I Kissed a Girl Ch. 04

It had all been a dream.

Surely it must have been. Three glorious weeks in Tuscany and Paris? I hadn't deserved that. Not with Jenna. And yet, we had been there. Granted, there had been a couple of rough patches, but we had survived.

Returning to work had felt foreign. I had spurts where I couldn't remember the simplest of tasks. I was grateful I was a personal banker and not a teller. It was embarrassing enough when I forgot the basic paperwork or a step in the process after selling a product to a new customer. I would have hated to have short-changed one of the long-standing customers because my head wasn't back in the states yet. Thankfully my boss was sympathetic, but I still felt horrible at my intermittent amnesia.

But like after all vacations, I soon got back into my routine. The only difference was, Jenna was still in my life. We dined together most nights, and we alternated between sleeping at each other's apartment on the weekends.

We were playing house, we didn't have to let anyone in on our little secret, and everything worked. I was just fine with that.

At Jenna's suggestion, I had purchased a sound machine. I kept it by my bed and used the timer so that the sounds of rain or waterfalls or the ocean would stop after I had drifted off. As a result, my nights alone since our return had been filled with peaceful sleep. No more dreams of Danny...or of Danny and Jenna together.

I still thought of him on occasion, but usually it was with an understanding that things were better without him. I didn't hate him. I truly didn't. If he hadn't screwed up, my life would not be as good as it was with Jenna. Slowly but surely, just being around her helped me move on.

But how long could this dream world last?

###

"You are deep in thought."

I blinked and looked up from my magazine. "What?"

"You haven't turned a page in five minutes. And since there aren't any steamy articles in 'Better Homes & Garden' for you to fantasize in your head, you must be thinking about something really hard." Jenna closed the lid on her laptop, set her reading glasses on the dining room table next to whatever she was working on, and joined me on the couch. "Feet. And spill."

"I don't know." I shrugged and swung my feet up into her lap, sighing as she pulled off my socks and massaged my toes. "I was just remembering our trip."

She grinned. "Anything particular stand out?"

"No, not really. It was kind of boring." I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

"Bitch!" She tugged on my foot until I slid down onto my back on the cushions, then she proceeded to tickle me.

"Stop!" I shrieked and writhed beneath her relentless attack. She knew every little sensitive spot, especially the ultra-ticklish ones. "Jenna! Stop!"

Her torture continued despite my protests. "Say 'mercy' first."

I gasped, another shriek frozen on my lips. Warmth radiated between my legs. I had spoken it many times in my head, especially since Jenna got a little carried away using our newest toy, a strap-on dildo. But it had never gotten to the point where I'd actually needed to use the safe word.

Either Jenna realized my body had gone stiff or she had decided to be lenient with me because her tickling turned into soft strokes. Arousing caresses that nurtured the fire building in my belly. They concentrated around my waist and sides and then ascended to the undersides of my breasts.

"Jenna!" I squeezed my eyes shut as her hand brushed over my nipple, the motion like an electric shock even through the material of my T-shirt and bra. I gripped her arms and battled between pushing her away or pulling her closer.

"Yes, Kitty Kat?" Her voice purred, warm against my cheek. Her hand moved against my breast again, making me jump. "Do you like that?"

I could only moan. Especially when she increased the pressure, squeezing as her fingers brushed over my nipple again.

Jenna had a way of distracting me to the point that I lost my clothes without knowing it. This time was no exception. One minute I was fully clothed, the next I was topless and her mouth had latched onto my nipple. When she wasn't suckling, her tongue laved the tender point, her hand holding my breast in a firm but gentle grip.

My fingers wove into her hair, and I thrust my head back, panting. I managed to get my knees up around her hips and humped against her jean-clad pussy. My shorts rode up, and I whimpered, unable to get the right amount of pressure where I needed it.

"Shh." There was a wet, slurping sound as she detached and moved to my other breast, holding it with her other hand. Now free, she slid her right hand down to unbutton my shorts. But that only made me whimper more in anticipation. Her voice was low and lustful when she said, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty."

I giggled and moaned at the same time. Her hand slid under the thin layer of my panties until a finger brushed my clit. I screamed and lurched my hips up.

"Yes, that's a good girl."

My mind was hazy as her fingers worked their magic, rubbing against my clit, building the tension within me. In only a few minutes, I was moaning loudly. "Please, Jenna. Please!"

