3 Crushes and a Wedding Ch. 05

She gasped again as her nails dug into my back, then let out a groan.

I sucked her skin while flicking my tongue against it. This was it. Everything I'd ached and wished for now wrapped up in a single moment in time, sprinkled with the quivers of her body in my arms and punctuated by the chaotic melody of her ragged breathing. This was my heaven, and I never wanted to leave it.

I leisurely traced the length of her vein, stopping every half inch for a thorough round of languid suckling, licking, kissing, and biting. Her breath gradually became more erratic, her grip on my back more powerful, and her body more tense. I gave her a brief second between each move to recuperate, but was instantly back on her, craving the soft, sweet taste of her skin, like an addictive lollipop I couldn't get enough of.

My mouth went up to her jawline and down to her shoulder, memorizing the flavor and feel of every spot, and all the minimal but intricate differences between each one. I mapped out her neck's most sensitive areas and all the little reactions she made along the way, hoping to come back there and forage further and deeper for more erogenous spots and more intense reactions.

Although I wanted this to go on forever, I knew I had to stop somewhere. I cursed myself internally, then started slowing down the rhythm and intensity of my explorations. Her body relaxed against me, though her disappointment became evident in a round of frustrated moans.

"You've earned it now, you know?" she suggested breathlessly, as I retreated away from her neck. She was flushed.

I just grinned. I knew, of course I knew, but I wanted to stretch the anticipation of the kiss a little longer. Bit of a masochist.

"You're evil," she gently slapped my arm and started caressing it, going slowly up to my neck. The light touch of her fingers was progressively replaced by the naughty drag of her fingernails, loosening my self-control.

I reached for her hand and stopped it. She pouted briefly then sighed, "Ok, ok." Our linked hands dropped to the space between us and instinctively started stroking each other.

"So what now?" I asked, while trying to thwart the mesmerizing attack of her eyes on mine.

She cleared her throat. "This weekend wedding context is making everything a little more complicated and intense... and rushed."

Ouch. "So we hit the brakes and revisit when we're back home, in a more normal setting?" She was right, but I really hoped she didn't want us to slow down.

"No!" she interjected. "That's not what I'm saying. I'd like to have more answers and fewer questions before we leave." Whew. "We just need to be fully aware of the hectic circumstances here, that's all."

Smart as always. "Aha... and how would we do that?"

"Slow down the rhythm when it's just us. We still have all, well, most of today. For a start, there's the breakfast waiting for us outside," I nodded as I realized she had planned this all along. She knew where she wanted to guide us before our chat had even started; that made me respect her emotional intelligence even more. "Maybe a few other small opportunities during the day to get to know each other better and see where we're at."

"So like mini dates, Madame?" I raised our linked hands and kissed hers with chivalry. I'm not sure where the French word had come from, but it seemed appropriate.

"Mmmm... oui... like mini dates." She staggered.

"Okay."

"Great. We can eat now. I know you've been smelling those pancakes and omelets for a while and I'm sorry for making you wait."

I clutched my hands over my heart, and cried out, "It's been cruel torture. I've already deduced a few points from your potential girlfriend score over this."

As soon as the word 'girlfriend' left my mouth, I'd already regretted it. I didn't want to scare her away this quickly. I gulped and looked at her expectantly, hoping she didn't find the assumption too much.

Instead, she chuckled. "Good, then we're even. I deduced a few points too for your wardrobe choice. We haven't even started dating and you've already let yourself go." She waved at my PJ with disappointment.

I laughed as I got up from the bed. "Alright, alright, I'll get changed. Poor Minnie, she's clearly not winning your approval anytime soon."

I ducked as she threw a small pillow at me. It landed on the floor, so I bent to pick it up and used the occasion to flaunt my ass in my tiny PJ shorts. I took my time, teased and wiggled a little, then looked back to see her staring. "Or is she?"

She gulped and tried to hide her reaction in a smile. "Stop blabbering and go change. We're not starting our first mini date, as you called it, with me dressed to kill, and you dressed to..."

"Netflix and chill?" I winked as I stood up again and tossed the pillow back at her.

She caught it and laughed. "You were always the rhyme expert."

I bowed then walked to the closet. From the corner of my eye, I saw her get up from the bed and head outside to give me some privacy.

