Chapter Fourteen #2
“It doesn’t matter,” April said. “It’s a silly legend.”
“I thought you loved stuff like that,” Daphne said as they came to another, smaller clearing. This one was quiet and peaceful, the bonfire far enough away now that the only sounds were the cicadas chirping in the brush.
“Stuff like what?” April asked.
Daphne arched her arm in a semicircle, indicating the sky, the woods, the soft golden glow from the torch mixing with the moon’s silver. “Like this. Stars and fate and legends.”
“Not this legend,” April said curtly.
Daphne frowned at her, but only for a second before the unspoken truth all but slapped her in the face.
Elena.
April had brought Elena here.
“Okay,” Sasha said, setting her cup on the ground and rubbing her hands together. “So what do we think?”
“About what?” April asked.
“Falling in love,” Sasha said.
Both April and Daphne stared at her.
“I’m kidding, take a breath,” Sasha said. “Just a little light kissing among friends.”
“Kissing,” April said.
“Kissing?” Daphne asked.
“You two act like you’ve never heard the word before,” Sasha said. “Yes, kissing. K-i-s-s-i-n-g.”
Daphne waited for April to protest, but instead, she simply set the torch on the forest floor, then took a sip of her drink, her expression impassive.
“Kissing,” Daphne said again.
“The beloved pastime,” Sasha said, then folded her arms. “You said you wanted more queer experiences, and you can’t get more queer than making out with your friends.”
“It’s true,” April said.
“Have you ever kissed Ramona?” Daphne asked.
“No,” April said slowly, lifting her chin in thought. “Though I think she’s one of the few friends I’ve never kissed before. She and I were too much like sisters from the moment we met. But I’ve kissed every roommate I ever had, and a lot of people I met at college. A few strangers in bars.”
Daphne’s cheeks warmed again, as she thought of April kissing so many different people. She imagined her floating through a party at college, smiling, hooking her fingers into collars and under dress straps.
Daphne swallowed, looked at Sasha. “And you?”
Sasha grinned, all Puck. “Who haven’t I kissed, honey?”
April rolled her eyes but laughed.
Daphne’s heart thumped so vehemently in her chest, she was sure the other two could hear it.
She had said she wanted to kiss people she hardly knew.
And this was the perfect setting—the moon, the stars, the trees.
It was intoxicating, and she didn’t want to lose the feeling.
Didn’t want to say no, didn’t want the night to end.
The last person she had kissed was, of course, Elena.
She’d love for that to not be the case, but this… this was…
She glanced at April only to find April looking right back at her. Neither of them looked away. Daphne wasn’t sure what her stomach was doing—roiling or fluttering or rebelling against the spiked cider—but she felt nauseous and excited and nervous all at once.
“It’s up to you,” April said. “We can just keep walking, enjoy the trail and the moon.”
“You’re fine with this?” Daphne asked her.
April tilted her head. “With you and Sasha kissing? Why wouldn’t I be?”
Daphne’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, I…” She trailed off. She’d thought…well. Didn’t matter now, did it? But when she glanced at Sasha, she lifted a brow at her as though she knew exactly what Daphne had been thinking.
“This is your wild rumpus,” Sasha said, that mischievous glint in her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. “You’re in charge.”
The words settled around her like a strange sort of hug. In charge. She’d never been in charge of anything before.
She could kiss Sasha. It would be fun, and Sasha was safe and sweet—if a bit randy—and Daphne could experience kissing someone new, someone she had no intention of dating. As she stood there in the middle of Moon Lovers Trail, she realized she really did want to kiss Sasha.
But she wanted to kiss April too.
She had no intention of dating April Evans.
Of course not. The entire idea was preposterous—the two of them existing together at all, right here in this New Hampshire forest, was preposterous.
It was ridiculous and wild and funny. If she really thought about it, removed her heart from Elena’s betrayal, she and April were a Shakespearean comedy.
And that was exactly what she needed right now.