"Come for me, Kitty Kat." Then she slid her hand down further and thrust two fingers up inside me.

I screamed again, my fingers digging into her arms, my body flailing under her on the couch.

"Mmm. Lovely. Such a good girl." Her tongue traced my lips before slipping inside my mouth.

I tried to return the kiss, but my muscles had gone to liquid. So I just lay there, letting the aftershocks move me like I was driftwood coming in on the tide. I felt her hand still buried between my thighs, and it felt so good. So right.

"I so love this, Kat." Jenna kissed my nose and brushed damp hair from my forehead.

A warning buzzed at the back of my loopy brain. Something about her tone told me to snap out of my daze because this was important to hear and to remember. I struggled to obey, almost as if I was underwater and trying to swim to the surface. I just couldn't get there, though. It didn't help that she shifted her hand and her fingers slid out to stroke my wet and swollen labia, her thumb pressing against my clit. I bit my lip and shuddered through another, smaller orgasm.

"Oooh. That was nice, wasn't it?" She brushed her lips against mine again. Then she pulled her hand out of my pants and lay down on top of me, my breasts pillowing her head.

I managed to lift my arms to wrap them around her, one hand on her head and one on her back. Her bare back. I smiled. Yeah, Jenna seemed to lose her own clothes pretty quickly these days. I realized her naked breasts pressed against my stomach and sighed. I raised my knees and cocooned her waist in my embrace.

"Kat?"

I yawned and mumbled, "Yeah?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Hmm."

"So do you think it's a good idea?"

I opened one eye and looked down at her. She was smiling up at me, tracing shapes on the swell of my breast with her finger. "I don't know. I um...I'll have to think about it."

"That's all I ask. Don't feel rushed to give me an answer yet."

I sighed. Should I admit that I had no idea what she was talking about? Maybe she'd repeat it...or even better yet, just forget she'd asked whatever it was.

It didn't help that I kept hearing those three words echoing in my head, even though she'd put her own flair on them. Problem was, I didn't know if I felt the same way yet. Or if I ever would. She'd been harboring feelings for me since high school. I'd only been flung into this for a few months now.

Could I possibly love another woman? The way she apparently loved me?

Jenna hugged me and settled her face back against my breasts with her own sigh.

We lay half-naked in each other's arms for quite awhile, and I began to drift off. I was thinking I should suggest we transfer to the bedroom and call it a night, but I didn't know if I had the energy to form the words...or move my body the fifteen feet down the hall.

"I think it would be so great if you agree." Jenna paused to yawn. "Moving in together is just the next step forward to showing how much we are committed to this relationship."

My eyes popped open, but my mind went blank. Once again, Jenna had left me speechless.

###

I took a deep breath, pulled the door open, and went down the rabbit hole for the second time in my life. And while it was a staircase rather than a tunnel into the ground, it still led to a wonderland.

The same blue rope lights lined the floor and ceiling like a runway to the lower level. A muted base thumped its way up from the darkness below, calling to me like the beating heart from a living, breathing creature. In the four months that I had been with Jenna, I had yet to venture back to the place where we had run into each other one rainy night, twenty years since parting ways after graduation.

Once more, the door opened before I reach the last step, and a woman in a dark pantsuit greeted me with a smile and a nod.

"Welcome to Maggie's Lounge." She closed the door behind me as I stepped past her.

"Thanks." I smiled but didn't bother with chitchat like last time. Even if I wanted to, the woman faded back into the shadows.

Shaking my head, I crossed to the bar, amazed at how crowded the place was for a Thursday night. I raised my hand, caught the bartender's attention, and nodded when he held up a finger, motioning he'd be with me in a moment.

I took a deep breath and looked around. The same ambient mood-lighting filled the lounge. The same style of music. The same type of clientele.

Nothing had changed. Nothing but me.

My gazed drifted from table to table. Most of the women paid me no mind, not even breaking from their conversations to give me a glance. A couple did nod their acknowledgement when we made eye contact. But for the most part, I was ignored.

Apparently, although I'd only been here once before—and not on one of my best nights—I didn't stand out like an outsider. Which surprised me. Why was no one approaching me? Had Jenna sent out a memo or something? Posted in Magic Marker on the bathroom stall, "Kat Jenkins + Jenna Swallow...hands off!"?

