The Kaleidoscope Album Box Set

by Bryce Oakley

"We're just two people who occasionally take private planes and make out," Zoey said.

  "Sure, so normal," Pia joked.

  "It isn't, like, a thing," Zoey said.

  Pia nodded.

  "This doesn't mean anything," Zoey said.

  Pia stilled under her, her brow furrowing.

  "Well, let me rephrase. This isn't more than it is," Zoey said, knowing the answer was still vague, but it was a difficult concept to explain. "We're just two women who happen to have a physical connection and also we are friends."

  "Zoey?" Pia said quietly.

  Zoey paused, blinking down at her.

  "Stop talking," Pia said, and she sat up, taking Zoey's mouth in a rough kiss.

  They awkwardly stood, unable to keep their hands off each other as they stumbled toward one of the bedrooms — the room that Pia had claimed earlier.

  Their pants and bras came off in a flurry of fabric and laughter and lost balance, sending Zoey falling onto the bed.

  When Pia moved on top of her, she stilled at the touch and feel of Pia’s mostly naked body, the weight of Pia on top of her, sliding over her, was making her heart pound out of her chest in anticipation.

  She had been hesitant before, but now, like this... She could hardly wait one moment longer.

  Zoey's body and desire turned desperate and greedy, wanting her, and wanting her now. Zoey clutched at Pia, pulling at her shoulders and her hips as her lips seemed to be everywhere at once, journeying down her throat, over her breasts, lingering to gently bite her sensitive skin.

  Zoey was impatient for Pia to continue. “Pia,” she begged, her voice sounding far away.

  Pia took her time, making Zoey wait as she kissed over Zoey’s stomach and down to her hips, along the soft skin that led her to Zoey’s inner thighs.

  Finally, with a languid pace, Pia hooked her finger under the waistband of Zoey’s underwear and slid them over her hips and down her legs.

  Zoey was impatient for Pia to continue. “Pia, please,” she begged, her voice sounding far away. She needed Pia in a way that might have frightened her if she wasn’t so consumed with the feeling of finally.

  Pia slid her hand over the length of Zoey’s leg, her palm curving over the muscles until she was touching Zoey’s most sensitive spot. Zoey’s knees fell open, welcoming the sensation as she closed her eyes, her head tipping back again in pure agony and delight.

  Pleasure rolled over her in waves, unlike anything she had felt before. Pia’s touch felt intimate and intense and delicious all at once. The all-encompassing feeling was an intoxicating mixture of passion and newness. Pia’s touch was so much softer than anyone she had been with, and she played Zoey’s body with the expertise of a musician.

  Pia slipped two fingers inside of her, keeping pressure in all the right places as Zoey felt as though she was floating off the bed entirely. She tried to ground herself by looking down, but meeting Pia’s intense dark-eyed stare, and seeing the raw hunger that was within her immediately sent her over the edge of climax.

  Pia continued to touch her exactly how she needed until she had come back to earth, her hands gripping the bedspread under her.

  “That was…” Zoey said, trying to catch her breath. "I don't think I expected it to be..." She swallowed, unable to find the right words, or any words, or any grasp of the English language at all.

  Pia slid back up her body and wrapped an arm around her. "That's what all the women tell me," she joked.

  Zoey flipped onto her side, swinging a leg casually over Pia's hip. "Oh yeah? Is that why they call you Magic Hands Marino?" She teased.

  "Among other things," Pia said, a grin quirking up the edge of her mouth.

  "I have a very serious question," Zoey said, taking a deep breath.

  Pia looked instantly concerned. "Of course," she said.

  "Can we order french fries and more wine and then talk me through how I can do that to you?" Zoey asked.

  Pia's eyes widened in surprise as she laughed. "I thought you'd never ask."

  * * *

  Hours later, after having a bed picnic and relaxing for awhile, Zoey's hands skimmed Pia's stomach, then dipped lower between her legs, sliding into the warmth of her. It was so like her own, and yet, completely different.

