by Bryce Oakley
"Come here," Domino said, holding out her arms.
Sabrina settled into the nook between Domino's legs, leaning back against her chest.
"It's so dark," Sabrina whispered.
"That's what I like about it," Domino said.
"How many sharks do you think there are, like circling right there," Sabrina pointed.
Domino grinned, pressing a kiss to Sabrina's hair. She smelled like Domino's shampoo –– coconut with a hint of vanilla.
"At least thirteen," Domino made up.
"How many giant squid are cruising these shores, looking for an unsuspecting victim?" Sabrina asked.
Domino shushed her gently, wanting to savor the quiet.
Sabrina rested her head back against Domino's shoulder.
"I know you can't sleep with me here," Sabrina whispered.
Domino tensed, blinking in the darkness.
"On the beach?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood, even slightly.
"No, at your house. I know you're restless with me around," Sabrina said. Her voice had a mournful note to it.
"It's not you, Sab," Domino said, sighing. Was it a lie if she truly didn't know what it was?
Sabrina tensed, her arms holding tighter to Domino's legs. "Well, then what is it?" She asked.
Domino shrugged. "It's just an adjustment," she said.
"An adjustment?" Sabrina asked, twisting to look at Domino over her shoulder.
"I've never..." Domino's voice trailed off. "Had..." It seemed so silly to admit now.
"A girlfriend?" Sabrina suggested.
Domino's brow creased. "Well, yeah," she said. How did Sabrina make the word sound so simple? Girlfriend. “A person like a girlfriend.” She tried to make the distinction clear without sounding cruel.
"I know," Sabrina said, turning back around as though she was unbothered by the remark.
Domino knew better than to trust a woman who wouldn’t make eye contact with her after she said something potentially divisive.
"But I don't want you to feel like I don't want you around. I very much want you around," Domino said, her hands sliding over Sabrina's knees that were tucked against her chest.
"Well, I very much want you around," Sabrina said. "I know you're not ready to, um, label this, but I don't care about that. I really like you."
Domino grinned. "I'm glad," she said with a laugh.
"And you really like me," Sabrina said, twisting again to look at her.
"Oh, do I?" Domino joked.
"I seem to remember you saying something along those lines," Sabrina said.
"And when was that?" Domino asked, her voice pitched higher as though she had no idea.
"If my memory serves right, you were on your back, and I was between your thighs," Sabrina said, moving to kneel, facing her.
Domino laughed. "Maybe I need a reminder?"
She could nearly hear Sabrina grinning in the dark. Sabrina put her hands on Domino's shoulders, pressing her body into Domino's. Domino grabbed Sabrina's ass in both hands, holding her tightly against her own body. Sabrina leaned down to take Domino's mouth in her own, biting Domino's bottom lip between her teeth.
Domino hissed in pleasure and pain. Sabrina slowly licked Domino's bottom lip to soothe where she had bitten.
"I heard sex on the beach was overrated. Sand everywhere," Sabrina whispered against her lips.
Domino fell back into the sand, bringing Sabrina with her. "I think that's a risk I'm willing to take," she said. "I think the trick is to keep on as much clothing as possible."
Sex on the beach had always been one of those things that sounded better in fantasy. In reality, sand was a hell of an abrasive substance. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to care too much about that at the moment.
"Well, we'll see about that," Sabrina said, unbuttoning Domino's jeans. "Because what I really want to do might involve you taking off your pants."
"Is that so?" Domino asked, laughing in surprise.
"You can't see me right now, but I'm nodding," Sabrina said, giggling. She tugged Domino's pants and underwear down over her hips.
Domino hastily took off her jacket, sliding it under her. "At least let me not get sand in my vagina," she said, smirking.
Sabrina dug her fingernails into the soft skin around Domino's hip bones. "I'll allow it," she whispered.
Domino heard shuffling, and then felt the warmth of Sabrina's tongue between her legs.
Her hips rose in the surprise of pleasure, of warmth flowing through her entire body. She wove a hand through Sabrina's hair, letting the other fall into the cool sand.
