7. Aurora
Aurora
I watched Frankie’s face carefully. She looked surprised, but also somehow not surprised. I wondered if she’d suspected my bisexuality before I did. If so, she’d never said anything. Then again, why would she? We weren’t close enough for those kinds of conversations. Plus, it was my journey.
I wondered if she had any idea that it was meeting her that first made me consider that I wasn’t as straight as I’d always assumed that I was. If I was going to see her again, I probably would ask her what she thought back then, but I was only in Chicago for one night, and I had a more important question.
“Do you want to come back to my hotel room and fool around?”
Frankie choked on her beer. “Um. What? Did I space out and miss something here?”
“Sorry, I guess that was a bit of an awkward segway,” I agreed, leaning forward across the table. The position displayed my cleavage to its best advantage. I was a big fan of working with my strengths.
She stared at me in shock.
I’d never been shy about voicing what I wanted, and Frankie was someone that I’d wanted for a long time. Ever since I pulled Frankie into a hug earlier today I’d been vibrating with excitement. I’d had countless fantasies about her over the years and seeing her in person only made it all come rushing back for me.
And unless I was totally misreading her, she wanted me too.
I studied Frankie as I waited for her to respond. She’d always been a thinker, unlike me who rushed into things and thought about it later.
Her hair was a little longer now, but she had the same heart shaped face, pale skin, and large brown eyes. In a nod to the conference she was wearing dressy black pants, a white button up, and a black and gray blazer. It was the least sexy outfit ever, but she’d always been a little bit of a tomboy.
To my surprise Frankie was wearing a touch of pink on her lips, some kind of a glossy lip stain that stayed in place even though she’d been eating and drinking. I’d never seen her wear any makeup before. I was dying to know how many times I’d have to kiss her to bring out her natural lip color.
When I couldn’t take the suspense anymore, I spoke again.
“So here’s the thing,” I started.
Frankie’s eyes lifted to my face.
“When we knew each other in college, I was attracted to you. I had a huge crush on you, although I didn’t realize it at the time. I just knew there was something that drew me to you, made me think about you all the time.”
She looked surprised, and maybe a little bit pleased.
“I wasn’t aware of it back then, but now I know that my attraction for you is what made me start questioning my sexuality. A couple of months after graduation, I slept with a woman for the first time, and it was life changing. I’ve been pretty – flexible – with my partners since then. Now I date both men and women.”
“Wow.”
I waited for Frankie to say something else and when she remained quiet I continued.
“I’m very attracted to you, Frankie,” I continued. “Unless I’m completely imagining it, I think you’re attracted to me too. I’m single right now, so if you’re single too, why not have a little fun tonight?”
I gave her my brightest smile. It was the smile I used to wear when I was on top of the pyramid during cheerleading, a smile that had gotten me out of countless speeding tickets, especially when paired with a nice shot of my cleavage.
“You want to have sex with me?” Frankie clarified, as if she wasn’t sure that she was hearing me correctly.
I nodded. “I do. But I need to be clear that it can only be for tonight. I live in St. Louis and I’m flying home in the morning. And I don’t do long-distance relationships.”
“Awfully bold of you to assume that I’d want a relationship,” Frankie teased.
I felt a flush creeping up my cheeks. I wasn’t always as confident as I led people to believe.
“I don’t do relationships anyway,” Frankie said. “So even if you lived in Chicago, I’d only be on board for something casual.”
“It sounds like we’re on the same page then,” I said.
I reached across the small table and grabbed her hand. My skin tingled where we touched, and I knew by the way her eyebrows lowered that she felt it too. The restaurant suddenly seemed warm.
The waitress brought our dinners, and I stopped her before she could scurry away.
“Can we get these wrapped up to go please? And the check too?”
I turned back to Frankie. She was still staring at me like she didn’t know what to make of everything.
“We can take our food back to my room,” I said. “If things are as hot between us as I think they’ll be, we’re going to need our nourishment between rounds.”