  And when she lay between Pia's legs, her tongue finding the spot that made Pia's entire body shake and clench, something tightened in her own chest at the idea that she was giving Pia such pleasure. That she was the name on Pia's lips as she came. Twice. Zoey found herself giving into the heady arousal of how Pia tasted just slightly sweeter as she shattered, her back arching off the bed as her fingers wound in Zoey's hair.

  * * *

  Zoey's eyes opened as her phone alarm quietly sang, the gray dawn began to lighten the room. They had forgotten to draw the shades in their haste to get into bed the night before.

  She turned off her alarm and turned back to Pia, replaying particular scenes from the night before. How Pia had stared into her eyes as she licked her fingers after touching Zoey. How Pia had tasted, the feel of her on Zoey's fingers, on her tongue.

  Last night...

  Zoey rolled onto her back, staring at the soft light of the window. Her stomach twisted — had she made a huge mistake?

  She had enjoyed the hell out of herself, that was for sure. But had sleeping with Pia taken her attraction too far?

  She turned back to the woman, watching her sleep.

  Were they really on the same page about the sex just being sex?

  Just her curiosity and intrigue, nothing more?

  About their chemistry together being physical and that was it?

  Even with the swirling emotions, she couldn't help but grin at Pia's content, sleeping expression. Even with all of the horrible ways the situation could go up in flames — and oh, she was envisioning all of those scenarios vividly — she didn't necessarily regret what had happened.

  It had been fun, of course. It had been satisfying in ways she had never felt.

  Just because she had enjoyed it... it didn't mean anything.

  She wasn't dating Pia.

  She wasn't suddenly a lesbian.

  She hadn't ordered a U-Haul.

  She wasn't "Pulling a Pia" and marrying the first woman she slept with.

  She was just no longer a zero on the Kinsey scale. Okay, so she had never been a zero. A one, at most, of course.

  But after last night...

  Pia opened one eye. "Stop creeping on me. I know I'm gorgeous, but I'm trying to sleep," she teased, reaching out to wrap an arm around Zoey and pull her body close.

  "I've got to go soon," Zoey whispered, trying not to tense under Pia's touch.

  No, cuddling the morning after felt a bit too much like a relationship move.

  Pia groaned. "No," she said, her grip on Zoey tightening.

  "Unfortunately, I am a woman in high demand," Zoey said, pushing onto her elbows.

  "Well, you're back in LA next week, right?" Pia asked, blinking her eyes slowly open to look down at Zoey.

  Zoey nodded.

  Pia sighed, looking disappointed.

  And something melted slightly in Zoey. She didn't want to leave, either.

  "Hey," Zoey started, feeling suddenly shy about what she was about to ask. "There's a secret show in New York tonight. Want to come?"

  "To New York?" Pia asked.

  Zoey nodded again.

  "Let me see what I can do," Pia said, her hands slowly moving over Zoey's naked body. "Until then, do we have time for me to see what I can do about the here and now?"

  Zoey's body came alive at Pia's touch. "I suppose I can pencil you in," she said with a laugh as Pia tugged her closer.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Pia

  Pia had rearranged a couple of meetings and shifted one more meeting into a call — or, rather, she had Mark, her assistant, do the rearranging for her — but she had made it out to New York.

  In fact, she had flown into the city with Zoey that morn
ing.

  She had also nearly become a member of the Mile High Club, but the thought of being able to look Archer in the eye ever again after he could potentially overhear or even see... Nope, she had to draw the line.

  Zoey had been a bit quieter that morning, but she could understand why.

  After having sex with Elle the first time, she questioned everything. Every relationship with a man she had ever had, every time she had lusted after a woman and tried to talk herself out of it...

  The good news was that it didn't seem as though Zoey had a lack of physical interest.

  Quite the opposite.

  Pia touched her lips, smiling to herself at the thought of Zoey's kisses.

  And other parts of her, of course.

  "So," Freya said, looking at her over the edge of an Old Fashioned she held. "You fucked her."

  Pia kept her face completely blank.

  Freya was in town — something about an artist's conference, or something along those lines — and had agreed to tag along to the secret show that The Shrikes were playing that evening.

