnant instead of in love with a woman.
A Dangerous Discovery
Chapter One
Dad hefted a suitcase into the trunk of my car. “You’re sure you don’t need help at the new place?”
It was the fourth time he’d asked since breakfast. “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t forget dinner every Tuesday.” Mom gave me a hug.
“I won’t.” I placed a laundry basket into the back seat. “I think that’s everything.”
“Invite Gemma,” Dad said without a care in the world.
“Uh,” I studied Mom’s stiffened spine.
“If I were her father, I would want to know she was being looked after,” Dad explained, but I wasn’t sure if it was for my benefit or Mom’s.
The Josh news hit my father the hardest. Maybe now he regretted sharing the news about his own shotgun wedding.
“Okay.” Part of me wanted to reassure him by saying I used the best form of birth control, sleeping with a girl, and the likelihood of a forced wedding wasn’t in the cards.
“Drive safely,” Dad shut the car door for me and then stood next to my mother in the driveway. Neither had an arm wrapped around the other’s waist, as if still trying to figure out the new perimeters of their relationship. For all I knew, Dad had zero intention of moving back home, and my mother wasn’t pressing the issue. Was she scared to? Or did they both prefer having their own space with the occasional hookup? The thought was too much.
***
I was the first to arrive at the apartment. The day before I had picked up the key from one of the girls we were subletting from. The two were first year DU law students, and neither was from Colorado.
The key fit into the lock but wouldn’t budge. Maybe I did need my dad after all?
“Try jiggling it.”
“Gemma?” I flipped around. “Oh, Gemma!”
“Hey, spazzy.” She opened her arms in time for me to crash into her embrace.
“I missed you,” I cried into her chest, clawing the back of her shirt to get closer.
“What’s wrong?” She lifted my chin with a finger.
“Nothing now. This has been the longest and weirdest two weeks of my life!” We hadn’t talked on the phone once, so she was in the dark. “It’s like a whole lifetime flitted by with so many what the fuck moments.” I made wild hand gestures.
She laughed, probably thinking I was being a scooch dramatic.
Maybe I was. I glanced around. “Where are your parents and Bridget?”
“On their way back to Nebraska.”
“What’d they do? Dump you off at the curb? Did your dad even slow down?” I jostled her arm with mine.
Her smile widened. “Such an imagination. They bought me a car in Fort Collins so I could get to and from
work. We picked it up this morning.”
Gemma took the apartment key from my hand, inserted it into the lock, and turned the knob. “Why don’t I make some tea, and we can talk? Looks like you have some things to get off your chest.” The way she eyed my plentiful breasts caused a flutter deep inside.
I pulled her inside the apartment, slamming her against the closed door. “We can have tea later. Right now, I need…” I kissed her hard on the lips.
“Shouldn’t we make the bed first? If I remember correctly, we had to provide our own bedding.” She swept stray blonde hairs off my cheek.
I shook my head. “We only have the place to ourselves today. Let’s break in the front room.” I sat on the surprisingly clean carpet in between the water-stained coffee table and entertainment stand, which consisted of painted cinder blocks and a plain warped board with a clunky and seriously dated television.
Gemma drew the curtains shut. “Light on or off?”
“Off. Come here.” I lay on my back, and Gemma climbed on top of me. We kissed, if it could be called that. Since hooking up back in February, we hadn’t spent this much time apart. Every time I deepened the kiss, she met my fervor with even more desire.
Her hand slipped under my shirt, cupping my breast over my bra, causing me to let out a small gasp. “I missed you.” Gemma sat up and yanked off her T-shirt.
I disposed of mine, sitting up to press my skin against hers. Another gasp escaped. “I may come just from touching you.”
“Go ahead, but know I won’t stop. I need to be inside you, taste you. Teeg, you have no idea how many minutes I played this moment in my head.”
I giggled. “Must have made for awkward family dinners.”
“Shut up.” She shoved me onto my back, capturing my lips once again.
I nibbled on her lip, tugging slightly, my fingers kneading her back. When they landed on her bra strap, it took me less than a second to unclasp it. She pulled away to slide it off over her freckled arms, the spots darker than normal—her version of a tan.
Only one nipple was hard. “This won’t do.” I flipped her onto her back, accidently slamming us into the coffee table. I pinched the soft nipple between my thumb and forefinger, bringing it out into the open.
While I teased her nipple with my tongue, Gem undid my bra. “They’re even more beautiful now.”
Mom’s comment about working off the freshman fifteen came to mind. Maybe I’d gained more than five pounds.
“You’re so beautiful.” Gemma’s green eyes shimmered, making them worth millions more than all the real emeralds in the world.
I cupped her cheek. “I don’t want to be separated from you ever again.”
An uneasy expression flitted across her face. “I don’t either.”
“Show me how much you missed me.”
A mischievous smile easily took charge. Her head lowered, and her soft lips left a trail of kisses from below my right ear to my nipple. Gem’s teeth grazed the hardness, sucking it into her mouth. Biting. Dominating. Wanting.
She continued her exploration further south.
My breathing intensified.
Her tongue, warm and soft, exorcised all the weirdness of the past two weeks, putting me back together—no, bringing us back together, like we were meant to be.
Gemma lowered my jean shorts, leaving my cotton soft pink panties in place.
I quirked an eyebrow.
She winked.
Her fingers trailed along the top of the waistband, back and forth, as if stitching together wounds I didn’t know existed. What I did know was I wanted her.
Not yet, though, and Gemma understood.