Her back arched as Sabrina pushed two fingers inside her. All thought gave way to sensation and she was lost in the intensity.
“Oh, fuck, yes,” Domino whispered. “Harder.”
Sabrina obeyed, pushing into Domino until all thoughts left Domino’s brain. She was completely in the moment, concentrating on the smell of the damp sand mixed with the sweet scent of sex and Sabrina’s shampoo.
The sound of the waves muffled the sounds of Sabrina's tongue and Domino's moans as she begged Sabrina for release.
She rose with the waves, peaking and crashing into the darkness, calling out Sabrina's name as she crested her climax.
And after, as Sabrina lay next to her, she kissed her in gratitude, in adoration, and in the promise of cradling that special woman's heart with tenderness. Her lips tasted just like the ocean.
* * *
Domino watched the photographer from Decor Magazine set up her equipment. She was a tall woman with legs for days and silky blonde hair. She had introduced herself as Catherine, but had insisted they call her Cat.
She was exactly the type of woman Domino normally pursued. And yet, Domino felt apathetic towards how attractive she was. She cringed, wondering if she'd never find another woman attractive again if she continued to date Sabrina.
Another woman stood nearby, Greta, the creative director, explaining exactly what shots she would take.
She sat on the couch, staring at Cat's strong arms, trying to feel more than she felt staring at a nice painting –– appreciation, but she wasn't going to lose her head over it.
"Easy, tiger," Sabrina said beside with her with a wink.
Domino rolled her eyes, looking away from Cat to Sabrina. Sabrina was wearing a jumpsuit –– the woman could make anything look good –– and had pulled her hair back in a high ponytail. The result made her high cheekbones and gorgeous, dark brown eyes pop even more.
The house had been completely redone. She had picked out paintings. Rugs. She had let Sabrina guide her, but in the end, the house was 100% her. She looked around the room, smiling at the framed photos, at the gold record denoting Heart's Content's success. The entire home was so perfectly her, and Sabrina had made that happen.
She put an arm around Sabrina, kissing her cheek.
Greta turned to them on the couch. "We should get a photo of the two of you," she said with a huge, hungry smile that Domino recognized immediately.
"I'd rather not," Sabrina said quickly, not turning to look at Domino. "I don't want the world to think Domino took pity on me because I'm her... friend." She said the word strangely, as if 'friend' was a weird way to describe what they had.
Domino blinked. "I'm fine with posing together," she said, afraid that Sabrina was projecting her own worries.
"No," Sabrina said forcefully, shaking her head.
Domino frowned. "Okay," she said, looking up at Greta. "Then I'd rather you photograph Sabrina than me with this feature. She's done all the hard work. I want it to be an afterthought that it's my place."
Greta raised a brow. "And take away the star power of the entire article?"
"I think Sabrina's work stands on its own merit without it having anything to do with me," Domino said. She knew how to stand her ground with journalists and people in the media. She had been doing it her own way for years.
"Of course," Greta said, smiling sweetly.
&n
bsp; In the end, Cat and Greta took forever going through the house. They staged scenes, arranged things with Sabrina's help, and even took separate pictures of Domino and Sabrina.
Sabrina followed them around with a bounce in her step. She looked equal parts excited and nervous, but mostly just giddy. It was one of the cutest things Domino had ever seen, but she resisted mauling her until Greta and Cat were out the door.
"We're going to put this up on the website ASAP, and then the full article will appear in the February print issue," Greta explained.
Domino resisted the intense urge to wink at Cat as she and Greta walked out the front door.
As soon as she door shut, Sabrina began hopping up and down. "I think that went well," she said, giggling.
"You did it," Domino said, wrapping her arms around Sabrina. "I'm so proud of you." She smiled, leaning down to smother Sabrina's face in kisses.
Sabrina giggled. "We did it," she said.
"Now, what other things could we do?" Domino teased, nipping at the tender skin of Sabrina's neck. She pulled Sabrina down onto the couch. The doorbell rang and Domino pretended to be surprised. "Oh, maybe it's Greta and Cat back for something else? Do you want to go get that?"