  She was only going to the show because she liked the band and the new album, of course. And her good friend Zoey had invited her personally.

  They were in a Lower East Side bar down the street from the venue. It was overpriced, dark, and crowded, and better yet, not a single person glanced her way as she walked in.

  "You definitely fucked her," Freya said, shaking her head.

  "Sorry, it's so loud in here," Pia said, gesturing to her ear as she feigned innocence.

  "You're a bad liar," Freya yelled louder.

  Pia grinned, sipping her wine. It was a touch too dry for her mood.

  "Why?" Freya asked.

  "Why what?" Pia said, not understanding.

  "Why did you fuck her?" Freya said, over-enunciating each word to make her point loud and clear.

  Pia lifted a shoulder. "I don't kiss and tell," she said, shaking her head.

  Freya narrowed her eyes, scowling at her.

  Pia set her glass down, lifting the wine menu again. It was short and left much to be desired. "Because I wanted to, and she wanted to," she said, trying to sound casual.

  "I'm about to speak from a place of love and support, do you understand?" Freya said, straightening her posture.

  "Why does that statement worry me?" Pia said, arching a brow.

  "Do not fuck her again," Freya said, again over enunciating each word.

  Pia tried her best not to make a face. "Your reasoning?"

  "I'm not in the habit of handing out toasters," Freya said.

  Pia laughed. "I'm not in the habit of trying to get toasters," she said. "It's nothing serious. It's just casual."

  Freya fixed her with a stare. "You are heading straight for something that is going to blow up in your face," she said.

  Pia shook her head. "Well, I will consider myself warned," she said, glancing around for the waiter while trying her hardest to not meet Freya's eye.

  "One of you is going to catch feelings," Freya said.

  "Catch feelings? That doesn't even make grammatical sense," Pia said, grimacing.

  "My niece says it all the time," Freya said. "And I think it applies here."

  "You know I don't do that," Pia said.

  "Not usually, but this one is different and you know it," Freya said.

  "I need you to cool your jets, Frey. I'm walking in with my eyes wide open," Pia said.

  Freya didn't respond. She just glared at her.

  "And if it ends badly, I'll supply all the wine as you listen to my woes," Pia said, lifting her glass in a toast.

  Freya laughed, melting slightly from her icy mood.

  * * *

  "Thank you so much for coming out tonight and supporting our new album," Billie said into the microphone, smiling. "We know it's been a little while, so, uh, thanks for sticking around."

  Pia, clapped, marvelling at how calm and collected Billie was both on and off-stage. She had to be, dating a firecracker like Vero De Luca.

  Pia and Freya sat in a VIP section of the balcony, anonymous in the dark. They were very conveniently seated on the same side of the stage as Zoey and her keyboard. From here, Pia could see Zoey's fingers expertly move over the keys, graceful and knowledgeable.

  She smirked to herself, knowing exactly how expertly those fingers could move.

  Domino leaned into her microphone. "And thanks again for finding our secret show. Zoey kept telling me that our hints were too difficult and no one would show up," she said with a laugh.

  Zoey yelled an audible, "Hey!" and the crowd cheered and laughed with them.

  Pia grinned, watching her. With the lights in her hair, gleaming off her skin, and her adorable sequined crop top, she looked positively goddess-esque.

  A feeling of possession came over her, like she wanted Zoey all to herself. Like she wanted others to know that Zoey was hers.

  She squashed the feeling almost immediately, taking a sip of her water.

  She could practically feel Freya's eyes on her. She turned, but Freya was looking down at the stage, her eyebrows raised in mock-innocence.

  "Because Zoey was wrong," Domino began, and Zoey played a quick "dun dun dun" on her keyboard. "She's going to sing this next one for y'all."

  Pia's eyebrows raised in surprise. Zoey hadn't told her she was singing a song.

  Her voice was so different than Billie's, or even Domino's — there was a smokiness to her tone, deeper than Pia might have expected.

  She was playing ‘Midnight’ but it was entirely different song when Zoey sang it, not Billie.

  Pia was leaning forward, holding her breath, watching Zoey with rapt attention.