Even though we hadn’t spoken, she probably sensed the moment she saw me today I’d been through the wringer. We had that type of connection. The type that only happened once in a lifetime. One to be cherished. Nourished. Allowed to grow.
She kissed me right below the belly button.
Then lower.
Even further.
Her mouth tongued my pussy over the panties.
I writhed, clutching both hands into fists, arching my back.
She moved to my inner thigh.
A judder coursed through me.
Gemma motioned she wanted to remove the last obstacle to possessing me completely. Slowly, she lowered my underwear down my legs, tracking their path with her tongue. Then her tongue moved back up the inside of the other leg.
My fists clenched tighter. My toes curled. And I hadn’t orgasmed yet.
“Oh, Gem. The things you make me feel.”
She separated my lips, tasting what was hers and only hers.
Gem flicked my clit, teasing softly. Taking it into her mouth.
“Please don’t stop.”
Her finger entered, softly at first, tugging slightly upward. She didn’t stop with her mouth. Another finger. And another.
I was panting louder, pleading with my arched body for her to take me. “Fucking take me!”
Oh God, did she.
***
“Married?”
“Married.” Sitting on a barstool on the front room side of the open kitchen, I dipped a shortbread cookie Gemma had brought home from Jackson Hole into my tea. She leaned against the counter, where the stove was, on the other side. “Poor Josh. Having to marry Barfla.”
Gem crinkled her nose. “He doesn’t have to marry her.” She raised her teacup for emphasis. “He’s choosing to.”
I dipped the remaining cookie chunk. “You haven’t met her dad. Speaking of, mine invited you to our Tuesday family dinner.”
She arched one brow. “Tuesday family dinner?”
“It’s the new Ferber tradition since I’m so close after a year away. Every Tuesday I have to go to dinner with the folks. It’s like they can’t try to repair the marriage without being parents. I haven’t quite wrapped my brain around that problem yet.”
Gemma, in my Gap sweatshirt, crossed her arms. “Well, with the head injury, your blind date, finding out about Glen, and the Josh bombshell, you’ve had a full plate, so don’t beat yourself up too much. It’s only a matter of time until you get your brain wrapped around it completely.”
“Are you mocking me?” I sipped my tea.
She furled her fingers into her shirt over her heart. “I would never do such a thing.”
I jerked my head for her to come out of the kitchen. She rounded the corner, and I spread my arms to wrap around her neck. “I think you would.”
Gemma slanted her head to the side. “Prove it.”
I laughed. “I have a better idea.”
She stroked my cheek. “Go on.”
“I think it’s time we break in a new part of this place.”
“How so?” Gemma nuzzled her nose into the crook of my neck, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.
“The pool? No wait, the hot tub,” I squeaked. The complex was a square, with a pool and hot tub smack-dab in the middle for all to see.
“The community one?” She peppered my neck with kisses. “I had a different activity in mind. Private.” Her hand slid under my tank, cupping my right breast.
“You may be able to persuade me.”
She whisked my top over my head. “Good, because you really didn’t have an option.”
She led me by the hand to the bathroom.
“Now this isn’t what I had in mind.” I scouted over my shoulder to our room with a full-size bed, still without sheets.
“After being in a car for the past two days and our earlier activities, I need to shower. Thought you’d want to join me.”
“Ah, in that case, get naked.”
Chapter Two
“Tegan, it’s your father. Just reminding you about Tuesday. Don’t forget to invite Gemma.”
I rewound the answering machine and played the message again. Why was my father so intent on Tuesday night dinners and Gemma? Had Mom mentioned her suspicion? Had she
suggested to my father Gemma and I were more than roommates? It was hard imagining my parents discussing whether or not I was a lesbian. Did Dad want to witness our interaction firsthand to determine for himself? Oh God, have they discussed or wondered if I’m a top or bottom? I slammed my eyes and covered my ears to blunt out that line of thinking.
Recovering somewhat, I moved into the bedroom, sitting on my side of the comforter. The front room of the apartment was slightly more spacious than the bedroom, which only fit a bed and one nightstand.
Since the hospital, Mom hadn’t mentioned Gemma once, and usually when something weighed on her mind, it was only a matter of time until she blabbed in her demeaning Sally Ferber way. Until this taboo lesbian wrinkle, nothing seemed off-limits. My weight, choice in boys, future career, periods, acne flare-ups—anything and everything under the sun was fair game.
Until now.
Was the mere thought that her flesh and blood was a dyke the kryptonite to Mom’s verbal diarrhea?
Finally, a plus to being a lesbo. Besides having Gemma, the most wonderful person, in my life.
The only meddling Mom had done was to set me up on a date with Cuddy, and if she was hoping to lure me back to men—she probably didn’t even give a thought that I was bisexual—she’d struck out with her choice. Cuddy was friend material. Period.
“What are you doing?” Gemma strolled into our bedroom, unbuttoning her white blouse.
“That’s the perfect way to greet me after a day of work.” I eyed her hungrily.
“Sweaty and tired?” She cast her blouse onto the carpeted floor, missing the wicker laundry basket crammed under the window, and undid her black leather belt, freeing herself from her slacks. All she had on was a simple white bra, panties, and black socks.
“Love the look. So sexy.” I flicked my hand to her feet. “Long day?”
She shrugged, sitting on the full-size bed, a step above our dorm bed. “Four more days until the weekend.”
“For you. I have to work Saturday afternoons and Sunday nights.”
“It sucks that your one day off is Tuesday, a day I have to work.”
“And my parents want to do Tuesday night dinners. Speaking of, my father is insisting I bring you.”
Girl Love Happens Boxed Set: Books 0-2 Page 33