Sabrina arched an eyebrow, but hopped off the couch and walked over to the door, anyway. She opened the door and Domino heard loud shouts of congratulations and surprise.
She watched Sabrina hold a hand to her chest and begin laughing, taking a step back to let everyone in.
Domino had arranged for all of the best people to come by the house after the shoot was finished to make sure that Sabrina felt the appreciation she deserved. Billie, Vero, Meg, Zoey, and Isla traipsed through the door, oohing and aahing at the makeover.
"Wow, who knew your hardwood floors were so dark? I thought they were just clothing colored," Zoey teased from the kitchen.
"There are no boots in the oven," Billie exclaimed.
"Did you guys see the laundry room? There’s even a custom tin for the laundry pods," Meg announced with pride.
Domino hooked Sabrina under her arm, beaming with pride.
"Oh my god," Isla exclaimed from upstairs.
Sabrina and Domino exchanged a confused look.
"You said there were tons of black jeans, but I was not expecting this," Isla continued.
Domino rolled her eyes. "I only have 22 pairs now," she said defensively.
"Why are you such a hoarder, Dom?" Meg asked, passing a glass of bubbly to Sabrina.
Domino smirked. "I'm not a hoarder," she protested.
"You want to know why? It was the Carebear," Billie said, sipping from her own glass.
Domino groaned. "Don't even start."
"The Carebear?" Vero asked, holding a La Croix can. "Like a stuffed animal or the show?"
"The stuffed animal from the show. Domino was obsessed with it as a kid. It had this tuft of hair on top of its head that Dom would stick up her nose," Billie said, laughing.
"Ew," Vero said, laughing.
Zoey stared at her with wide eyes. "You're so weird," she giggled.
"Why was this bear responsible for the hoarding?" Sabrina asked, sitting on the arm of the couch next to where Domino was.
Domino shook her head. "Not responsible, per se," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Okay, so, there were a ton of kids in our house. Five of us. Our parents brought it on themselves, but they also always looked to cut costs whenever possible, right?" Billie continued.
Domino squirmed in her seat. Sabrina put a hand on her shoulder. She hated the idea that they'd just sit around and talk about her childhood to explain the reason she did things.
"Every summer they'd throw this huge garage sale," Billie said. "And they'd have us clean out what we no longer used. They were so brutal about it. Mom would sit in our rooms, pointing to things. The boys and I were pretty easy going about it. We understood their reasoning for most things. But Domino hated the garage sale."
"They made me get rid of things I still used," Domino said, her voice pitching higher as she continued to defend her reasoning.
"Okay, but also, young Domino was an even bigger mess than she was a month ago," Billie said.
"Okay, okay," Domino said, giving Billie a pointed stare.
"Wait, how does this tie back to a Carebear?" Vero asked, looking between the two Rush sisters as though they were playing tennis.
"So, one year, Dom is probably around nine––"
"Seven," Domino corrected, setting her jaw.
"Okay, eight," Billie said, grinning. "And my parents begin to insist she gives up the Carebear. At this point, the bear is nearly bald. It's limbs are detaching. Giving it up becomes a full-on campaign. They start to encourage the rest of us to talk to her about it. They give us talking points, even. She's too old for it, it's beat up, she has nicer toys, other kids need toys more than she does, she needs to contribute to the garage sale. On and on."
"Why did they think anyone would want to buy such a well-loved bear?" Sabrina asked, her hand gently rubbing Domino's shoulder.
"They were tricking me! They didn't even want to sell the Carebear. They just wanted me to get rid of it because they thought it was ugly," Domino said, scowling.
"Did you actually give it up?" Zoey asked, her eyes wide.
"No," Domino said, shaking her head.
"She wouldn't. Then, the day of the garage sale comes. She can't find the Carebear anywhere. She tears apart her room. She goes through everything for the garage sale. She begins a full-on screaming fit –– you can imagine Mom handling that very well while strangers and neighbors are in the driveway, looking through the garage sale," Billie went on.
