Next Time

by Alexander, Robin

  Ryann snagged it before Payton could. “This is on the casino.”

  “Thank you. What would you like to do next?”

  “Take me wherever you want,” Ryann said softly with a smile.

  Payton’s eyes widened for a second, and she blew out a breath. “I caught the innuendo, and I’m gonna unleash your inner tiger. We’re going to the zoo.”

  “The…zoo.”

  “It’s very provocative. You can touch some of the animals.”

  Ryann smacked her lips. “All right, I require sunglasses, maybe a T-shirt, because it’s warming up outside.”

  “Let’s go shopping.”

  Ryann left the money for the check on the table along with a tip and followed Payton outside. “You’ve got a cute butt, Payton Foret. What kind of underwear do you wear?”

  “You’ll find out.” Payton met Ryann’s gaze unabashedly as she opened her door. “Eventually.”

  “I must warn you, stymieing my attempts at seduction only makes me want you more.”

  “Get in the car, Randy.”

  “I get the joke,” Ryann said as she climbed in. “But when we’re between the sheets, get the name right.”

  “You’re gonna make me say it?”

  “I’m going to make you scream it. Close my door now, and take me to a beach apparel shop.”

  Payton closed the door with a laugh but found it hard to get her legs to move as delicious images floated through her mind. Ryann knocked on the glass and yelled, “Ha!”

  *******

  “How do I look?”

  Payton stared at the mirrored aviator-style glasses and shook her head. “Not right.”

  “Thank you for your honesty,” Ryann said and replaced them with another pair. “How about now?”

  “Too big, you look like a bug.”

  Ryann selected a pair with yellow plastic frames and pointed at her face.

  “Totally clashes with the whole seductress thing you have going on.”

  Ryann replaced those with a tortoiseshell pair that looked like Wayfarers.

  “Yes,” Payton said with a growl. “Definitely. Now you need a vintage style T-shirt to complete the look. Follow me.” She led her to a rack and held up a distressed-looking Captain America shirt. “You feeling it?”

  Ryann chewed her bottom lip and shook her head. “I’m feeling more Batman. Wait—lemur in a business suit. Do they have it in medium?”

  “You go from bat to lemur that fast?”

  Ryann held up the shirt with a smile. “It speaks to me.”

  Payton settled on the blue Captain America shirt, and they headed for the register. Ryann nudged her out of the way and pulled her winnings from her pocket. They stood so closely together, the warmth from Payton’s body swept over Ryann and stoked the desire she already felt. Her pulse spiked as she ran her fingers over Payton’s lower back. Ryann was amazed that just touching a sweater could turn her on that much.

  As soon as they got into the car, Ryann started unbuttoning her shirt. Payton did a double take as she put the key into the ignition. “What’re you doing?”

  “Changing. Your windows have dark tint.”

  “I’m sure there’s a bathroom at the—wow,” Payton said and turned to her window.

  “Stop being so shy, it’s just a bra. I’ve seen your breasts.”

  Payton’s head whipped around. “When?”

  “In the hot tub that night at Shelly’s. Now that was a wow moment.” Ryann tore the tag off Payton’s shirt and handed it to her. “There’s no reason for you to be self-conscious now.”

  Payton pulled off her sweater, then her T-shirt. “I’m not shy.”

  “I’m not a dream. Anything with corn in it gives me gas. I will become irrationally angry when the cord of my hairdryer catches on a cabinet pull. I can’t tell you how many dryers I’ve murdered. Sometimes, I leave dishes in the sink overnight. I just stopped chewing my thumbnail a year ago. I’ve wiped my nose on the inside of my shirt after a sneeze because I was too lazy to get up and get a tissue. I’m so very human.”

  “Stay with me tonight.”

  Ryann grinned. “The whole snot shirt thing got to you, didn’t it?”

  “No, it was the corn comment.”

  Ryann threw back her head and laughed. “Please put your shirt on. I don’t want to see a video of me on the Web attacking you in the parking lot of a shell shop.”

