changing the subject abruptly. “I’m happy. I’m contagiously
happy. Bright. Smart. Funny. I like making people laugh.
You’d enjoy it. I’m the kind of person that people might not
like at first, but then they have no choice after they get to
know me. I’m the kind of person who grows on other people.”
It was so close to what Giana had been thinking earlier in her
own head. In another life… “But, in this life, we’re both a
little fucked up, so instead of making you laugh, I want to
make you scream. I want to make you cry and come.”
Coralyn was asking. She was begging, in a way. She wanted
this. It meant something to her. She wanted something more,
something different. She wanted to change whatever they were
doing and evolve it to the next level. She wanted intimacy. A
partner. Giana would have said before that it was all the things
she couldn’t give her, but now she wasn’t so sure.
Giana wouldn’t have known how to ask. She didn’t know
how to transition to that next step. She was certain that she
didn’t want it, and now she wasn’t certain about that. Now, she
was thinking about what she’d only ever played out in her
head becoming a reality and it didn’t feel like a sacrifice of
something precious.
Coralyn pushed back her plate and reached across the table.
Giana’s hands were tucked away, but she set her hand there in
her space, palm up. It looked so enticing, so soft and warm and
encouraging. “Life isn’t about punishing yourself for the
things you can control, and the things you can’t.”
“I’m going to punish that smart mouth,” Giana shot back,
reining in the myriad of unexpected emotions pelting her like a
shower of hailstones. “You have one minute to get on the bed
upstairs, that dress shoved up around your hips, panties off.”