Game Up

by Tara Jay Wimble

  Lara finally found her courage, and that first kiss was a defining moment in her life. Lara would always remember that feeling, moments before she finally leaned in and the endless seconds after. She had been terrified, anxious, panicky. Like she was about to throw herself off the precipice, plunge into the black depths of an ocean drop-off.

  That feeling paled in comparison to how she felt now, waiting for that same girl to walk through those doors.

  ***

  LARA rose to greet her, nerves shaking her to her core.

  Asha smiled. “Hey.”

  “Hi,” Lara mumbled. “I missed you.”

  Asha nodded sadly. “Do we hug? Or would that be weird?”

  Lara paused. They had hugged a couple times at camp, what harm could it do?

  And then the quick embrace lasted a few moments too long, turning into something more, something that sent sparks racing through their bodies and left their skin burning where they touched. They pulled apart, not daring to look at each other until their heartbeats slowed.

  “Let’s go,” Lara said huskily.

  Cortez’s voice popped into her head.

  Shit.

  ***

  THE entire ride they bumped against each other, finding excuses to accidentally touch, to feel the intoxicating shock that accompanied each brush of skin.

  They stumbled into Lara’s apartment. They could barely walk straight, the sexual tension was thick enough to make basic functions fairly difficult.

  As soon as the door closed, Asha had Lara against a wall - hands pressed on either side of her head, foreheads a breadth apart.

  “Are you sure?” Asha asked, her voice sending fiery chills down Lara’s spine. “If you don’t want this to happen, we gotta shut it down now. Say the word, I’ll walk away, we won’t mention this again.”

  Lara struggled to breathe, struggled to resist the urge to grab Asha’s hips and close the distance between them.

  “No, I mean yes. I want...it’s okay, I want this,” Lara mumbled, trying her best not to sound completely desperate.

  Asha buried her face into Lara’s neck, inhaling deeply. Her lips lightly brushed against Lara’s skin as she spoke, making her shiver. “I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this.”

  “Ash,” Lara pleaded in a low whine.

  Asha nipped at her neck, rolling her hips forward so they barely brushed against Lara’s. Lara bit back a moan. A fire was building in her core, and it took every ounce of willpower not to rock forward for a bit of relief. She didn’t want to give Asha the satisfaction, at least not yet.

  Asha started to lay gentle kisses on her neck. Lara was struggling to think, a hazy cloud had settled in her brain.

  Asha pulled back suddenly, trying to calm her pounding heart. Lara wasn’t the only one struggling to remain coherent and upright. She placed her forehead against hers. “Last chance, Lara,” she whispered.

  “I love you,” Lara whispered back.

  Their lips finally crashed together, desperate and hungry, moving down to taste each other’s necks when they needed a breath. Asha bit down on her shoulder and shifted her leg up. Oh, thank god. Finally. A white-hot flame shot upwards, intensifying the slow fire that was currently burning through her body. Lara gave up all semblance of control, and gripped Asha’s hips, pulling them sharply forward into her own.

  Asha smiled into the kiss. “You doing okay there?”

  Lara growled back. “Shut up.”

  Lara sucked on Asha’s neck, and eased a finger just inside her jeans. Asha’s stomach tensed against the palm of her hand. She stilled. Lara crept her hand lower, unbearably slow.

  Lara giggled. “You doing okay there?”

  “Bedroom. Now.”

  ***

  LARA crawled up Asha’s body, dropping a lingering kiss on her lips.

  “Sorry about your head, babe,” sighed Asha, still on too much of a high to be truly sorry.

  “I forgot how strong your legs were.”

  Lara lay next to her, gently tracing patterns on her sweaty skin, causing Asha to spasm, still sensitive. Silence descended, the only sounds their breathing and small, lazy kisses.

  Asha finally spoke. “Can we not talk about this,” she gestured expansively, “just yet?”

  Lara sat up and looked at her, her heart breaking at the pleading in her voice and the unshed tears in her eyes.

  “I know we have to talk eventually, but can we just have this week?”

