Lia’s story
W e stopped at a small family run restaurant tucked away along a side street. Brenda and I enjoyed watching Zi trying to charm Meghan with all the subtlety of a hurled brick; she had warmed to Meghan and was now purposely masking her regard with over the top innuendo and flirtatious touching.
Meghan, for the most part looked bemused, thinking the gregarious Zi was having a bit of fun at her expense, unaware Zi was getting her used to these joking advances. Getting her used to her touch.
I leaned back in my chair and enjoyed the banter, a pleasant ache from today’s activities muting my desires to background noise.
Brenda leaned over to me, “They seem to be having fun. “
I nodded. They looked good together, their complimentary sense of humor bonding them. I would have to decide what to do about my growing feelings for Meghan soon, before Zi became too attached.
“Brenda.”
She was breaking a piece of bread, placing half on my plate, the other on hers.
“Yes?”
“I am sorry about making you uncomfortable earlier. Truly.”
She sighed. “Lia, you know I care for you-”
“You love me.”
She smiled. “Yes. I love you dearly. But, I thought we had an agreement that this,” she waved her hand between us, “would never be that.” Her swung to a laughing Zi and Meghan.
I was silent, watching her eat her bread. Depending on her mood she either ate the crust or the soft middle, rarely both. “Would it be so bad, Brenda? Zi and I have found a comfortable solution.”
“Well, two things.” She held up her fingers. “One, Zi accepts you as you are, you can do whatever the hell you want and she doesn’t mind. Some shit wouldn’t fly with me, Lia.”
“There’s room for compromise, Brenda.”
She ignored my words, eating the crust. “Two, you and Azina are the same damn person. Right now your girlfriend is trying to score with your lover and it amuses you. You encourage it . When Azina brought that other woman Emily over she was literally eating from your hand in less than ten minutes. You two are a little pack, sharing your dinner.”
Brenda shook her head, staring at the broken pieces of bread on her plate. “I’m not dinner, Lia.” Her mouth twisted and she looked up, eyes fierce. “And I am not a lion. I am also not a gazelle. Lia, what I am is your friend. Let’s just, let’s leave it at that.”
I contemplated her, the proud tilt of her head, the way she returned my gaze in defiance, knowing I could read the attraction she held for me. Knowing that, if I were so inclined, I could break that once strong resolve.
She trusted me. She trusted the silent truce we held for years. But I was hungry. Oh, so hungry. And I…
Ah, I just wanted a taste.
She was not a gazelle, but she could be chased. She could be caught. Would she struggle against her desires even in that moment, her eyes glittering, fixing on me as she climaxed? The little wrinkle on her brow, the one that only appears when she’s furious, would it make its appearance at the peak of her pleasure? Or would a new expression make its debut, one I’ve never seen?
She blinked at my expression, her voice strained. “Please, Lia. Don’t.”
The temptation was getting to me, coloring my thoughts. My hand gripped the table, fingers digging through the cloth to the wood below. Two sentences, no more, and I could bed her, make love to her. In the bathroom, even. It had the room. Spacious and clean. Two sentences…
She leaned in, voice low. “You need a friend, Lia. And I need you.”
None of my relationships have lasted as long as ours. I treasured it, our friendship rare and precious to me. I admired her. I’ve never admired anyone the way I do Brenda. She loved me without the promise of pleasure. She loved me explicitly denying herself such pleasure.
She loved me.
If she could hold back, so will I. I touched her hand, my gaze resting on them. Capturing
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