Alyssa turned around immediately while at the same time pressing the button to roll up the window.
“Not that I’m not happy to have you along for the ride and drop you off, but do you want to tell me why you’re not driving off into the sunset with your brand-new girlfriend?” she asked.
Charlie didn’t say anything, and after a moment, Alyssa got the idea and turned back around to see Hannah climbing in beside her. Charlie saw Hailey walking toward her car with the phone to her ear. Charlie lowered her head in shame at her inability to just ride off into that sunset with her best friend in the world.
◆◆◆
Hailey sat on her couch in her apartment. She’d showered and changed and hadn’t moved in over an hour. She couldn’t figure out where they’d gone wrong. She’d finally told Charlie how she felt. She told her she had nothing to worry about and she’d finally got beyond her own worries of not being what Charlie really wanted. It hadn’t worked. They were in separate homes now. Hailey made the mistake last time by running away. It appeared Charlie was doing the same thing. Hailey replayed their night together, trying to figure out what she’d said or done that made Charlie not trust her or pull away. It was after seven that night when she realized this would not happen. She wasn’t about to let Charlie make the same mistake she had that caused them not to speak for over a month.
◆◆◆
“Okay.” She entered Charlie’s apartment. “Hi, Eddie,” she greeted Eddie and saw Charlie on the couch.
“Hails?” Charlie turned to see Hailey trying to get Eddie off her.
“Yeah, it’s me.” She walked quickly toward her. “Your girlfriend. You know, that woman you slept with last night after we danced around this thing between us, and she told you she loves you. You said the same thing, and then you ran off today-” Hailey stopped herself when she noticed Charlie had her iPad on the table and there was a half-naked woman on the screen, pulling a shirt to her chest to cover bra covered breasts. “What the fuck?” she exclaimed and felt her heart begin to race.
“Hailey, it’s not what it looks like.”
“Summer?” Hailey glanced more closely at the screen.
“Hi, Hailey.” Summer waved. “Really, not what it looks like,” she confirmed. “I have a date tonight. I was just asking Charlie to help me find something to wear. Sorry.”
“You’re half-naked in front of my girlfriend, so yeah, you should be sorry,” she chastised.
“Summer, I’ve-”
“Yeah, I’ll figure this out for myself.” Summer waved and then pressed the screen to make herself disappear.
“What the actual fuck, Charlie?” Hailey nearly yelled.
“I swear, I wasn’t-”
“I’m not talking about her. I don’t give a shit about Summer fucking Taft.” Hailey flopped down onto the couch next to Charlie but leaving at least a foot of distance between them.
“You never curse,” Charlie said.
“You bring it out in me, I guess.” Hailey glared at her.
“You really thought I’d be doing something with Summer?”
“What the hell am I supposed to think, Charlie?” she implored. “You left today after you pulled your usual crap in the van.”
“My usual crap?” Charlie turned to face her.
“Yeah, your usual crap. You pulled it, and it pissed me off because we’re here now.” She slid closer on the couch, facing her. “Charlie, it’s me. Talk to me.”
“Hails…”
“Don’t Hails me.” Hailey wasted no time. She leaned forward, captured both of Charlie’s hands, pushed her back down on the couch and then climbed over her. “Talk. Now.”
“Last night was the best night of my life.”
“And?”
“And this morning was the best morning of my life.” She met Hailey’s eyes and continued, “And then we got in that van and started driving back, and… I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do,” Hailey said. “Just say it, baby.”
“You call me baby like you’ve been doing it forever. It sounds normal.”
“It is normal, Charlie.” Hailey moved to straddle her hips. “Say it.”
“I’m scared, Hails,” she admitted.
“Why?”
“Because I spent so much time trying to convince you that I just wanted you and I didn’t care about a fantasy, that I never thought about how I might be as a girlfriend to you,” she let out.
Hailey released Charlie’s hands and sat all the way up.
