Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Taylor grinned as she spread a dollop of grease on the seacock and worked the handle. She always wondered if a group of drunk sailors had named the parts of a boat—between seacocks and grease nipples, she definitely felt awkward when she had to order spare parts. Thank god for online shopping.
Geoff, the boat’s owner, was on the outside doing the same thing to the external part. This was some of the most important maintenance she did, lubricating seacocks, which was really just an absurd name for a valve that lets water in or out of the boat. Making sure they were greased and in working order meant a safe voyage, reducing the risk of a sunk boat if one failed . Not on her watch.
There was a mountain of maintenance that went into a boat, and being in the water, it was also more frequently required. She was finding herself enjoying the work on boats more than vans, especially with all the extra jobs she’d picked up around the marina thanks to all the word of mouth.
“Done!” Geoff hollered from outside.
“Yep!” Taylor yelled back as she gave the handle one last turn to make sure it was covered well.
A couple of hours later, she was filthy, sweating and in dire need of a shower. The rest of the job had gone well, and Geoff was one very happy customer. He was taking the family out for a sixtieth sunset cruise on the weekend and wanted to make sure everything was set for the big day.
She texted Marie and Hayley to let them know she was running fifteen minutes late as she let herself in the door, trying to scramble past an overly excited Belle, who was so happy someone was home to give her some love. She gave her a quick pat.
“Soon, little lady. Just let me get ready.”
She strode down onto the sand only ten minutes late for her beach walk with the girls. Belle was pulling like crazy on the lead as soon as she spotted them waiting by the shore, their feet already in the water. They were holding hands, shoes dangling from their free ones, looking out towards the horizon. Taylor’s heart burst at the sight. These two were absolute couple goals.
“Ladies!” Taylor called out as she got closer, a huge grin on her face.
“Taylor!” Marie turned, bolting straight for her. She almost knocked her to the ground in one of Taylor’s favourite over-the-top cuddles. Hayley strode over and bent down to greet Belle first, keeping her happy.
“I’m so glad we finally get to catch up,” Hayley said, her long blonde hair whipping around her face as she stood back up, swinging an arm around Taylor’s shoulders for a quick side squeeze. Being almost a head taller than Taylor, she did it with ease.
“Same,” Taylor replied as they started their walk off towards the first jetty.
“So, the boat stuff’s been keeping you pretty busy then? You’ve got a smudge of grease on your cheek, by the way,” Hayley said, poking at the spot. Taylor wiped at her face, knowing it was futile. Eh, she’d clean it when she got home.
“Seriously busy. They’ve even taken over my van jobs, but I’m loving it—any excuse to be by the water or on it. How’s everything been work wise for you both?”
“Next question!” Marie declared, running ahead of the group to pick up a shell and present it to Hayley, who just laughed. “Nah, work’s been fine for us, but the better and more exciting news is we’ve just pre-ordered the new Dice Throne . So you better start thinking about what characters you wanna play.”
“Aww yeah.” She high-fived Marie. Their love of board games would never grow old.
“Are you bringing Sam again to the next round? She was so lovely—and a good player too,” said Marie.
“I hope you do, because I didn’t even get to meet her,” Hayley pouted.
“ Yet ,” Taylor finished for her, her cheeks burning thinking about last weekend with Sam.
“Aww look at the little munchkin gettin’ all shy. What, do you liiiiike her?” Marie tried to pinch her cheek, but Taylor swatted her away, making Belle look up wondering what was going on when she yanked her leash by accident.
“Sorry Belle.” Taylor gave her butt a quick pat and turned to her friends. “We actually… might be dating?” Her voice went up an octave as she finished.
“Get out!” Hayley yelled, eyes blown as she stopped walking.
Marie let out a high pitched squeal. “Yes! I thought my gaydar was pinging! She kinda seemed into you, but I also didn’t want to assume. And… everything with Liz…” she trailed off.
“Yeah, no, totally. It’s been a lot. And to be honest, it was a surprise for me too. She’s not out yet, so this stays between us, which she knows and is fine with.”
“Okay, cool.” Hayley nodded along. “So, please tell us she’s coming to the next games night, because now I really need to meet her. You know, friend requirement and all that,” she said with a shrug.