  Lara kissed her hand tenderly. This was a dangerous path to take, it probably wouldn’t end well. They were both quite aware of that fact.

  Lara nodded. “This week is ours.”

  ***

  LARA was entirely focused on the coffeemaker, and she didn’t notice Asha behind her until she felt arms circle her waist. Asha kissed the back of her neck.

  “What do you want for breakfast?”

  Asha let her hands answer the question.

  Oh.

  “The coffee,” Lara gasped, as a hand inched up under her sports bra.

  “Don’t worry. I don’t think this will take long.”

  Lara raised her hands to help Asha strip off her bra. She made quick work of her own, before hooking her thumbs into Lara’s shorts, and yanking them down. Lara turned her head for a glancing kiss before Asha returned to working at her neck. She tried to spin around completely, but Asha kept a firm hand on her body.

  When Asha was in one of these moods, she was relentless. There was no point in attempting anything except hanging on for the ride. Lara only hoped that her legs would be strong enough to handle Asha’s onslaught.

  Lara let out a long, low groan when Asha’s fingers found her. She collapsed over the counter, forehead pressed into her arms. Asha had one arm wrapped around her, keeping their bodies close. The warmth of Asha’s lips on her back intensified every stroke.

  Asha pulled out when she felt Lara tighten around her fingers.

  “Hey!” Lara protested, standing back up.

  “I changed my mind, I want this to take a while.” Asha reached over her shoulder to turn the coffee off. Lara took the opportunity to turn around for a deeper kiss. After a long moment, Asha guided her towards the table before spinning her around again. She gently pushed on Lara’s shoulder.

  Lara got the hint. She inhaled sharply and buried her face back into her arms. For a second, she felt absolutely vulnerable and exposed. She could feel Asha’s eyes raking over her body. An electrifying shock ran down her spine.

  Asha went back to work, using both hands this time, which made Lara’s head spin and legs tremble. The pace was absolutely frustrating – Asha would go at it hard, then slow to gentle, almost soothing touches.

  Asha was incredibly turned on. Lara could tell – she managed to reach back and dart her hand up the leg of Asha’s shorts, swiping her fingers across her.

  Asha tensed, and a low, throaty moan slipped out before she could stop herself. She grabbed her wrist and guided it away. “Stop that.”

  “You’re wet,” Lara groaned. She reached for her again.

  Asha backed up a little and swatted at her hand. “I can wait. This is all you right now. Besides, you know I can’t multitask before my coffee.”

  “Whose fault is that?”

  “Definitely yours. I mean, c’mon. Standing there all sexy, wearing my shorts. Pretending you were gonna make breakfast.”

  “I was! I wasn’t pretending!”

  “Hmmm, okay. And by that you mean fiddle around long enough until I get impatient and take over.”

  “Well.”

  Lara lost track of the number of times Asha brought her to the edge, only to back off, leaving her whimpering and shaking. The position made it near impossible to control the pressure of Asha’s hand. She was completely at her mercy. Her legs were barely holding her up at this point. Any hope for logical thought had escaped her a long time ago. Her entire body ached and trembled for release.

  “Please,” she begged again.

  “Ar
e you sure?”

  Lara couldn't even form a response.

  Asha brought her right up to the edge again, and with a few more deliberate strokes, Lara completely shattered. One hand smacked sharply on the table, and she was forced upright with the intensity of the orgasm – Asha narrowly avoided getting a headbutt to the face. She quickly threw one arm around her body to hold her up. Lara was shaking so hard that Asha was worried.

  “You okay?”

  “No,” Lara whispered, still extremely unsteady, her mind a cloudy mess.

  “No?” Asha asked, her voice pitched in alarm.

  “No...yes. Give me a minute.”

  Asha gently turned her around and helped her to the ground. She cradled Lara’s trembling body tightly against hers.

  Asha grinned proudly. “I did good.”

  Lara rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you did good.”

  ***

  THEY moved together in rhythm, their skin slick with sweat. Asha drove two fingers deep inside, using her hips as leverage. Lara was close, her hands frantically clawed down Asha’s back.

