“I’m going…” she breathed out. Her eyes closed, then opened, as little embers of pure bliss rocked through her.
Her breath came out in ragged gulps. She was never at a loss for words the way she was then—just wanting to stay on top of him until all the pleasure drained from her.
“That was so hot,” he said eventually.
She looked down, and the hem of her dress was around Dash’s chin. She reached behind her again and found the firmness of him. But when the tips of her fingers began to slip underneath the waistband of his pants, his hand stopped her.
“I haven’t been with someone in a very long time.” His eyes locked onto hers, and she swallowed. “When I do have sex again, it’s going to be exactly how I want it.”
“Oh.” She broke their eye contact. He did not want to have sex with her in the middle of their yard, which was fine, she supposed. But she was still topless, and her panties had landed on the branch of a rose bush.
So she pulled her bra straps and dress sleeves back up, then walked toward Dash’s garden and gingerly plucked her panties free—a few petals falling loose as she did.
A frantic series of chitters made her glance up, and she saw Richard in a branch of the avocado tree. His hands clung tightly to the branch as he screamed at her.
“That damn squirrel takes all my fruit and then has the audacity to watch us?” Dash pushed himself up to sitting, then winced as he readjusted to being on both legs. “Get lost, Dick!”
The squirrel seemed to listen and quickly maneuvered from the tree onto the fence and took off at a sprint.
“He didn’t mean that, Richard!” she called out after the squirrel. Though, she was still in a bit of a daze as she eyed Dash’s shirt, which was drenched in what was probably his sweat and hers. It clung to his torso, and she blinked hard at the sight of his muscled chest.
“So, um…” Well, she didn’t exactly know what to say. It was probably close to noon, judging by the sun, and she’d just let Dash give her the strongest orgasm of her life. But they weren’t going to date. They’d had a little fling. And she was still his tenant slash speechwriter, but she very much wouldn’t mind riding his face again…
“I can see your wheels turning.” Dash swiped a hand through the hair she’d tugged moments earlier. “Was that okay?”
“Oh, yeah.” She kind of choked out a laugh, still in disbelief that any of it had happened in the first place. “But are you okay? I mean, I know you’re worried about staying sober and—”
He cut her words off with a wave of his hand. “Nothing about what we did felt wrong. Trust me, I will tell you if it starts to be too much.”
She tried to focus on putting her underwear back on because, really, being the only half-naked person in their yard felt unbalanced. But his words were doing quick rotations through her head: If it starts to be too much, as in…maybe there would be another time, or this wasn’t the end for them?
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” She shimmied her panties on. “That was really unexpected.”
“I know.” His hands fidgeted at his sides. “I just…couldn’t imagine not touching you.”
And then she blinked more, because something had clearly opened in Dash and he was being the kind of honest and vulnerable person she wrote about in her books. Which so wasn’t who Dash was. He was funny, but openness was not his usual mode.
She didn’t know what to do with this version of him—the one who complimented her and couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Especially because he’d made it clear that they wouldn’t date, and she’d said she was okay just banging the feelings out.
But Sophie had never done casual before. She dated people, then slept with them, in that order. If this was a normal relationship, she’d probably go have a cuddle or a meal with her person. But people who were just having sex probably didn’t engage in those things.
She decided to act like she knew what she was doing, though, because the last thing she wanted was for Dash to think she couldn’t handle their arrangement. She needed more of him, and if faking like she was okay would get her that, then she was about to win an Oscar for Best Sex Buddy.
“I should go. I have to feed Rain Boots—my fish—and uh, organize my books, and finish this speech for your dad.” She grabbed her phone, which she’d dropped in the grass.
“You could stay.” Dash was doing the thing where he shifted from one foot to the other, and she wasn’t totally sure if that meant he was anxious, or mad, or just nothing at all. But she figured he’d need space just as much as she did to figure out what had happened.
“No, no, no, no, no.” Her voice had become loud, too loud, really. She cleared her throat, then gave him her best I’m cool with this smile back. “Okay, well, thank you for the…thing. It was very nice.” She shook her messy bun, knowing she was not doing particularly well at stringing words together. “I’ll text you when I have a draft of the speech ready.”
“Sounds good.” His jaw tightened, and she nodded, trying to convey the air of business as usual.
Then she turned and told herself that all she needed to do was reach the front door. As soon as she did that, she could go inside, lock herself in, and scream, or whatever she needed to work through the last few hours.
As she walked, her phone pinged. She swallowed down the apprehension that it might be Nina texting to inform her they were no longer sisters. But when she checked the screen there was a text from Carla.
Free Wednesday? I can have my schedule cleared.
Sophie’s jaw clenched. She was free that night, but how could she see Carla after the weekend she’d spent with Dash? Then again, Dash was meant to be a casual thing. He explicitly told her that he couldn’t be in a real relationship. And wasn’t finding love the whole point of everything she was doing right now? She couldn’t just ignore the fact that all Dash was available for was a friendship with the occasional hookup. She couldn’t prioritize him over Carla, who might want to give their relationship another chance.
Sophie took out her keys and unlocked her door, not bothering to see if Dash was still there. She couldn’t look at him while holding her phone with a text from Carla without her brain overheating. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it.
If she started something back up with Carla, then she couldn’t see Dash, physically at least. There had to be rules if she were going to juggle two people at once…right?
Absolutely ??
Sophie typed back to Carla. When she hit Send, there was a knot in the pit of her stomach. She should be happy that there was a potential second chance on the horizon, but she couldn’t stop herself from glancing out her window toward Dash’s place.
TEXT CHAIN BETWEEN SOPHIE AND NINA
Nina: Hey, could you call me back?
Sophie: I’m so sorry, Nina. It all just slipped out.
Nina: We need to actually talk about this. No text apologies.
Nina: Hello?
Nina: How am I the one begging you to talk to me?
TEXT CHAIN BETWEEN SOPHIE AND POPPY
Poppy: I saw the article about your sister…you okay?