Anyone who lives in Chicago would tell you that tropical clothing is the last item on their shopping list, so my wardrobe choices had already been restricted before I flew in to Costa Rica. Now, on the third day of the trip, I'd already gone through several items and didn't have much to pick from. I landed on a pair of light blue shorts and a navy tank top. Not high fashion, but at least they highlighted the right assets.

Five minutes later, I walked out on the lanai in my new outfit with a pair of white sandals. She turned her head and gave me a lengthy and appreciative once-over then wolf-whistled.

"Glad you like it."

"You look... mmmm... I think I'll give you back those points."

"Well, I'm nearly out of clothes. It was either this or yesterday's bikini," I wiggled my eyebrows and sat down next to her.

"Ooooh," she coughed, nearly spitting her orange juice. "That was something else."

"Ah-ha, and I'll forever be grateful to it. It was the first tangible proof I had of you liking me, really liking me. No one looks at their friend like that."

"You mean like they're a drizzling ice cream cone and they want to lick them all over?" She bit her lower lip and took a lingering look down at my lips, neck, and chest, then went back up.

Oh, dear heavens, had I unlocked a whole other side of Meg's personality? Don't get me wrong, I was liking it a lot, but it needed some getting used to. I gulped. How do you answer that?

"Otherwise known as 'the gayze.' G-A-Y-Z-E," she spelled and paused while the wheels turned in my head. "Think about it."

"Oh, that's clever."

She leaned in her chair toward me, eyes level with mine, then batted her eyelashes and shifted her stare down again, toward my lips. The lust I saw in her look made me drop my fork in the platter. Neither of us cared. I forgot all about the food, the wedding, the island, the other guests, and everything and everyone else.

For about a minute, she made the universe stop with the sheer intensity of her eyes. She parted her lips slowly and hummed, then even more painstakingly slowly, grazed every inch of my skin with her stare as she brought it back up to meet my eyes. Somehow she'd managed to touch all of me without laying a single finger on me.

I wasn't used to being ogled this fierily and fiercely. Or this openly. Under that much scrutiny, I felt heat spread through me, outward, inward, and all around. My hands, feet, heart, eyes, tongue, pussy, and every other part of my body were on fire, burning with the desire to have her topple me over and ravage me.

A few more seconds elapsed then she turned the dial down and retreated to her chair. "Well, now you do know what the gayze is," she winked.

"Organic lubrication?"

Her laugh boomed on the lanai, echoing on the tall nearby trees, contagious in both its intensity and authenticity.

It was only when our laughter subsided that I heard it. A knock on my room's door. I didn't react at first but in less than a second, the thoughts were pieced together.

Megan was here, with me, so whoever was knocking wasn't Megan. It was the outside world, threatening to burst in on our little piece of heaven, to spread its tentacles through our new cocoon, and ravage whatever fragile reality we were starting to build.

I realized that even if it weren't one of them knocking now, Valentina and Scarlett were still here, still pretty much part of this moment, still entangled in my mess, no matter how much I wanted to believe that I was over them. The decision to break free wasn't mine alone, was it?

I froze.

I heard Megan ask if I wasn't going to get the door, twice, before I shook myself and got up. Please, I begged internally, let it be room service or someone knocking by mistake. I just needed a bit more time. For what? I wasn't sure. Maybe to solidify the roots of my budding relationship with Megan so it could hope to withstand the Scarlett or Valentina tsunami. Or maybe to figure out what my next move would be and how I'd extricate myself from this complicated situation.

As I reached the door, I glanced once toward the lanai and the perfect vision of Megan's profile, its contours glowing in the sunlight. For one more split second, this perfect moment was mine.

"Wake up, sleepy head."

I heard Kay's voice as I was opening the door. Whew, Kay. The universe had given me a tiny, tiny break after all.

"We gotta get to breakfast before..." she stopped as her eyes landed outside and spotted Megan. "Oh, oh, I didn't know you..."

"It's not what it looks like," I spoke with a low voice to tame Kay's flamboyant attitude.

"Sure, sure," she winked.

"She came over this morning, we're figuring things out," I didn't want to lie to her but I also didn't have time to go over the whole story right then and there.