  Asha broke the kiss, and slipped down, taking Lara in her mouth, flicking and swirling her tongue. With every glance upward, a snapshot was seared into her memory. Knuckles white clutching the sheets. Hips rolling up desperately, straining against Asha’s hand anchoring her to the bed. Back arching, eyes rolling back. Leg muscles twitching and clenching. Feet scrambling for purchase, heels digging hard into the sheets. Mouth open, gasping for breath, chanting her name. She felt Lara tighten around her fingers and increased her motions, fingers crooked and pressing hard. A momentary pause, completely still, before the convulsions racked her body.

  A rush of emotions overwhelmed Asha. The love she had for this girl was so intense, it bordered on painful.

  Asha brought her down slowly. After a final kiss, she crawled up to rest her head on Lara’s stomach, feeling the rise and fall as she struggled to catch her breath.

  Lara reached down to toy with her hair. “I love watching you when you’re doing, you know, that. When you’re inside.”

  Asha felt an instant fire swell up through her body, replacing any exhaustion.

  “Think you can go again?” she asked, trying to appear casual.

  Lara could feel the little puffs of air hitting her stomach as she breathed. She could feel Asha’s heart thud against her skin, betraying her feigned casualness.

  “I can definitely go again. I’m not the one with cardio issues,” Lara teased.

  Asha scoffed. “Just because I think keepers should be exempt from the beep test, does not mean I have cardio issues.” She flexed her arm. “Besides, I have many other talents, many skills.”

  Lara swatted at her playfully and pushed her off. “Alright, stud. Let me teach you about skills.”

  “Oh babe, it’s so cute when you try to get competitive.”

  Lara bent down and laid delicate, hot kisses up Asha’s inner thigh. Lara’s hand crept up slowly. She ghosted her fingers between her legs ever so slightly, before pulling away with a smirk. “Cute, huh?”

  “I meant I love it when you get competitive,” Asha gasped as she strained to get closer to Lara’s hand.

  “That’s what I thought you said.” Lara teased her, winding her up so tightly until she was squirming and pleading.

  When she finally touched her, entered her, Asha could’ve sworn she saw stars.

  Chapter 5

  THEY fell right back into the past, embracing the old habits of their relationship when everything was good. When reality hit them - that they weren’t together - they pushed it down to the deepest corners of their minds.

  It wasn’t until Lara was driving home from the airport that regret crept in. The little bubble that they had ensconced themselves in popped. She cried every night, furious at herself for what had happened. She avoided talking to Asha as much as possible, tried to ignore the hurt confusion in her voice. When they did talk, Lara made excuses for why she couldn’t talk long. Every call and every text was a dull knife twisting in her gut.

  Lara steeled herself against the doubt that would creep in. No, this was the right decision, that week was a setback sure, but she couldn’t stray from that decision. Soon, the ache would stop and they could go back to being friends. And what had happened, could never happen again.

  ***

  “WHY do you do this to yourself?” Sashia asked, a note of frustration in her voice.

  “Do what, I’m not doing anything,” Asha retorted. “I’m visiting my friend, that’s it. That’s all it is.”

  “Bullshit. You’re going to get hurt, she’s going to get hurt. God, you two are the stubbornest people I’ve ever met.”

  Asha dug her toes into the sand. “No, it’s fine. I know what I’m doing.” Asha heard Sashia calling for Sarah.

  “Look, I’m going to put Sarah on, maybe she can talk some sense into you.”

  Asha groaned. She really didn’t want a lecture from Sarah.

  “I’m fine, Sarah, it’s fine. Sashia’s freaking out over nothing,” Asha said as soon as her friend got on the phone.

  “No, you’re not fine and this is not fine and let me tell you why.”

  ***

  ASHA lazily ran a finger over Lara’s tattoo. “I love you, you know. I’ll always love you,” she ventured.

  Lara stiffened. “I know, I...”

  Asha waited, her heart dropping more with every second of silence that passed.

  “Hey, what do you want to eat? I’m starving,” Asha said quickly as she rolled out of bed and pulled on some clothes. She hurried out of the room before Lara could see the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

  Asha leaned against the counter, pushing hard until her knuckles went white, as if that would push her feelings away. She screwed her eyes shut until she was sure that the tears wouldn’t fall.