Every interaction with April had felt heavy and loaded from the jump, and her thoughts of late hadn’t helped matters.
She needed to lighten things up. Needed to laugh about how they’d danced together, how they’d ended up in the same cabin, the cosmic twist of it all.
She wanted to be friends with April. Wanted to think about kissing her the same way Daphne thought about kissing Sasha—fun, silly, free.
“Okay,” she said a little too loudly, her blood pumping quickly and forcing out her words. “I’m in.”
“Really?” Sasha asked.
“On one condition,” Daphne said.
“And what’s that?” April asked, sipping casually at her drink.
“We all kiss,” Daphne said.
April frowned. “We all…”
“Kiss, yes,” Daphne said.
“As in all three of us,” April said.
Sasha covered her mouth with one hand as though holding in a laugh.
“All three of us,” Daphne said, her eyes locked on April’s flummoxed expression. “It’s just kissing. Right?”
“Right,” April said slowly, but she didn’t look convinced.
“I dare you,” Sasha said.
“Oh, fuck you,” April said, but she laughed.
“In that case, I double-dog dare you,” Sasha said.
“Sasha,” April said, her tone a warning.
“Shall I skip the triple dare and go straight for the coup de grace?” Sasha asked.
“What’s actually in this cider?” April asked, looking down into her cup. “Did I take a drug-induced tumble into A Christmas Story?”
“If the kiss fits,” Sasha said.
“That doesn’t even make sense,” April said.
“I triple-dog dare you,” Daphne said.
April froze, a smirk on her face. “Et tu?”
Daphne laughed, but she felt as though her entire body was braced for a storm—a leaf thirsty for some much-needed rain.
“Fine,” April said, setting her cup on the ground. “Fine, fine, you want some kissing? I’ll show you some kissing.”
She stretched her arms above her head, causing her top to rise even higher and showing off more smooth inked skin.
She rolled her shoulders back, knocked her head from side to side as though readying herself for a boxing match.
Then she walked up to Sasha, hooked her hand around her neck, and pulled her closer.
“Don’t you dare grab my ass,” April said.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Sasha said a second before their lips touched.
Her hands went to April’s waist, and April’s fingers curled into her hair. They kissed almost chastely at first but soon opened their mouths to each other. Daphne watched, fascinated, as though she were observing two characters in a movie, and when the two of them broke apart, she clapped.
“Thank you, thank you,” Sasha said, dipping into a low bow.
April just laughed and pressed two fingers against her lower lip. “You’re up, wildling.”
Daphne nodded, but her heart was everywhere—fingertips, toes, her throat. Everywhere except where it should be. But she wanted this. She could do this. She could be casual and fun and wild.
So she walked right up to Sasha and grabbed her by the waist, pressing her mouth against her a little too vehemently. Her teeth bumped against Sasha’s lower lip, and she gasped.
“Oh, god, sorry,” Daphne said, her face hot.
“No worries, love,” Sasha said, then chucked her under the chin to lift Daphne’s mouth toward her again.
Their lips met and it took Daphne a second to register she was kissing someone new, someone who wasn’t Elena, her whole body freezing for a second.
But then Sasha smiled against her mouth and Daphne laughed, relaxing into the kiss.
Their tongues touched, and it was nice. Sexy, even.
Daphne could tell Sasha was a great kisser, and had she been less aware of April’s presence nearby, she probably could’ve kissed her for even longer.
Kissed, and maybe done even more.
But April was there, and Daphne was aware of her, and unfortunately, so was her body.
She pulled away from Sasha, and her eyes went immediately to April, who had been watching them with an expression Daphne couldn’t parse.
“Okay, yes, fine,” Sasha said, then pushed at Daphne’s hip to angle her toward April even more. “Pucker up.”
April didn’t react to Sasha’s teasing. Her eyes were locked on Daphne’s, her mouth slightly parted, and Daphne couldn’t get her breath. Couldn’t think straight, couldn’t think about anything, really, except April Evans standing in the moonlight.