“It’s true. Now we need to properly suss her out,” Marie agreed seriously.
Taylor laughed. “Okay, you two. I’ll invite her, but it’s up to Sam if she wants to hang out with all of you weirdos again.”
They enjoyed the rest of the afternoon walking together from jetty to jetty, catching up on all the happenings over the last couple of weeks. One of Hayley’s niece’s had started walking, so she was in proud-aunty mode, and Marie spent most of the time going through her current board game wishlist and plotting strategies for their next catch up—when she wasn’t grilling Taylor on all things Sam, much to Hayley’s delight.
Taylor was back home in a cleaning frenzy. She was also running fashionably late… again. She’d spent so much time at the marina and Sam’s place lately, she thought it was about time she invited Sam over to her house for some— hopefully —cosy hangs. Jess was working a night shift at the restaurant, so they had the place to themselves for the next few hours.
They hadn’t seen each other since Taylor left on Sunday morning, and while they had texted, she was really looking forward to seeing Sam again in person. Now that they’d taken things to the next level, she hoped Sam was still okay with everything and didn’t have any regrets or weird feelings around Taylor. It was one thing to like a girl, but sleeping together could either scare her off, or hopefully have her begging for more. She smirked at the thought. Probably the latter with how vocal Sam had got last time.
A knock at the door scared the crap out of her as Belle bounded to the front to greet their guest, barking her little head off. Taylor opened the door to a very huggable-looking Sam. She’d taken her “cosy hangs” suggestion to heart and stood in trackies with an oversized hoodie, hair up in its usual ponytail and a devilish smile on her lips. Before she could say anything, Sam dropped the bag she was holding, her arms instantly wrapping around Taylor’s neck. Soft lips met hers in a kiss that was anything but sweet. Sam pulled back, giving Taylor a chance to catch her breath.
“Hi. Sorry. I’ve been wanting to do that since you last walked out of the door,” Sam said with a sheepish grin.
Most probably on the begging side, then.
“Fine by me.” Taylor smiled back.
They both looked down at the sound of rustling to see Belle snuffling through Sam’s bag. “Belle, out of it. Off you go, in your bed.” Belle did as she was told, skulking off into the lounge room.
“What’s in there?” Taylor asked, eyeing off the rather large bag.
“Well, I know you were probably thinking to get takeaway, but… I thought we could cook!” Sam picked up the bag, hefting it onto her shoulder.
Taylor lifted a brow. “You better be teaching me, because all I usually piece together is eggs on toast—with avo, if I’m feeling fancy. I’m also really good at heating up leftovers from Jess.”
“Luckily for us, I’ve chosen something super simple. Pasta!” Sam said as they made their way through the lounge and into the kitchen. Sam placed the bag up on the counter and started taking out the ingredients.
“You know I love your pasta.” Taylor watched to see what Sam had brought along with her. “Are we doing that pesto one you made last time?”
“We’re going creamy tonight,” she replied, plonking a large container of thickened cream next to a bulb of garlic. “Creamy Italian sausage pasta. And, we’re making the pasta from scratch.” She pulled out a bag of flour next, then a carton of eggs.
Taylor pretended to wipe at her mouth. “Can we just skip the cooking part and eat it already? That sounds wickedly good.”
“ You’re wickedly good… with your fingers,” Sam deadpanned.
“Now listen. If you start talking like that— even joking —we aren’t going to get any cooking done.”
“Fine!” Sam put her hands up in defence. “I’ll behave myself. It’s worth it for how good this dish tastes, trust me.”
They got to work on the pasta first, Sam making Taylor crack the eggs into a flour well with a pinch of salt and olive oil. “That’s it?” Taylor said as she carefully started whisking it together.
“Yep, simple hey? Oh, watch the edges, you don’t want the flour ‘walls’ to break, or shit will get messy, fast.”
“Got it.”
Sam brought her hand over Taylor’s to show her a better technique. It was hard to concentrate on what she was showing her when all she could smell was her fresh shampoo, with a hint of coconut. Focus on the food Taylor.
She managed to make an adequate dough ball with Sam’s guidance, which they let rest while Taylor got them drinks and they caught up on their day. Taylor also made sure to give Sam the details for their next board game night, which she put straight in her calendar. Marie and Hayley would be very happy.