"Oooo-kay. You have som' 'splainin' to do, Missy," she whispered while shaking her index at me. Then with her regular loud voice, she screamed, "I come bearing good news."

In a few steps, she was outside, giving Megan a quick hug and grabbing raisins from the dried fruit bowl. We both shrugged and waited for her to chew and talk.

"Oh boy, I'm hungry!" She picked a few more raisins and looked back and forth between us with a raised eyebrow. "Ah, the good news! Almost forgot." A few more raisins flew into her mouth. "Em wanted to surprise us bridesmaids with a little treat this morning, so we have a free spa treatment booked at 11. Hair, face, nails, the whole," she paused for effect, "shebang," and winked naughtily at me without making any attempt to hide it from Megan. Heaven help me.

"So I'm gonna go get breakfast because this sad excuse for a meal would do nothing for me," she gestured toward the remainder of our spread, "and will meet you at the spa."

With that, she dashed back to the room and as she was about to leave, screamed, "There's a massage too, so dress appropriately... or not." Her loud laugh ripped through the closed door.

We started chuckling too.

"Hurricane Kay, ladies and gents."

Megan grinned mischievously. "Looks like you'll have to wear that bikini again after all." She grabbed a strawberry and bit into it while giving me another shorter 'gayze.' (I already liked that word. A lot.)

Be still, my heart. This naughty side of her was going to be the end of me.

Fifteen minutes later, we were done with most of the food, but still nibbling on the remaining raisins and enjoying a laid back chat when I happened to mention my mom and Megan's face lit up. "The video call! I almost forgot!"

Great, more outside world interventions, but at least this was one I could get behind. I grabbed my phone and called my mom. She picked up and greeted me before her eyes narrowed down on the naked arm next to me. She raised an eyebrow, the lack of tattoos likely hinting that the arm didn't belong to Kay.

"You won't guess who I ran into here," I grinned. The questioning look on her face grew exponentially before I pulled the phone further away and fit Megan in the frame.

It took a split second for mom to recognize her, but once she did, she happily screamed, "Megan!" and sprung up to find Jeff. He took more time to link Meg's face and voice to his childhood memories, but he eventually started recalling bits and pieces.

For the next while, I relinquished my phone to Meg and enjoyed seeing her reconnect with both of them. They caught up on their current situations, recounted an old story or two, and even mentioned a funny incident between Jeff and Buttons that I hadn't been privy to. I sat back, smiling, looking back and forth between the display and Meg's face, loving the ease with which my favorite people in the world fit together, and reveling in how smoothly she'd reinserted herself in my personal life and space. That's how it should be, no speed bumps, no unnecessary drama.

In less than fifteen minutes, they had all agreed to a Sunday family lunch in two weeks, and if the talk had lasted any longer, I'm sure there'd have been Thanksgiving or Christmas plans being drawn. Not that I minded.

I was briefly apprehensive that she'd think it was all too much too soon, but my fears died down when I saw the genuine excitement on her face. I had to remind myself that I wasn't the only piece of her past that mattered. After all, this wasn't just about meeting her potential girlfriend's family, but about her reconnecting with old friends too.

Slow down, no expectations. I exhaled.

Meg had to reluctantly cut the talk short to go get ready for the spa appointment. She reiterated the lunch promise, threw air kisses at the phone, then handed it over to me to hang up. I walked her to the room's door and lingered there, aching to kiss her; the way she stared at my lips told me she felt the same way.

"I hope I didn't overstep by agreeing to the lunch."

"You kidding me? They'd love to see you." I paused. "I'd love to see you too, obviously. Besides, no matter what happens with us, you'll always be my and their friend."

"Thanks," she blushed briefly then switched tone. "Now wear that bikini and meet me at the spa!"

After another soul-wrangling look, she walked away. I fanned my face and closed the door.

As I jumped back on the bed, my phone rang again and mom's pic filled the screen. I picked up and noticed she'd now left Jeff's side and retreated to the patio. After another brief greeting, she sat on the swing and paused for a second before throwing the most unexpected question at me.

"So are you going to ask her out?"

Huh?! I looked in stunned silence at the piercing eyes of the woman who raised me and knew me better than I knew myself, and shifted uncomfortably on the bed. Buy some time, Zoe.

"Sorry?"

"Are you going to ask Megan out?"

"I... don't..."