  *******

  Ryann juggled two cups of animal food when her phone rang. Payton pulled it out of her back pocket and took the containers. “It’s Shelly, I should answer this,” Ryann said as she pressed the speaker button. “Hey, sis.”

  “Hey, I cooked a roast, come over.”

  “I’m at the zoo with Payton.”

  “You hate the zoo.”

  “You hate the zoo?” Payton echoed with a mortified expression.

  “Oh, shit, she can hear me?” Shelly whispered, then cleared her throat. “Hey, Payton, you’re invited, too.”

  “Hi, Shelly.”

  “Let me explain the zoo thing. The last time we went, a monkey was…well, he was getting acquainted with some of his own parts. As you know, Ryann’s allergic to penis of any kind, so she—”

  “We’re in Gulf Shores, so we’re not going to make it,” Ryann said with a sheepish smile for Payton. “Thank you for the invitation, though.”

  “Wait…Alabama? Y’all drove all the way to Alabama to go to the zoo? Do the animals shit gold or something?” Shelly asked.

  Ryann took the call off speaker. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

  Shelly chuckled. “I wanna hear all about it when you’re alone. Be careful and have fun. Love you.”

  “Love you, too, bye.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you don’t like the zoo?” Payton asked when Ryann stuffed her phone back into her pocket.

  “I don’t care where we go because I’ll store this trip under ‘most treasured memories.’ I’m having a wonderful time,” Ryann said sincerely.

  “So you were emotionally scarred by a masturbating monkey.”

  Ryann clamped her lips together and nodded. “He looked like he was trying to build a fire with it. I’ve never seen anything move that fast.”

  Payton snorted. “Let’s go to the beach instead.”

  “Not yet, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to avoid the monkeys.”

  “Okay, but we can leave anytime you want to.” Payton handed Ryann one of the containers of feed and started to hum.

  “Is that the Crying Game? Are you humming that song?”

  Payton laughed and took off. Ryann started after her and stopped when a woman nearby yelped. She was trying to feed a duck behind a picket fence. A pelican squawked at her and snatched the cup out of her hand with its beak. Ryann watched the spectacle in horror, then ran to catch up with Payton.

  *******

  “Look how gentle they are,” Payton said as a deer ate out of her palm. “Do you want to try?”

  Ryann licked her lips nervously. “Yes. What do I do?”

  Payton took Ryann’s hand and placed a couple of pieces of food in her palm. “Just stick it—well, throwing works, too.”

  “Sorry, I flaked out for a second.” Ryann inhaled deeply and took a couple more pieces. Slowly, she held her hand out to the deer.

  Payton watched Ryann’s face as the animal ate from her hand. Fear dissolved into delight and eventually disgust. “They slobber a little bit.”

  “Yeah.” Ryann swallowed hard. “It’s okay, though,” she said with a smile. “The experience was really cool.”

  “There’s a hand sanitizer station if you wanna…” Payton watched as Ryann raced over to it and washed her hands and arms up to the elbows.

  Payton then led Ryann away from the monkey area to a section in the middle of the small zoo where a donkey, goats, and llamas stood at the fence clamoring for the food they knew was in the plastic cups. One goat was particularly aggressive. He shoved his head through the fence as
Payton drew close.

  Ryann kept her distance. “Okay, he’s kind of off the hook, so I’m just gonna stay back here.”

  Payton gave the goat some of the food, but as she tried to feed the other animals, the goat pushed them away. She looked over her shoulder and smiled just as Ryann pulled her phone out and started snapping pictures. Payton distracted the goat with the cup while feeding the others, and Ryann held the shutter button capturing every moment. The photos were priceless because the goat managed to get a hold on the cup and bit it in half. Shot after shot captured the shock on Payton’s face.

  “You know, I think it would be safer to go look at the giant alligator.” Payton tossed her deformed cup into the trash.

  “Yeah, I’m not feeding that.”

  Payton smiled sympathetically. “Are you having any fun at all?”

  “I’m having a blast. I’m serious.”

  Ryann showed Payton the pictures she’d taken. At some point, she’d turned the camera on herself. Ryann had managed to capture half of her face in the shot while she laughed hysterically and Payton was in the background shaking the gnawed cup at the goat.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Payton said with a laugh and took Ryann’s arm.