“Charlie, you’ve been my girlfriend basically our entire friendship.” She chuckled. “The things you do for me, how you show me you care – that’s what I need. This new part of our relationship, the part where I get to touch you, kiss you, and be with you like this – it’s exactly what I want.” Hailey slid her hands under Charlie’s shirt and kept them on her stomach. “This is my fault. Last night, we should have talked more. We should have talked about what this meant and how we’d handle being together, but I’d waited, and you’d waited. I couldn’t wait anymore. Last night was the best night of my life too.”
Charlie swallowed. Hailey could tell she had still not assuaged her worries.
“What about that first night with-”
“If you say Emma, I swear to God, Charlie!” Hailey slapped Charlie’s stomach lightly. “I do not love Emma Colton. I love you. I want you.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. It’s just been a long time. I’ve been hearing you talk about her since we met. It’s going to take some getting used to now.”
“What do I have to do to convince you?”
“Nothing,” Charlie said after a moment. “It’s not about that.” She placed her hands on Hailey’s waist. “It’s this feeling that I have that hasn’t gone away yet. For twelve years, it’s been Emma this and Emma that, and then you two started dating and I thought that was it, Hails. I thought I’d lost my chance because you’d finally make it work with the woman you’d been in love with your whole life. I’d be stuck standing next to you at your wedding to her, pining after the one that got away.” She paused. “I saw you with her that day you guys were supposed to go to the zoo, and at the party, and then you talked about having plans with her tonight. It just seems like even though you and I are finally here, Emma is this always present force that I can’t seem to reconcile in my mind. That makes me nervous.”
“I understand.” Hailey leaned down and pressed their foreheads together.
“You do?”
“Yes. It’s not that you’re worried about me doing something with Emma, when I’m with you; you need the time to pass to see that I’m really here with you and that this is what was supposed to be all along.” Hailey pressed her lips to Charlie’s forehead. “Tell me I’m your person, Charlie.” Her lips hovered just above Charlie’s forehead.
Charlie placed her hands on Hailey’s back and pulled her down to her.
“You’re my person, Hails.”
Hailey hugged her and rested her head on Charlie’s shoulder. Her hand drifted to Charlie’s cheek, and she grazed her fingers and thumb across it.
“Next time, tell me that you’re scared. Don’t just leave, okay?” Hailey asked. “You’re not the only one in this anymore. It hurts when you do that.”
“Okay,” Charlie replied.
Charlie’s arms were around her, holding her close. Her hand was on Hailey’s back, dragging up and down.
“Now, do you want to tell me about Summer and her breasts on your iPad?”
Charlie laughed, and Hailey felt the reverberations throughout her own body.
“You want to tell me about the plans you had with Emma tonight?” Charlie returned with a laugh.
“Yes, I do.” Hailey lifted herself up to stare down at her. “She wanted to introduce me to her girlfriend, Elizabeth. We were all going to meet up at Windy’s. Did you hear that part, Charlie? Emma has a girlfriend, and, by the way she talks about her, she is very happy with her.”
Charlie smiled up and plac
ed both hands on the sides of Hailey’s neck.
“Okay. I get it.” She rolled her eyes more at herself than anything.
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“I told her we’d have to do it some other time because I had to figure out what the hell I was going to do with you.” She took in Charlie’s dark eyes. “I also told her that you and I had an amazing night last night, and that I was in love with you.”
“Hails?”
“Yes?”
The doorbell rang.
“Hold that thought,” Charlie said and got off the couch, leaving Hailey there so she could answer the door. “I ordered food before you got here.” She opened the door, paid the delivery guy, and closed the door to stop Eddie’s barking, before she sat the bag onto the table next to the door and stood still for a moment.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Hailey stood and walked over to her.
When she arrived, she placed her hands on Charlie’s waist.
“You know how last night we took things really slow and it was incredibly romantic?” Charlie asked. Hailey nodded with a smile. Charlie gripped Hailey’s waist and turned her until she was pressed back against the door. “Tonight, I was thinking we could do fast and hot.”
“What about the food you ordered?” Hailey laughed.
“I don’t want the food. I want you,” Charlie said and attached her lips to Hailey’s neck.
