It seemed to her as though some of the middle stages were missing. One moment they were a few feet apart, and the next, Jacqueline was in her arms and clinging tight. Her body shook, but she made no sound at all. Shocked, Maddie held on, not knowing what to say, but breaking her heart over this explosion of grief.
“I’m sorry,” Jacqueline said after a while. “What must you think of me?”
“It’s okay,” Maddie replied. “Everyone gets down sometimes.”
“You’re very sweet.”
“You’re awfully nice to hold,” Maddie ventured, conscious of the curves beneath her hands.
“I’d like to get to know you more,” Jacqueline returned. “Do some more busking, maybe get a coffee together some time. If you’d be up for that?”
“Very much so.” Maddie breathed deeply, inhaling jasmine and vanilla, and traces of alluring skin beneath. “You said your parents threw you out for being gay”
“Yeah. That was a long time ago.”
“I never told mine. About being a lesbian.”
“Ah.”
“It’s not like I’m expecting anything. We can just be friends, if you want or—”
She never got to finish, because Jacqueline’s mouth covered hers, smothering those words of doubt with a hungry kiss. Maddie melted, her heart racing, knees threatening to give out. It was such a strong and certain kiss, full of passion. No hesitation or caution. She went with it, her fingers straying over Jacqueline’s curvy hips.
When eventually they broke apart, she felt bereft. For what seemed like a long time, they held hands, gazes locked, and neither speaking. Maddie drank in every detail of the other woman, her body aching with the need for skin contact.
“I don’t want to go,” Jacqueline said. |