  As they drew close to the exit, Ryann shook her half-empty container of food. “Some animal should get this. I think you should feed the ducks. They’re so common, everyone seems to ignore them.” She handed the food to Payton and took out her phone. “I’ll take your picture.”

  Ryann switched to video, intent on catching Payton’s reaction to the bullish pelican. She watched as Payton walked over to the picket fence. Ducks came running, and the pelican approached warily. Payton was completely oblivious as she leaned way over to feed every duck she could reach. Ryann’s impish grin faded as she videoed the bird moving in slowly on Payton and wondered if it would actually harm her. Surely, they wouldn’t allow a dangerous animal in an area where people would be feeding the ducks, she thought just as the giant beak flopped open, and the winged demon charged.

  Ryann began to stammer. “Payton! Peli-peli-devil pelican!”

  The video caught arms and giant beak flailing, grass, and sky.

  Chapter 22

  Olivia laughed hysterically as she watched the recording.

  “She set me up,” Payton said with a scowl. “All I saw was a giant mouth coming at my face, and I hear its scream in my nightmares. If that kid hadn’t have shown up and beat that bird’s ass with her Hello Kitty purse, I might’ve died.”

  “Now we both hate the zoo,” Ryann said with a smile.

  Olivia wiped her hands after finishing a slice of pizza and tried to compose herself. Every time she started to speak, she laughed. Finally, she asked, “So how did the date end?”

  “We picnicked on the beach, rode the ferry to Dauphin Island, and Payton passed out,” Ryann answered with a smile.

  “The ride on the water was really relaxing, and collectively, I think I slept about two hours in the car the night before, or morning rather. Every sound woke me up, the thing you plug the seat belt into stuck me in the ass, the hip, and thigh. I won’t mention names, but someone hogged the blanket.” Payton sighed. “She looked so damn adorable, mouth gaping open, snoring.”

  “So, Ryann, at this point, you’re full steam ahead,” Olivia said as she made a note. “And Payton is understandably cautious. Obviously, y’all met in the middle. Was the transition a smooth one?”

  “It was boom.” Payton spread her fingers mimicking an explosion.

  Ryann laughed. “Oh, we transitioned all night long.”

  *******

  ******

  ***

  “Welcome back,” Ryann said with a smile when Payton sat up and looked around.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I slept the whole trip.”

  “I have no complaints. I really enjoy driving your car. Did you know that it’ll do a hundred and forty miles per hour?”

  “I’d laugh, but with you, I’m not so sure that’s a joke.”

  Ryann grinned. “I wouldn’t disrespect your property or put you at risk, except for that whole pelican thing,” she said as she turned into her driveway. After she put the car in park, Ryann gazed at Payton. “Does your invitation still stand?”

  “Most definitely.”

  “Okay,” Ryann said softly with a smile. “I’m going to go in, shower, and pack some clothes. I’ll see you in an hour or so.”

  “I’ll pick up dinner. Any requests?”

  Ryann leaned over and kissed Payton, then whispered, “Surprise me.”

  *******

  Ryann showed up that evening with a bag slung over her shoulder in a pair of sweatpants and a Henley-style shirt. With no makeup on and her hair in a clip, she looked prettier than Payton had ever seen her. “I like this look,” Payton said with a sigh as she watched Ryann stroll in. “I picked up Chinese.”

  “Wonderful.” Ryann dropped her bag into a chair, kicked off her sneakers, and wrapped her arms around Payton’s waist. “I got kind of nervous on the way over here. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I mean, I’ve had sex before, it’s not like I don’t know what to do, so I figure it’s you. That’s a good sign—now see what you’ve done, I’ve caught your overthinking disease and—”

  Payton silenced Ryann with a very long and intense kiss. “Better?” Payton asked against her lips.

  “Getting there,” Ryann said and buried her face in Payton’s neck. “You smell good.”

  “I rubbed an eggroll behind my ear.” Payton wiggled out of Ryann’s embrace and took her by the hand. “You’re hungry, I can hear your stomach growling.”