I snorted softly at the ridiculousness of the last thought. But my eyes still darted toward the hallway on the other side of the bar under the Exit sign. Maybe I should visit the restrooms before I left, just to be sure.

I took one more sweep of the room and then checked my watch. We had agreed on seven o'clock, right? I sighed again and was turning to go back the way I came, foregoing my drink, when I heard the unmistakable sound of Jenna's laughter between songs.

I snapped my head around, searching.

"Kat, your drink."

I spun back to see Brad, the bartender—and the only man on the premises—setting a glass before me. "SoCo and Coke, right?"

"Yeah, thanks. How much do I owe you?"

He waved his hand. "Jenna said to put it on her tab. She's got a table in the corner."

I laid a dollar tip on the bar, picked up my glass, and followed his pointing finger with my eyes. Yes, exactly where I thought I'd heard her. I prayed my eyes were playing tricks on me, though.

Why couldn't I breathe? Why was the room closing in on me? Why was everyone watching me as I crossed the empty dance floor?

I forced a smile to my lips and took in the cozy little scene before me. A square table was bumped up against the wall. Jenna sat against the wall in the chair furthest from me. Above her, a wall sconce made her face glow a warm yellow. It was kind of romantic. Except we weren't alone. And neither woman sitting at the table seemed to notice that I was standing over them.

I took a sip of liquid courage, noticing that my hand shook a little. "Jenna, you're early. Or rather, I must be late."

"Kat!" Jenna smiled up at me and reached her hand out, her fingers wiggling until I held out my own hand. She squeezed it and pointed to the empty chair in front of me. "Sit, sit, sit. You remember Lauren?"

"Hi." I nodded toward the blonde sitting between the two of us.

"Hi, Kat." Lauren swirled the tiny straw in her drink, her arm resting next to Kat's other hand that also circled a glass. She made no effort to move away from my girlfriend, and that ticked me off a little.

"Thought maybe I'd gotten the time wrong." I twisted in my chair and leaned against the wall, my left arm resting on the table and my glass wrapped in my hand. We were three peas in a pod. Joy. "I'm glad Brad pointed you out. I almost left. Thanks for the drink, by the way."

"Yeah, I got done with work early and was heading out at the same time Lauren was. She asked if I wanted to grab a drink, and I said I was already heading over here."

"I thought it was just going to be the two of us." I eyed Lauren over the rim of my glass as I sipped, noting that Brad had put a double shot of Southern Comfort in my drink. Although it bit the back of my throat, I was glad for the extra alcohol. Maybe it would calm me down.

"I didn't know. I can go." Lauren said the words, but she didn't move a single muscle otherwise.

Jenna laid a hand on Lauren's arm. "No, you're fine."

It took all I had not to throw my drink in Lauren's face and stomp out of the place. I knew I was overreacting—they were coworkers and had been friends for years—but I couldn't help being jealous. At the least, Lauren could have offered to switch places.

Somehow, I lasted the next hour while we all spilled about our day at work. I was growing tired, not only from my long week but also from the alcohol. Jenna kept ordering more rounds, and I tried to keep up. I just wasn't the lush that the two of them apparently were. By the time that Lauren finally stood and said she had to part from our company, I was way past buzzed...and pissed.

"I'm so glad you could come out," Jenna said, standing as well. She hugged Lauren, and I swear, Lauren held on longer then necessary.

"It was my pleasure," Lauren almost purred.

I clenched my hand under the table, suppressing a growl. It was the alcohol talking, telling me something was off. That was it. I just need to go home and rest.

I slumped against the wall as the third wheel walked away. Finally, we were alone. But my joy was short-lived when I remembered I was probably useless for any meaningful conversation.

"You feeling okay? I've never seen you drink so much before." Jenna moved to the chair Lauren had vacated. She pressed the back of her hand to my forehead. "You're a little warm."

I knocked her hand away, my words slurring together as I said, "Just fine. Go settle our tab. I have to hit the restroom before we leave."

"Kat?" She gripped my hand on the table. "I'll go with you."

I shook my head and got to my feet. "I'm a big girl."