  Stupid, that was so fucking stupid. The fuck were you thinking.

  Asha had told herself it would be different this time. That if anything happened, it would be for fun, just casual, no strings. She couldn’t afford to allow herself to get her hopes up. Lara wasn’t going to change her mind. She realized that once the phone calls and texts had dwindled to basically nothing after her last visit. She knew the score. She had to be happy with whatever Lara gave her at this point, and not push for more. And she had to show Lara that she could handle this, whatever this was.

  She jumped as Lara came up behind her and snaked her arms around her waist.

  “I’m sorry, Ash. You know I lo...”

  Asha quickly interrupted the rest of Lara’s sentence with a forced laugh. “No, my fault. It was the sex talking, ya know?”

  Lara recoiled and shut her mouth, a wave of hurt slapping her in the face. She mentally chastised herself. She didn’t deserve to feel hurt, this was her choice. This was what she wanted.

  Lara leaned her head again Asha’s back, and they stood there quietly listening to each other breathe.

  If they had listened closer, they might have heard each other’s hearts break a little more.

  ***

  “COME visit, please,” Rhian pleaded.

  Asha shook her head, and walked further down the beach. Alexa and Rhian had made an impromptu trip to see her. Asha was happy to see them, but she wasn’t thrilled for the expected lecture. Asha was isolating, barely talking to her friends. She hadn’t told anyone what happened during those trips to Germany, nor did she mention that Lara was back to avoiding her. And she definitely hadn’t mentioned that phone call she had received from one of Lara’s teammates. The phone call that dissolved her into a drunken mess for two days straight. But she knew some, like Denise or Sashia or Payne, had filled in the blanks. Asha wasn’t quite sure if the two youngsters had been sent on a mission, or if they had come on their own volition.

  Rhian jumped on her back, Asha quickly grabbing her legs so they wouldn’t fall.

  “I can’t believe someone is letting you three rent a
place together. That house is going to be destroyed. Possibly burn down. Do any of you even know how to cook?”

  Rhian ignored her. “Please. I need another surfer in the house.”

  “You have Vianne,” Asha pointed out.

  “Yeah, but we’re tired of trying to teach Alexa, we need someone else to do it, she sucks,” Rhian giggled. Alexa slapped her arm playfully. “Plus, I need an ally. Alexa and Vi are gross and googly-eyed. And I’m outnumbered on every decision.”

  “Rhian!”

  “What? You said she knew. And it’s true, lame-o.”

  “We don’t have googly eyes.”

  “Yes they do,” Rhian assured Asha. “Sometimes they just sit and stare at each other. For hours. I mean you two are total babes, but ya think you’d get tired of looking at each other after a while.”

  Asha started to spin in circles, making Rhian squeal like a kid. She stopped and collapsed in the sand.

  “You’re really strong. Payne should practice her leaps on you,” Rhian observed, crawling off of her.

  “Why is your ankle taped up?”

  “Sprained it, it’s almost better now.”

  “How?” Asha caught the look that Rhian and Alexa exchanged.

  “Long story. If you visit, maybe we’ll tell you.”

  “Maybe I can come out for a week or two. It might be fun.”

  Alexa and Rhian started chattering about their plans. She had to agree, she mused. Asha knew if she didn’t, Sashia would be out here next, and she’d be a lot harder to placate.

  ***

  “AGAIN, Larry? That girl is spending her life savings on your ass,” Payne said disapprovingly.

  Lara was quiet. She really could say nothing to defend herself. She was acting incredibly selfish, she knew. She should have declined, made up an excuse when Asha suggested another visit.

  “If you don’t want to get back together, this is a lousy way of showing it.”

  “I know,” Lara said in a small voice. “It was dumb. What should I do?”

  Payne sighed. “Well, first of all, don’t do this. But since it’s too late for that, maybe try to do something other than fuck each other’s brains out. Like maybe some touristy stuff. I bet she’s barely seen any of the city.”