Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
They’d made it out to the end and were floating around by the rocks just outside the marina. Sam had tried standing—with medium success and minimum wobbles—as Taylor had shown her a few techniques on how to paddleboard properly. She finally felt like she was getting the hang of it.
“Watch this. I can do a headstand,” Taylor proclaimed.
“Oh really? Now you’re just showing off. Go on then, prove it.” Any excuse to stare at Taylor was great in her books.
“Fine. But, uh, I haven’t tried it with anyone else on the board except Belle.”
“Where’s the bravado now? Chicken?” Sam goaded.
Taylor narrowed her eyes.
“All right, move back towards Belle.”
Sam did as she was told and waited. Taylor let her breath out slowly, gearing herself up. She leaned her head onto the board, cradling it with her arms and slowly bringing up one leg, kicking up the other until she was in a complete headstand. She held it for a few seconds before she wobbled as a small swell went under the board, sending her straight over.
“Taylor!” Sam scrambled back to the middle as Taylor spluttered to the surface and grabbed onto the board, Belle barking at all the commotion, her tail wagging nervously.
“Well, that was embarrassing.” She pulled herself back up, straddling the board and flipping her wet hair back out of her eyes. Sam’s throat went dry as she drank in the scene before her—all of those Baywatch memes finally clicking into place right in front of her eyes.
“Not from my perspective,” Sam replied, looking her up and down.
Taylor looked down at herself, then back up, a coy smile on her lips. “That’s a little unfair then.”
“Huh?” Sam questioned as Taylor sent her flailing into the water. The cold hit in a rush, almost stealing her breath away. She righted herself, breaking through the surface and throwing the biggest daggers straight at Taylor as she swam back to the board.
Then something touched her foot and her eyes went wide.
“Shark!” she yelled, scrambling for the board. She heard a bark behind her and Taylor cracked up laughing.
“That would be Belle, the traitor, who jumped straight into the water after you fell in but didn’t do a thing when I fell in!”
“Aww, thanks Belle. You’re my hero, saving me from your mean mummy.” Sam narrowed her eyes at Taylor while Belle continued to paddle around, seemingly content to stay in the water.
Then Sam got an idea. She swam straight at the board. A look of confusion crossed Taylor’s face—morphing into horrified realisation as Sam grabbed the board and lifted, throwing Taylor back in.
“Hey! I thought we were even?” she cried after she came up.
“It’s even now we’re all in the water.” Sam grinned, splashing water in Taylor’s direction.
“Don’t start what you can’t finish.”
Taylor retaliated with a bigger splash. Sam ducked down just in time, then swam up bringing a huge wave of water with her and making Taylor splutter.
“I always finish,” Sam said proudly.
“That’s what she said.”
They both looked at each other and cracked up.
“I feel like that’s our joke,” said Sam, treading water.
“It reminds me of you, when we first started texting,” Taylor admitted.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, it was the first night I asked you to hang out. I was so nervous.”
“I was trying to be cool.” She flicked her hair around, with it landing on her shoulder in a flop. “See?”
“So cool.” Taylor chuckled, then looked around. “Hey, where’s Belle?”
“Oh shit.”
Sam started looking around for the bright yellow life jacket, spotting the pup a fair distance from them.
“She’s fast.”
“Belle!” Taylor called. The dog turned around at her name and paddled back towards them.
They gasped as a fin came up alongside the dog. Just as Taylor cupped her hands to warn Belle, a second fin popped up.
“Oh! No way. It’s dolphins!” Taylor laughed in relief. “The bloody dog is swimming with the dolphins! I can’t believe it.”
Taylor looked at Sam with absolute wonderment, and Sam’s face reflected the same.
“Well, I didn’t expect that today,” Sam said, gobsmacked.
“Hold still. Here they come,” Taylor whispered, grabbing her hand as they trod water together. Belle paddled her way over as the dolphins swam in circles around her. Then they shot off in two directions, going either side of them, under the board, and off along the rocks.
“Wow.”
“You’re telling me,” Taylor replied as Belle came up to them, looking as happy as they were. “Okay, come on girl. Up on the board for a break, yeah?”
As they paddled back to the shop, Sam couldn’t remember a time she’d had so much fun, felt so free and just so herself .
Half an hour later, they were already back to the fuel berth, making record time with the sea breeze at their backs the entire way in.
“You wanna come up to mine for a bit? If you’re as tired as I am right now, I’m guessing you don’t want to paddle back to where you’re parked at the moment?”