I managed to cross the room with the aid of my hand on just about every table or wall, my eyes focused on the neon-red Exit sign above the doorway leading to the bathrooms. Except that a couple of times, there were two signs. I stumbled into some empty chairs at the bar when I closed my eyes to blink and clear my vision but my eyes didn't know they were supposed reopen right away.

A migraine sliced through my head as I finally pushed through the bathroom door and was practically blinded by the fluorescent bulbs that seemed ten times brighter than the rest of the lounge. Thankfully, the first stall was empty because I shoved against the door and would have collapsed on the floor if it hadn't swung open. Even then it was a chore to stay upright and close the door behind me.

I plopped onto the toilet, realized I hadn't lowered my pants, somehow managed to rectify that situation, and then leaned my head against the wall. The cool metal felt good. From the recesses of my fuzzy brain, I remembered to look for any memo about me belonging to Jenna. But the walls were pristine. Why I thought they'd look like a regular tavern's bathroom stall with lurid sayings and random hook-up phone numbers I have no idea. I was partly disappointed that Jenna hadn't proclaimed our relationship to all her friends.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

When I opened them again, I was in my bed and it was gray and pouring outside according to my sideways view of the window. My head was throbbing, I was wearing the same clothes from yesterday, and I had a horrible taste in my mouth. I rolled over and groaned.

"Welcome back, Kat," Jenna said from the chair she had curled up in with her laptop.

"Yeah, good morning to you, too. Do you ever put that blessed thing away?" I sat up slowly and swung my feet over the edge of the bed.

"You're welcome."

"What? For the hangover? Yeah, thanks." I rubbed a hand at my eyes. "If I didn't know you better, I would think you did it on purpose. I've only been to Maggie's Lounge twice, and both times I ended up with a fucking marching band in my head after you brought me home."

"Talk about getting up on the wrong side of the bed." She shut her laptop and set it aside. "I was referring to the fact that I found you sleeping in the bathroom stall with your pants around your ankles. Brad helped me get you into a cab, and Jose, the cabbie, helped me get you up here. You're pretty much dead weight when you're passed out."

"Gee, thanks. Now you think I'm fat." I brushed my hair out of my face and wondered how heavy Lauren was when she was passed out. Would Jenna know?

"You're something, I'll tell you that." Jenna stood up. "I'll make you a Bloody Mary."

"Don't bother. I'm going to the bathroom, taking some Tylenol, and going back to bed." I shut the bathroom door behind me, not waiting to hear her response. The door didn't prove to be a very good barrier as I could hear her heavy sigh.

"I have no idea what bee has gotten into your bonnet, Kat, but I have better things to do today than sit around and play babysitter. You can suffer or make your own damn Bloody Mary. You know how to get ahold of me."

I waved my hand through the air at her even though she couldn't see me. Shucking off my wrinkled clothes, I climbed into the shower and turned on the nozzle before I realized I had only meant to use the toilet. Oh well. The hot water felt good as it streamed over my face and aching muscles.

My headache lessened a little by the time I climbed out and dried off. Instead of heading back to bed, I popped two Tylenol, wrapped my wet hair in a towel, donned a fuzzy robe, and curled up in the living room in front of the television. "Overboard" was just starting, and I eventually drifted off to visions of Goldie Hawn prancing around a yacht in her barely-there bikini...except in my vision it was Jenna.

###

When Sunday afternoon rolled around and I still hadn't heard from Jenna, I wasn't really worried. I'd actually had a nice, quiet weekend, just relaxing. It had rained non-stop, so there wasn't much to do but watch movies, and that was fine with me.

Twice I almost called Jenna, but I refused to be the first one to concede in this fight. I guess I was still feeling the burn that she had invited Lauren to our little date. Well, it had been a date to me, at least. Apparently it hadn't meant that much to Jenna. I mean, it was her stomping grounds with people she knew. It would have been the first time we were publicly announcing we were a couple. Although I'd been more than a little nervous, I had been ready to do it.

Maybe Jenna really didn't feel that way about me. But she was the one who had talked about moving in together. That showed she wanted more commitment, right? She'd even used that word.

I stared at my phone on the far couch cushion where I had thrown it an hour ago. I could feel it taunting me, daring me to make the first move when all I really wanted was for her to call and apologize ...even offer just an explanation. Because I was sure that if I brought it up, she'd laugh it off and tell me I was just having cold feet about making a decision about our living situation.