"To get me to stop, she tells me that she threw it away the day before," Domino said.
Sabrina gasped. "She threw it away?"
"And the day before was trash day," Billie added.
"That cunning woman," Isla said.
"And then Domino just disappears," Billie said.
Domino looked around the room to find that all of her friends were enraptured by the story, staring at her and Billie with wide eyes.
Sabrina looked down at Domino. "Disappeared? Where did you go?"
"I rode my bike to the landfill," Domino said, laughing.
"Jiminy Cricket," Sabrina said under her breath.
"Did you find it?" Meg asked.
"Nope," Domino said. "I looked for hours. I'd have spent the night, but a very nice woman found me digging through trash and thought I didn't have a home. I don't remember how the police were called, but I got to ride home in a cop car smelling like hot garbage."
"And ever since, she just... won't let go of things," Billie said, raising her eyebrows.
Sabrina stared down at Domino with wide eyes. "Yeah, that sounds traumatizing as heck. I'm shocked that you aren't an even bigger hoarder after that," she said.
"I'm just imagining young Domino, digging through trash, and it is both really sad and really hilarious," Zoey said, chuckling.
Meg was laughing. "Leave it to Domino to take matters into her own hands and just go to the landfill. At eight, I didn't even know where the trash went. I thought the truck ate it."
Domino laughed and moved over a few inches on the couch to pull Sabrina down to sit with her.
"What kind of Carebear was it?" Isla asked.
"Cheer Bear," Domino said with a grin.
"Oh, sure, the gayest one," Zoey said, rolling her eyes with a smirk.
"Wait, what made Cheer Bear gay? Or like, gayer than the rest of them?" Meg asked.
"She had a rainbow across her stomach," Sabrina said, grinning. "She was my favorite."
"Aw, look at you, made for one another," Vero said, smiling. She leaned over and kissed Billie on the cheek emphatically.
Sabrina blushed and Domino rolled her eyes. "Or just secretly gay even from a young age."
Everyone laughed. In a room full of queer women –– and Zoey, who was basically queer by association –– they all knew
the feeling.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sabrina
Sabrina watched in anticipation as Domino scrolled through the final article on Decor's website on her phone. Sabrina had already read it twice, and she was worried about a line in the first paragraph more than anything.
"Professional Organizer Sabrina Meloy turned the quiet 1940s Hermosa Beach bungalow belonging to her girlfriend, The Shrike's Domino Rush, into a sanctuary of peace and tidiness."
Domino's face was expressionless as she read through the organizing tips that the interview featured, along with photos of Domino's home. There was a pop-out photo of Sabrina next to a photo of Domino.
They sat on the couch at Sabrina's place –– Sabrina had waited until after dessert to announce that the article was up. She had hoped that after a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie, Domino would be in a better mood to digest the awkward article.
Sabrina tried not to stare too intensely as Domino read, but as the room grew more and more quiet, the nerves churned in her stomach.
To be truthful, she wasn't too happy about it, either. It made it seem as though she only got the project because Domino was her girlfriend. Inaccurate on many accounts. She got the project because of a mutual friend and some lighthearted extortion. Nothing strange about that.
"Well," Domino said, sighing. "Seems as though Greta had her own ideas."
"Yeah," Sabrina said, trying not to sound like that hurt her feelings.
She watched Domino cautiously, as if she might be a bomb about to explode. Was this just the calm before the storm? Was Domino going to scream and shout –– maybe even throw a vase? It almost seemed worse that Domino wasn't speaking. It made Sabrina want to fill the silence, but she worried that being too cavalier might make Domino think that she didn't want to be with her, but being upset might push Domino away.
It had been three weeks since they had started sleeping together and Sabrina still wasn't sure exactly where they stood. She hated that it mattered so much to her, but it did. She had wanted to play it casual, but nothing about what they had felt casual. Were they exclusive? Were they just friends? Well, friends who had sex? Friends with benefits?