“You’re wearing my shirt again.” Hailey pulled on the shirt until it was over Charlie’s head and on the floor.
Charlie’s fingers were already working on Hailey’s jeans. She stood topless and used her other hand to pull down on Hailey’s shirt, signaling that she wanted it off. Hailey complied and tossed her shirt onto the floor. While her back was lifted away from the door, she unclasped her bra and tossed it aside before Charlie thrust a hand into her jeans and she was pushed back hard against the door. Charlie’s fingers were sliding around without purpose at first. Hailey’s hips didn’t seem to notice that she hadn’t actually started trying to make her come yet. They bucked forward into her hand. Charlie pressed her harder against the wall, while nipping at her neck.
Charlie started working her fingers deftly against Hailey’s clit. She felt the woman’s heavy breathing against her own chest as their breasts pressed together. She could also feel Hailey’s nipples, tight and hard against her own hardening ones, and the wetness that now coated her hand. Hailey tried to tug down on Charlie’s shorts, but Charlie pulled her hand away and placed both of Hailey’s hands above her on the door and held them there with her hand. Turnabout was fair play, after all.
“That… there,” Hailey managed as Charlie’s fingers flicked the tip of her clit fast, over and over again.
“Yeah?” Charlie asked with a gasp against Hailey’s ear. “There?” She slid her fingers down and then into Hailey with one hard thrust.
“Yes,” Hailey shouted against Charlie’s shoulder.
Charlie felt her teeth dig into her bone but pushed the pain out of her mind. Hailey was tight and wet around her fingers. Her muscles contracted against her, while Charlie pressed her palm to her swollen clit like she’d done the night before. She used her thigh to push her hand in harder and faster and let go of Hailey’s hands, when they began to protest to allow her to grip Charlie’s ass and bring them even tighter together. They slid into Charlie’s underwear and squeezed, causing Charlie to grunt and want more. She slid in and out until she felt Hailey’s walls begin to collapse around her. She came with a scream and then gave into Charlie’s body. Charlie held her up with a hand on her hip while the other remained inside her. She pressed their bodies closer together because she wasn’t sure Hailey could stand if she didn’t.
As they both began to catch their breath, Hailey started to stand on her own again. Charlie slowly pulled out of her. She kissed down the front of Hailey’s body, taking her time on one nipple and then the other, sucking each into her mouth, and being rewarded with sounds of pleasure emanating from Hailey, as she placed a hand on the back of Charlie’s neck, encouraging her to explore. Charlie slid down her body and pulled the jeans until they were at Hailey’s feet, along with her underwear. Hailey kicked them away. Charlie knelt on the floor and looked up at Hailey, who was staring down at her with desire still in her eyes.
Charlie had said before that she’d tried not to picture Hailey in those images of her future. But she’d sometimes managed to sneak her way in. And one of those fantasies, that allowed Charlie to touch herself and have very intense orgasms, involved her having Hailey up against a wall like this, while Charlie took her with her mouth and tasted her. She felt Hailey’s sultry stare on her even as she began to drag her tongue through her folds and tasted her for the first time. God, it was better than any fantasy. Hailey gasped each time Charlie found a particular spot she liked, and Charlie memorized each one of them, and what she did to elicit the sound, so that she could do it again. She gripped Hailey’s ass while her thrusting hips pulled her slightly away from the door. She pressed her face against her hard, and then felt Hailey lift one leg off the ground. Charlie knew what she wanted, and she took her hand and placed it on Hailey’s calf. She encouraged it up and over her shoulder. Then, she did the same with Hailey’s other leg.
“Charlie!” Hailey exclaimed, as Charlie’s hands went back around to her ass and she was lifted off the floor, held in place by Charlie’s strong hands and shoulders, and that face that was buried between Hailey’s legs. “Oh, my God!”