It’s just a kiss, she thought.
She took a step toward April.
And then another.
They were so close now. Close enough that Daphne’s hair brushed April’s cheek.
For a moment, she froze. April would have to make the first move.
Daphne couldn’t possibly initiate this moment any more than she already had, but her body had other plans.
Daphne felt her own hands cradle April’s face, fingertips sliding against her skin and into her hair, palms soft on her cheeks.
She tilted April’s head up to meet her gaze.
April’s eyes were fathomless, like the deepest parts of the lake on the darkest night, and Daphne felt it.
The moment she fell.
There was a sensation of tumbling and snapping into place all at the same time. April’s fingers curled into the cotton at Daphne’s hips and pulled her closer. She pushed up onto her toes and captured Daphne’s mouth with hers.
Daphne let out a small gasp before she sank her fingers deeper into April’s hair, then trailed them down her neck to her collarbones.
Her fingertips danced along April’s skin as she opened her mouth a little more, Daphne’s teeth tugging gently at April’s lower lip right before their tongues finally touched.
April made her own sound, hands sliding around Daphne’s waist, then up her torso to feel every rib under the dress.
And god, Daphne wanted April’s touch under that fabric.
She wanted April to lift the skirt’s hem, drift her fingers up Daphne’s thighs to her hips, the dip at her waist, her belly button.
The space between her legs throbbed, and she could tell she was getting wet.
Daphne felt suddenly feral, wanted to lay April down right here on the forest floor and explore.
Every freckle.
Every goose bump.
Every muscle covering every bone.
April’s hand went to Daphne’s throat. Gentle, her fingers barely applying any pressure while she licked deeper into Daphne’s mouth, her tongue gliding along her teeth before her mouth closed around Daphne’s top lip.
The combination of everything was almost too much—no, it was too much, and Daphne moaned.
She moaned, and it was loud and needy and perfect, but the sound of it jolted her back to the woods.
Back to Moon Lovers Trail.
Back to Sasha standing ten feet away with her eyes popping out of their sockets and one hand resting on her chin.
Daphne pulled away.
They were all silent for a second.
April cleared her throat, adjusted the neck of her off-the-shoulder top, which had slipped halfway down her arm. Daphne stood staring at her for a second, her lips bee-stung and pink. April met her gaze once, then looked away.
Daphne took another step back, creating space. Good god, what had they done?
“Well!” Sasha said loudly, folding her arms and nodding. “That was…yeah, that was something. You are full of surprises, Daphne Love.”
“What do you mean?” Daphne asked, adjusting her dress’s straps, both of which had gone a little cattywampus.
Sasha laughed. “I just…I don’t know, I didn’t expect that.” She waved her hands at Daphne and April. “But even with me…you’re a damn good kisser.”
Daphne’s posture went straight. “Did you not think I would be?”
Sasha and April locked eyes and then started laughing. They seemed to try and hold it in at first, but then they gave in, really putting their whole bodies into it. April bent forward, her hands on her knees.
Daphne put her hands on her hips. “I am offended.”
But somehow, she wasn’t, really. She laughed too, because it was all so unexpected, so unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. And it was intense. So intense that if she didn’t laugh right now, she’d tumble down a rabbit hole of lust and questions and cares.
And right now, she just wanted to be happy.
April straightened up suddenly, still laughing a little as she dug her phone out of her pocket. Sasha and Daphne collected themselves as April tapped at her screen.
“Ramona wants us to meet her and Dylan for some pie in town,” April said.
“God yeah,” Sasha said.
Daphne nodded, meeting April’s gaze. They felt frozen for a second, teetering on the very edge of that rabbit hole. But then April broke the spell, clapping her hands three times.
“All right, let’s go,” she said, picking up her cup and the torch, then started along the trail that would lead them back to Cloverwild without another glance at Daphne. Daphne took a deep, shaky breath and followed.