“You’re not? Well then what is it?!” I’m taken aback by her lack of eye contact, and how she is acting weirder right now than she ever has for the entirety of our friendship.
She sets the gourd of maté down and focuses her eyes on me. “I’ve really been thinking about this, because that kiss really got to me, and I’ve gotten tired of using my vibrator as a substitute for the real thing.”
My mouth falls open. “Um, you use a vibrator, Sky?”
“Yes, of course I do. It’s right over there.”
I follow the line of her gaze toward her nightstand and do a double take of an object I’ve noticed before in Skylar’s room, but thought nothing of. Well, hello there.
She moves onto the bed and grabs it. “You’re surprised?”
I blink a few times in succession. “I think it’s great that you use a vibrator. I guess I’m just a little surprised it’s never come up in conversation between us.”
“Well, my sexual needs were never on top of the conversation priority list. But yes. Bob has served me well.”
“Bob?”
“That’s his name.”
“You…named your vibrator Bob,” I say.
“Battery Operated Boyfriend.” She sighs. “It’s sad how true that acronym has been. I got Bob junior year, winter term. Just about one year ago.”
“Right when you started dating Federico, long distance.”
“Right. I only visited Federico for a total of three weeks at the beginning of last summer, then he came here for a week last August. So for almost the entire last year, Bob’s been my main squeeze!”
I wrinkle my forehead, and lick my lips. “Bob’s been a lucky guy,” I choke out.
She laughs. “How did we get on this tangent? My point is, if we’re pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend in public, I’d like to have some of the benefits of actually having a boyfriend behind the scenes. Because right now, we have all the exclusivity but none of the benefits. And you’re right, it is senior year. It’s a time for exploration.”
My entire body flushes with adrenaline as Sky’s words sink in.
I do my best to play it cool, but for all the women I’ve been with, I’ve never had one who makes my heart pound like Sky does.
And the nerves are surging through me.
Sky’s fingers are still wrapped around the vibrator, and my heart pounds wildly as I process this information. “I can’t say the thought hasn’t crossed my mind,” I say, doing my damndest to play it cool. “I did enjoy that kiss we had.”
Understatement of the year.
“I thought it could be a mutually beneficial thing. I’m helping out a friend—you—who is helping out a friend…so maybe we can help each other out, too.” Her eyes hold mine as she awaits my response.
“I’ve tried not to think about you in that way, to be honest. We’ve always been such good friends and I didn’t want to endanger our friendship by crossing a line.”
She puts the vibrator down. “Jesus. In that case, forget it. I’m embarrassed. I’m not your type.”
“No, not like in that it couldn’t happen,” I correct. “I meant because you were with Federico. I didn’t want to go down that road and get any ideas about something that could never be.”
Her face turns scarlet pink. “Oh.”
“Also, not my type? You’re very attractive to me, Skylar.” Geez, if she knew how often I’ve seen her in my dreams she’d realize this. She always appeared in my subconscious when I least expected her to. One reason why I dated a variety of women was because no one even remotely snuck into my thoughts like she did.
She grins and leans back on her elbows, on the bed. “Really?”
I nod.
She continues. “I don’t care if you want to put a bag over my head, I just really would like to give Bob a break.”
I throw my head back in laughter. “How would I pull your hair then if there’s a bag over your head?”
“Christ, that’s hot. The hair pulling. Not the bag part,” she mutters, then looks at me. “You like to pull hair?”
“Yes.”
“Well I like having my hair pulled. I mean…I’ve thought about it.”
“Federico didn’t pull your hair?”
“Um, can we not talk about Federico right now?”
“Sorry. I have to admit, I’m curious what you do with Bob, though.”
She pulls her knees into her body, and her cheeks flush.
“Nothing, really.”
My heart thumps as loud as a tree falling in the woods.
For some reason, that popular meme of Kermit the frog vs. Kermit the frog’s dark side pops into my mind.
Me: I should pull back now. I should tell Sky we need to be just friends, and that crossing this physical boundary is going to complicate things more than our friendship can handle
Also me: Skylar looks insanely sexy laying back on her bed. Kiss her. Ravage her. Do everything with her. Just let yourself go.
“Why don’t you show me what this ‘nothing’ consists of?” I finally say.
Sky flinches. “Seriously?”
A few seconds pass as we look at each other, feeling the new boundaries being set down.
She looks so damn tempting right now. The skirt she’s wearing exposes her legs, and her v-neck t-shirt shows off her cleavage quite well.
“Yes. Seriously.” I get up from my chair and walk over to her as she lays back on her bed. Leaning down, I guide her jaw with my hand and kiss her. My stomach flutters again, feeling her hot lips on mine. Her hand lingers on my forearm as I pull away.
Our eyes lock. “If we’re going to do this…we’ve got months to build up to everything we might want to do.”
She smiles back. “We do.”
“And I’d like to take it slow with you, Cielo.”
“Okay.”
“First, show me.”
“Show you what?”
“I want to watch you. I want to see how you look when you get turned on.”
“I’ve never done that in front of anyone,” she whispers back. “But I feel comfortable in front of you.”
I run my hand through her hair, lean into her, and kiss her again.
She moves into the middle of her bed, on top of the covers, and props her head and shoulders up slightly on a few pillows.
“Do you want your socks on or off?” I ask, grinning.
“Off,” she says, and I help her.
I reach for her legs to pull them down, sliding the left down her shaven skin to her slim ankle off her foot. Her toenails are painted a pretty pink, something I hadn’t noticed before. I have to bend down and kiss her toes that smell of lavender, how interesting. I take my time with her right foot too, kissing her and listening to her moans.
When I’m done, I stand up straight and just watch her. Although the urge to touch her is strong, that’s what I said I wanted, anyway, and I’m just going to enjoy this for what it is, in this moment, and not try to force anything.
Skylar bunches her skirt up at her waist and slips out of the panties she’s wearing.
Holy fuck. This is happening.
I reach and grab hold helping her peel them off and when she’s got them down to her ankles, I realize I’ll never be able to think of the color emerald green the same way.