Charlie sucked her clit hard and fast, and used her tongue to flick against it every so often, earning moans and gasps from the woman above her. She muttered her own moan against Hailey’s clit, as Hailey’s hand pressed her head closer. Charlie chanced a look up and saw that Hailey’s head was rolled back against the door and her hand was pressed, palm side, to the door. Charlie watched Hailey’s breasts rise and fall with every short fast breath and every thrust of Hailey’s hips into her mouth. Charlie closed her eyes again and reveled in Hailey’s scent and taste while she shook her head sideways quickly. Hailey jerked so hard, Charlie thought she might drop her, but she held on. Hailey came pressed against the door, being held off the floor and into Charlie’s greedy mouth. Charlie didn’t let her go. She couldn’t yet. She still wanted more. Just as Hailey began to come down and Charlie felt the hand on the back of her head start to loosen, she pressed herself harder into her again and licked around Hailey’s clit.
“Again,” Charlie ordered and kissed Hailey’s clit before sucking it into her mouth.
“Oh, I don’-” Hailey didn’t finish her sentence. “Fuck!” she exclaimed.
Charlie loved the sound of that word coming out of Hailey’s mouth while she was doing just that. With Hailey off the ground, Charlie could slide her tongue inside her and pull it out just as quickly, before doing it again, and again. She slid it back up to the still swollen hard clit and sucked her again, until she felt Hailey’s body jerk again, indicating another orgasm. She held her in place, allowing her to ride it out, and slowed her sucking until Hailey tapped her shoulder, indicating she needed to stand on solid ground.
Charlie helped her lower one leg and then the other one but kept her mouth between Hailey’s legs. She placed her hands on the inside of Hailey’s thighs to keep them apart, while she made sure she brought Hailey all the way down from her high. When Hailey’s breathing slowed, and her legs stopped trembling, Charlie stood and wrapped her arms around her. Hailey collapsed against her again and allowed Charlie to pull her back toward the couch. Charlie slid onto the couch first, lying down and pulling Hailey down on top of her. She held her there, pressed to her skin, until Hailey’s heart finally slowed to a normal rhythm.
CHAPTER 25
Hailey felt liquefied. It was as if she had no bones in her body as she pressed into Charlie. She felt the hands dragging up and down her back and closed her eyes, listening to Charlie’s breathing. It took her some time to gain back the strength she needed. She took one of he
r still tingling arms and slid it quickly down between Charlie’s legs under her shorts.
“Oh!” Charlie gasped as Hailey lifted herself up.
“Hi.” Hailey peered down at her.
She rolled her hips down as her palm cupped Charlie’s center.
“Yeah,” Charlie got out while her hands went to Hailey’s hips to guide her back down into her.
Hailey’s movements were slow and paced, as she took her pleasure from giving Charlie pleasure. Charlie’s hands eventually tugged at her own shorts and underwear to push them down, and once Hailey figured out that Charlie wanted to see what she was doing, she lifted herself up to allow it. She felt Charlie’s legs kicking the articles off her feet but didn’t turn back to look. She reached between Charlie’s legs and opened her before reaching between her own legs and opening herself, pressing down into Charlie, allowing their centers to meet.
“Hailey,” she let out in a soft breath as Hailey rolled into her, feeling her own wetness mix with Charlie’s.
“I love you.” She pressed her lips to Charlie’s chest between her breasts as she slowly rocked against her.
“I love you.” Charlie gripped Hailey’s ass and pressed her down.
The feel of Hailey’s relaxed clit against Charlie’s hard and throbbing one made Hailey rethink that relaxation, as she felt herself starting to climb again but forcing the feeling out of her mind. She wanted Charlie now. She wanted to hear her come as she rocked against her.
“Tell me what you want,” Hailey ordered gently as her lips met Charlie’s.
“That feels pretty good actually,” Charlie encouraged.
“Slow, like this?” Hailey asked and kissed her jawline.
“Yes,” Charlie let out more like a breath than anything. Hailey attached her lips to any part of Charlie’s skin she could reach without interrupting her hips. She felt the familiar climb, and while she tried to hide it, so Charlie would know that this was about her and not Hailey, Charlie’s helping hands on her hips caused her to let out a small moan against Charlie’s neck. She felt Charlie’s hands tighten on her hips and started moving faster against her. “Come with me,” Charlie said in Hailey’s ear.
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