  Zoey sang Pia's favorite line, "My heart was heavy. You found me in the dark, you looked in my eye and somehow you lit the spark."

  Pia could have sworn Zoey's eyes lifted upwards on the last words, as if she knew exactly where Pia was in the room.

  Time seemed to slow, and Pia's heart began to hammer in her chest.

  Casual. It was casual. They were just casual. They were just friends.

  Fuck.

  They had only slept together once and Pia already wanted more.

  Rookie mistake.

  She hated proving Freya right.

  But more than that, she worried about what it might mean for her and Zoey's future.

  Could she truly be honest about her feelings if Zoey would never reciprocate them?

  No.

  She knew the answer was no.

  So, she started to harden herself around the warm, bubbly feeling that was rising in her chest.

  She leaned back in her seat and took a drink of her water, taking in the crowd as Zoey hit the last note of the song.

  They were as enraptured with her as Pia was.

  It was just the song. She was just getting caught up in the song.

  The crowd cheered and clapped, erupting through the room as Zoey grinned and gave a small bow. She glanced up to the balcony where Pia sat, but Pia made sure to lean back, able to watch her without making eye contact.

  Freya put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in. "Are you okay?"

  Pia forced a confused face. "Sure, why?"

  Freya stared at her with skepticism. "Well, bad news," she said.

  Pia leaned closer, curious. "What's wrong?"

  "That girl has it just as bad for you," Freya said.

  Pia stilled. "What are you talking about?"

  "You're in trouble," Freya said, laughing.

  Well, at least one of them thought it was hilarious.

  Pia found it terrifying.

  * * *

  "Sorry, I'm not totally sober. I was so nervous that Domino fed me like four shots of whiskey," Zoey said, chugging water.

  Pia and Freya had just walked into the green room to congratulate everyone on a fantastic show. On Sabrina's request, of course. Because of course Sabrina had spotted them in the foyer of the venue as they were leaving. Of course.
r />   Micah uncapped another water bottle and handed it to Zoey. "Whatever it was, it worked. You singing ‘Midnight’ was gorgeous. I saw multiple people crying. Crying!"

  Meg laughed. "Way to go, Zoey. You made people cry with your singing."

  Zoey threw her empty water bottle at Meg's head, who barely ducked out of the way in time.

  Billie glanced up at Freya. "I don't think we've met," she said. "I'm Billie."

  "Oh, I'm sorry. This is my friend Freya," Pia said, gesturing to Freya. "Frey, this is Billie, Domino, Sabrina, Micah, Meghan, and Zoey."

  Zoey's eyebrows raised. "Oh my God, are you Freya Olsen?"

  Pia grinned, watching Freya's reaction. She knew her friend hated being recognized, but it was just too fun to watch Frey squirm.

  "I am," Freya said, not moving from her spot.

  Zoey stood, crossing the room to hold out her hand. "I'm such a huge fan," she said, shaking Freya's hand. "I bought the original 'Nothing Matters Anymore But Everything' three years ago, and I've been collecting ever since."

  Pia blinked, taken aback. "You have Freya's work? How did I not know this?"

  The rest of the women looked slightly confused.

  Zoey looked over her shoulder. "You know that huge painting in my living room? That's Freya's work."

  "Oh, the abstract one with gold that spoke to me that time we took mushrooms and I couldn't get off of your couch?" Domino asked.

  Sabrina choked on the beer she was drinking.

  Zoey nodded, laughing. "The very one."

  "Funnily enough, I was also on mushrooms when I was starting that one," Freya said, laughing along with them.

  "I'd love to talk to you more. Do you want to come back to the hotel with us for a celebratory drink?" Zoey asked Freya, then glanced to Pia.

  "Oh, I think we have to—" Pia began.

  Freya cut her off. "We'd love to," she said firmly.

  Pia wanted to stomp on Freya's foot.

  * * *

  Pia watched as Zoey and Freya talked animatedly on the sofa beside her. Billie stood on the patio, pacing back and forth while talking on the phone. Meg, Sabrina, and Micah were sitting at a dining table, playing an animated game of cards that had something to do with drinking.