  “I’m—yeah,” Ryann said with a laugh as she noticed all the containers spread out on the coffee table, along with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

  “As you can see, I got a little bit of everything, and I came up with a great idea. If you’ll allow it, I’d like to blindfold you and make you guess what I’m feeding you.”

  Ryann sank down slowly on the sofa. “Will this include tying me up, too?”

  “No,” Payton said with an awkward laugh. “Not that I’m opposed to that, but it’s not something I’d introduce the first time around.”

  “Okay, good, we’re on the same page.” Ryann blew out a breath and smiled. “Blindfold me then, this sounds like fun.”

  “I don’t actually have one, so we’ll have to use a bandanna.” Payton covered Ryann’s eyes and tied it into a knot. “Too tight?”

  “No, it’s fine.”

  Payton took a seat beside her. “I guess I should ask if there’s anything you don’t like.”

  “Anal sex isn’t high on my list.”

  “Food! I’m talking about food.”

  Ryann flopped back against the couch and laughed. “I wish I could’ve seen your face when I said that.”

  “I am so going to feed you the wrapper off the chopsticks.” Payton chuckled, then gazed at Ryann as she opened one of the containers. “You trust me, don’t you?”

  “Um…yeah,” Ryann said, sounding unsure. “You’re not about to pay me back for the pelican, are you? In my defense, I did lose my nerve and warned you that it was coming.”

  “No paybacks tonight, I promise. Open your mouth.”

  Ryann accepted what Payton gave her and chewed slowly. “That’s a shrimp, and it’s spicy, very yummy.”

  Payton poured Ryann a glass of wine and held it to her lips. “You never told me what you don’t like, food-wise.”

  “Mushrooms.”

  “Ready for the next bite?”

  Ryann smiled. “Yes. Are you eating? I could follow the sound of your voice and feed you, too.”

  “I’m not letting you go blindly at my face with chopsticks, open up.”

  Payton watched as Ryann’s lips parted, and a rush of arousal swept over her. She swallowed hard and fed her the next bite.

  “That’s…beef and a bell pepper,” Ryann said after she swallowed.

  “M
aybe we should talk about what you like…sexually.”

  Ryann breathed out through her nose as a flush crept up her neck. “Ask me anything you want to know.”

  Payton fed her another bite, watching her mouth closely. “My mind just went blank. I think it’s a circulation problem because every drop of blood in my brain just rushed south.”

  Ryann smiled as she chewed. “I can be aggressive, and I like that in a partner.”

  “I pretty much had that figured out already,” Payton said after she swallowed a bite of fried wonton. She held it to Ryann’s lips. “Bite.”

  “I’ll do that, too, but they’re sweet bites.”

  Payton was glad that Ryann was blindfolded because the comment gave her a shiver. She watched Ryann take a bite of the wonton and gave her more wine. She leaned in close and brushed her lips against Ryann’s.

  “That was the most delicious thing thus far,” Ryann breathed out. “I’d definitely like more of that.”

  “That was a taste of dessert,” Payton said with a grin and opened a container of chicken.

  “Tell me what you like most.”

  Payton’s brow shot up as she tried to get the chopsticks to cooperate. “I love going down on a woman. When I think about being with you, I see myself doing that.”

  Ryann exhaled heavily. “I need more wine.” She flinched when Payton grazed the skin of her chest with her fingers.

  “Your skin is turning very red here. I like watching the effect this conversation is having on you.” Payton watched Ryann’s nipples harden beneath her shirt.

  The timbre of Payton’s voice sent her pulse into overdrive. Ryann licked her lips and asked, “What else do you imagine us doing?”

  “I plan to show you,” Payton said as she fed Ryann another bite, then kissed her neck.

  Ryann shook her head slowly as she chewed. “You have to answer that question.”

  “I think about what it would feel like to be inside of you.” Payton downed the glass of wine, and her hand shook as she refilled it.

  Ryann placed her hand on Payton’s thigh, her fingers traced a pattern in the fabric of the cotton lounge pants. “We’re not going to make it through this meal, you realize that, don’t you?”