“Yeah, not really. So I might take you up on that. Belle looks zonked too.” Taylor leaned around Sam to look at the snoozing puppy.
“She’s out . You can leave your board in the boat shed for now, and I could drop you at your car later to save you paddling back if you want?”
“That’d be amazing. I am pretty stuffed.”
Taylor’s hair had dried even messier than usual, giving very Kristen Stewart short hair vibes, and Sam was here for it. Thinking about it, the fact she’d paid that much attention to Kristen’s hair styles also made her question if she’d missed more signs over the years that pointed to her being into girls. Did she label herself as a lesbian now? She sucked in a breath at the thought.
“You all good?” Taylor checked in as they came back up to the fuel berth.
“Yep, sorry, spaced out there for a moment.” Now was not the time for exploring her sexuality. Though she would like to explore Taylor…
Paddleboard stored away, the three of them headed up to Sam’s place. She mentally checked if she’d tidied before she left. She knew she’d at least put all her dishes away in the morning and made the bed. Phew.
“Come in. It’ll be a quick tour,” she said with a laugh as they walked through the door.
“Uhh…” Taylor said, looking at her obviously.
Sam smacked her forehead. “Duh. Right. You’ve already been here. Even if that is, thankfully, very hazy. And no”—she held up a hand—“no need to fill in those blanks for me, thank you very much.”
Taylor held up her hands in placation. “I’d do no such thing.” Taylor chuckled.
“Now, do you want to shower?” Sam blushed furiously at the thoughts that conjured. Jesus, she felt like a hormonal teenager. Why was it so hard to act normal around Taylor? “You can borrow my clothes, again , if you’d like.”
“Careful, next I’ll be getting a U-Haul,” Taylor replied, waggling her eyebrows.
“Huh?”
Taylor waved it off. “Sorry, bad lesbian joke. You need to do some research.”
“Yeah, I’m probably a terrible… lesbian ,” she almost whispered the word. Like if she said it out loud, then it would be real. It would be out there. Samantha Garner, now a Class 1 Lesbian. “If that’s even what I am yet. I have no idea. It certainly feels like I might be.”
Taylor stepped over to her then, her face full of care. “You don’t need to label anything or be anyone other than you… Sam-I-am .” She winked.
Sam rolled her eyes. “Way to ruin a cute moment, loser. That nickname is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.” Though she was glad to lighten the topic. The current subject was still making her… squirmy. For all sorts of reasons. One, she hated feeling like she was on this “outer circle”, like there were all these in-jokes and references to being a lesbian that she should know about or at least understand. But maybe she was overthinking it. Two, she liked being confident in herself, her identity, and all of these new feelings and thoughts had her completely off-kilter. And three—well she’d forgotten three, because Taylor was standing there smiling at her, and god damn it if that didn’t turn all her thoughts into fireworks, flying every which way. No speech capabilities left. Then she realised she was being asked a question.
“Sorry, what?”
“Yes to the shower and clothes. And I asked, do you have a crappy towel for Belle? I’ll just give her a wipe-down first, and she can sit on it by the window to birdwatch for a bit.”
“Right! Uhh…” She scratched her head, and made her way over to the laundry cupboard. “Got an ugly brown one in here somewhere—got it!”
She threw it over to Taylor as Belle started tap dancing on the floor.
Taylor looked at Sam, “She does this every time I try to towel her off. All right, calm down missy and come here.” Belle dived into the towel as Taylor dried her. Sam leaned on the doorway watching, and enjoying the normality of the moment.
She could picture Taylor coming home after work, taking her boots off at the door, and Belle racing down the mezzanine steps to greet her. She blinked. Okay, psycho. You’ve had one dinner-turned-date with the woman! Yeesh .
She walked back to the cupboard and got out fresh towels for Taylor, which she popped in the bathroom. Anything to stop herself acting and thinking like a total creep.
“Shower is all yours. Use whatever’s in there. Mi casa, su casa and all that.”
“Thanks.”
Upstairs, she grabbed out a pair of shorts, then smiled, spotting a particular graphic T-shirt hanging up.
Once she heard the water switch off, she waited a few minutes then knocked on the door. “Got some clothes when you’re ready.”
The door opened, steam billowing out as Taylor stood in a towel smelling like Sam’s coconut shampoo. A drip fell from her wet hair, straight down between her—she looked up— busted . Taylor smirked, one eyebrow raised.