“Time to roll these bad boys out,” Sam said, cutting up the dough into sections and flouring Taylor’s benchtop. “Rolling pin?”
“Uhh…” Taylor went through about half the kitchen drawers, finally pulling one out from under a pile of spatulas. “This one okay?”
“Perfect.”
They worked well as a team, moving around the kitchen in harmony without getting in each other’s way. Taylor had put her favourite music on for them to bop along to while they worked, and Rosemary Joaquin was currently singing her heart out. She could admit—it was nice. Really nice. Maybe she didn’t mind this cooking thing after all. Especially if Sam was involved.
The pasta was rolled out and cut into fettuccine before she knew it.
“That’s it ?” Taylor said again, still surprised how easy it was so far.
Sam just laughed. “ Yes , that’s it. Cooking isn’t hard. It’s just about making the time to do it and enjoying the process—the journey. Not just making it a means to an end.”
“I can see what you’re saying. And while I’m maybe not there yet , I could see myself liking it more.”
Sam sprinkled a little extra flour on the pasta, tossing it around to loosen the strands before setting them in neat little nests, ready to cook. Taylor could watch her work all day. “Now, sauce time,” Sam said, snapping her out of it.
The sauce was even easier than the pasta. They turned the Italian sausages into mini meatballs, frying them with the garlic, onion and mushrooms before adding in the cream, Parmesan cheese and a few handfuls of baby spinach. Taylor found herself dishing up two steaming bowls of creamy fettuccine in no time.
“You can add a crack of black pepper to both if you like,” Sam encouraged as she tore off a few sprigs of parsley to garnish.
“Jeez. Even Jess would be impressed with our cooking tonight, and she works at a restaurant!”
Sam glowed at the statement. “You haven’t tried it yet, so wait until you’ve had the full experience.”
Taylor brought the bowl up to her nose as she walked over to sit at the dining table. Between the garlic and the fennel in the sausages, the aromatics were driving her wild. Sam did the same as she sat opposite her.
“Mmm, it does smell like a good batch tonight.”
They clinked their cutlery together, and with a quick grin, both dived in. It was literal heaven in a bowl. Come to think of it, she hadn’t had a dish this good in… well, a long time. It made her realise just how long it had been since she’d truly spoiled herself with a good meal—bought, homemade or otherwise. She swallowed, letting the flavours wrap themselves around her palate. Sam was definitely a keeper now, she mused to herself.
“Well, this is nice.” Sam smiled over her wine glass as she took a sip, her eyes never straying from Taylor’s, crinkling at the edges.
“It really is,” Taylor agreed, absolutely content in the moment. “Have you had any more thoughts on everything? On us? Since the weekend?”
She really wanted to find out how Sam was feeling. While she was on cloud nine right now and things felt great, they still hadn’t broached the topic of them since things had progressed.
Sam dipped her chin as she toyed with the pasta in her bowl. “I have a bit, yeah. Firstly, I’m annoyed.”
Well, that was a surprise. She felt her current mouthful almost catch in her throat. She reached for the wine to wash it down. Taylor tried to think if she’d said or done anything lately that may have been misconstrued as annoying when Sam must have read her face. She reached out, squeezing her knee.
“No, no. Not at you. Definitely not at you . I meant I’m annoyed because what happened between us on the weekend? That could only be described as magic. And I want to know why I’ve spent my entire life up until that moment without that kind of experience in it. It’s like it makes me question everything I knew, everything I thought. Why haven’t I ever thought to date women before when it’s just that good?”
“Because… maybe you wouldn’t have met me?” Taylor offered, giving her a small smile.
“And I am so glad I did.”
Sam leaned over, giving her a heartfelt kiss, her lips soft and warm.
“I still can’t get enough of that. Are you not put off that I feel like I’m obsessed with you?” Sam looked at her with such earnest worry, chewing at her bottom lip, Taylor could only laugh.
“Sam, I very much have no issue with you being obsessed with me. Would it make you feel better if I said I’m obsessed with you too?” That got her a furious nod and another kiss.
“Good, that’s settled then. Mutually obsessed.” Taylor beamed.