"Zoe." Her authoritarian voice was layered with compassion, understanding, and the most acute 'don't bullshit me' tone I'd ever heard. A mix only a mother could nail.

"Am I that transparent?"

"You've always liked her."

It was more a statement than a question. I nodded. Seriously, was I that transparent?

"I figured. It was cute back then, you always blushed when she was around or her name was mentioned. That's when I started suspecting you might be into girls."

"Long before I really knew for myself," I snickered.

"It was your journey. You had to get to your own conclusion by yourself. I wasn't going to influence what it was or how it happened."

I mouthed a "thanks," even though I wished said journey hadn't been as complicated or confusing as it turned out to be. I had never fit in the straight box nor the lesbian one, and it took a lot of time to realize that I could be both and neither at the same time, and thus accept my bisexuality.

I hadn't explained the intricate details of my adolescence or early adulthood to my mom, so she wasn't privy to my triple-crush coming-of-age phase, but when I did eventually come out to her, I told her it hadn't been easy reaching that acceptance, and she was supportive in every imaginable way.

"I think she liked you too. Never really showed it as clearly as you did, but there were signs." Mom smiled mischievously, as if she knew a secret I didn't.

"Oh?"

"I'm not going to give you ammunitions against her, Zoe. Just be straightforward with her and tell her how you feel."

Well, time to spill the truth then. "We've been talking, actually. I did tell her and she said it was mutual, so we're gonna see where it goes."

Mom beamed and tapped the swing next to her in excitement. I smiled shyly, which didn't seem to fool her much.

"What is it then?"

Always perceptive. I didn't have enough time to catch her up about Valentina or Scarlett or the intricate web I'd weaved for myself over the weekend, but there was a more pressing weight on my chest. So I paused for a second then briefly recounted what Megan had told me about her relationship history and her apprehensions about long-term commitments. Even though I wanted to believe they didn't scare me, the truth was they were lingering in the background and affecting my confidence in any potential continuation for us.

"So you're scared?"

Cutting right to the chase, as always. I nodded.

"How's that any different from any other relationship out there?" Mom continued her direct assault on my fears.

"Funny, I kind of told her the same thing about an hour ago."

"Then maybe you need to hear it for yourself, too. Any relationship worth fighting for and having should scare you. That's how you know it's important to you. If you're not afraid of being hurt, then you don't care enough."

It made sense. Obviously. But did it have to be this way?

"And what do you do with the fear?"

"I'm not gonna lie and say you can make it go away. No. You just learn to transform it. It can either be a debilitating fear of losing what you have, or a permanent reminder to cherish what you have as long as you have it. You decide."

I stared at the screen for a few instants, her words seeping through me, their meaning becoming clearer and more potent with each second.

"Makes sense."

"So go for it, Zoe. Channel your fear and don't let it paralyze you."

"You sound like a sensei," I chuckled. "But you're right."

With that, we said our goodbyes and she hung up, leaving me with a slightly calmer turmoil and a newfound resolve.

I quickly changed into my bikini, put my shorts and tank top back on, and headed out to the bridesmaids spa appointment. A little pampering wouldn't hurt now, especially if it meant more interactions with Meg, and possibly some one-on-one time with her. She did want us to slow down the hectic rhythm when it was just the two of us, and what better opportunity to do that?

Sadly, all my fresh plans were thwarted the moment the hotel's lift doors opened up.

Oh, hello, outside world!

In there stood a slightly amused Valentina and her husband, whatever-his-name-was, plus a laughing Scarlett with her hand resting on another middle-aged man's shoulder. The smile died on her face when her eyes met mine, and she instantly dropped her hand from his shoulder as if it were lava. All of them wore swimwear and were obviously heading to the pool area to catch a bit of sun before the late afternoon ceremony.

What were the odds, really? And did they have to be stacked against me?

I wanted to pretend I was mistaken and dash back to my room, but it wasn't an option. My eyes darted from Valentina to Scarlett, like a deer caught in headlights, until the lift's doors threatened to close back.

The second middle-aged man waved his hand in front of the sensor, stopping the door, and stepped aside a little. "Plenty of room." He smiled courteously. The ring that shone on his finger as he gestured was similar to the one Scarlett wore. So the famous Mr. Husband had finally made an appearance.