Sam dipped her chin, cheeks burning, and held out the clothes. “Here you go.”
Taylor’s hand lingered as she took the bundle. “Cheers.” She grinned. “Be out in a minute.”
Sam was busy in the kitchen making sandwiches when she heard a throat clear. She looked up to see Taylor standing in her Feeling Nauti T-shirt, looking amused.
“What?” Sam played it off. “I figured that was practically your shirt now, so you might as well wear it again.” Plus it looked unfairly good on Taylor, so why wouldn’t she want her to wear it again? Taylor sauntered—yes, sauntered —over to her, playing up to the shirt’s name in earnest.
“Ooo, what’s the chef making this time?” Taylor pulled up a stool on the other side of the kitchen bench.
“Nothing too fancy. It’s just spicy chicken and mayo sandwiches. I forgot to check—any allergies? Shit, do you even like chilli?” Sam winced.
“I like spice, as long as I can still taste the food, that’s hot enough.” She leaned forward and stole a piece of chicken out of the container. “And I love rotisserie chicken.”
“Me. Too.” Sam sliced the sandwiches into triangles, licking a stray dollop of mayonnaise off her finger, and slid a plate across to Taylor.
Taylor took a bite as Sam sat down next to her at the kitchen island.
“Jesus Christ, woman! Are you some sort of food magician?”
Belle jumped up at the outburst, running over at the discovery of food being served. Sam just smiled into her bite.
“Good then?” asked Sam, around a mouthful of food.
“Uh, yeah. Why does it taste so good?”
“Mayo and chilli crisp.” Sam held up crossed fingers. “A match made in heaven.”
“You’re telling me. None for you, Bel Bel.” She took another bite. “Too spicy for your butt butt.” Belle whined and tippy-tapped her feet, persistent.
Sam leaned over the counter and fished out a plain piece of chicken. “This okay to give her?”
“Sure. Make her sit first. We’re all about manners.” Taylor smiled down at her pup.
“Sit,” Sam instructed. Belle sat, catching the chicken mid-air when Sam threw it down to her. “Good girl!”
Taylor leaned on the bench, watching them with a soft smile. “So, question—are you free tomorrow night?”
“Mmmyes. Why?”
“I was thinking maybe I could take you out on an official date?”
Sam felt the smile spread across her face. “I think I’d like that.”
Taylor leaned forward, her eyes dropping to Sam’s lips. “Good. Pick you up at seven?” she almost whispered.
“Great,” Sam replied, her eyes not straying from Taylor’s mouth as she felt herself pulled in.
“Knock, knock!” came her dad’s voice as he let himself in the front door.
She jumped back in her seat, her heart skyrocketing to her chest. She caught a mirror image of Taylor doing the same as her dad waltzed in then looked up.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you had a friend over,” he said, looking between them.
Sam’s eyes landed on a folder under his arm as Belle trotted over to give him a sniff, wagging her tail. “And who’s this?” He knelt down to pat her.
“That’s Belle, Taylor’s dog. Dad, this is Taylor Scott, who’s been helping me on my boat. You’ve probably served her in the shop.” Taylor gave a small wave. “Taylor, this is officially my dad, Matt.”
“Officially, nice to meet you Matt,” Taylor said, bobbing her head as she fiddled with her hands in her lap and swung on the stool.
“You too. That’s right, you ordered the parts for Larry.”
“That’s me!”
He smiled at Taylor, then looked back to Sam. “Sorry to interrupt you ladies, but, uh, Sam, can we chat for a minute?” he asked, giving her a look .
She wasn’t ready to talk, especially not right now.
“Actually, I can’t at the moment. We were about to head out.” She never avoided her dad. And she never lied to him like this.
“Oh, okay, that’s fine.” He gave a strained smile and opened the door again. “What about Sunday after breakfast?”
“Sure.” She gave back a tight smile.
He rapped on the door, hovering, as if waiting for her to change her mind. “All right then. Nice to see you again, Taylor. Catch you both later.”
Taylor let out a breath. “You still haven’t talked to him?”
Sam grimaced, hanging her head. “No.”
“ Sam .”
“I knoooow.”
“You can’t keep avoiding this. You need to talk to him. One conversation doesn’t fix everything and neither does avoidance. Communication is an ongoing thing. It’s how relationships work.”
“I will. Just… not right now. I was really enjoying our time together.”
“I get that.” Taylor reached for her hand, encasing it in hers.
Sam revelled in the warmth and calm it brought to her still-thudding heart. She looked towards the door to make sure her dad had definitely left. Taylor’s eyes followed hers, and she dropped her hand.
“Sorry, I’m not used to being ‘back in the closet’, so to speak.”
“Don’t be. I don’t want to have to hide this either. Just with everything else going on… it’s a lot. But I am trying. I just need some time.”
“As I said before, take all the time you need. I’ll also try and keep my hands and mouth to myself around here.” She made a show of zipping her lips and sitting on her hands.
“Please don’t.”
The war between kissing Taylor again and getting sprung by her dad was real. Why did things have to be so hard? Adulting should get easier with age, right? “I should really jump in the shower quickly and get changed, so I can drop you two off. Be right back. Make yourself at home!” she called over her shoulder as she raced to the bathroom.
She rushed her shower, not wanting to keep her guests waiting. As she towelled herself off, she realised, in her haste, she hadn’t grabbed any clothes for herself from upstairs. Her options weren’t looking great either.
She could:
A) get Taylor to bring her some or
B) make a dash for it upstairs.
She’d be covered enough in the towel…
It was dash time!
She opened the door and bolted. “Forgot my clothes!” she yelled as she legged it across the kitchen.
Belle thought it was a great game and joined in on the chase.
She barely heard Taylor shout for Belle to stop when the dog ran under her feet, right as she went to leap onto the stairs. Her foot managed to catch on the corner of her bath sheet—because one should always be smothered in an oversized towel—ripping it from her grip.
Time slowed as she watched her perfect Egyptian cotton towel fall from her body, completely engulfing Belle, who in turn became a bucking bronco, looking like a possessed fluffy ghost. Sam stood frozen, on the precipice of deciding whether to laugh or cry, before her brain finally caught up and she realised she was still standing there stark naked at the bottom of the stairs with Taylor gawking like a fish at the whole scene.
“Um…” was all she got out, before she ran the rest of the way up the stairs, trying to cover what she could. Taylor would have to deal with the mini fluff ball—or was it fluff bull?—downstairs.
Sam didn’t think it was possible to have a whole body blush, but she was pretty sure that’s what she was experiencing right now. She should’ve just got Taylor to grab her damn clothes. She hoisted up her leggings. How the hell was she going to face her after that ? She threw on a bra and T-shirt, grabbed a brush to run through her hair and checked herself in the mirror. It’d do. Taylor’s seen the whole package now anyway. Her face flushed again. She looked up. Ugh. Stop thinking about it.
She headed back down, stopping halfway to lean her arms and head on the rail. “Are you sure you still want to take this klutz out on a date tomorrow night?”
It looked like Belle had gone back to looking out the window, and she noticed Taylor had cleaned the kitchen and tidied everything up for her. How is this person so amazing?
Taylor didn’t say anything though, instead she hopped off the stool and walked up the stairs. Sam turned to face her as Taylor laced her fingers through Sam’s and continued walking, pulling her along until they reached the top of the landing. Without taking her eyes off Sam, Taylor gently pushed her against the wall and leaned in, her lips brushing the shell of her ear.
“I would love nothing more than to take you out on that date tomorrow,” Taylor whispered, causing Sam to almost fall in a complete heap right then and there.
She placed the softest of kisses on her mouth and looked back with a smile so full of care it almost made Sam completely forget she’d been naked mere minutes ago. Then Taylor looked down and chuckled.
Oh no.
Had she forgotten to put on a bra?
“ Drop it like it’s yacht? Really?”
“Are you questioning my taste in punny boat shirt paraphernalia?” Sam puffed her chest out, hands on her hips.
“Well, we clearly know Feeling Nauti is the superior choice here.” Taylor smirked, head tilted before looking down at her own shirt.
“It’s true. I guess it is, well, was , my favourite shirt.” Sam pouted. “I feel like it’s your shirt now,” she mumbled.
“Yeah, you’re not getting this back.” Taylor wrapped her arms around herself. Then she sighed. “As much as I want to stay and continue this right now, I better get going. I still need to grab my board and get Belle home so she can have some food.”
Sam pouted again.
“Put that lip away before I bite it,” Taylor said, poking her in the stomach.
Sam caught her wrist and pulled her back in for one last kiss—searing, but still way too short.
“Fine,” Sam said, twisting Taylor around to head back down the stairs. “But I’m leaving a bookmark right here.”
“Fine with me,” Taylor replied, trotting down the steps.