Chapter Nineteen
It turned out that making sushi was a lot more complicated than Kendall thought it would be.
First, the rice had to be cooked just right.
It needed to be sticky enough to hold together, but not so mushy that it became a gloppy mess.
Then came the delicate art of seasoning it with vinegar, salt, and sugar, which Kendall realized required some finesse.
Next, there was the daunting task of slicing the fish into perfect little pieces, each one needing to be just the right thickness.
And on top of that, rolling the nori without letting it tear felt considerably harder than it should have.
They only had two rolls of salmon maki, one California roll, and a lopsided stack of rainbow rolls to show for the last two hours of hard work.
“I think we’re getting better at it,” Sloane said, washing her hands under the running tap. “I think if we give it another seventy-six hours of practice, we’ll have mastered the California Roll.”
Kendall laughed. The process was frustrating but fun, especially since they were working so closely together. Like really close together.
At one point Sloane had stepped in behind Kendall, wrapping her arms around her waist and resting her hands on top of Kendall’s. She leaned in close, her breath tickling the back of Kendall’s neck as she helped spread the sushi rice evenly over the nori.
It was enough to get her blood boiling and when Sloane had stepped away to wash her hands, Kendall nearly gasped for air, only noticing then that she’d been holding her breath the entire time.
“Reese and I used to do these cooking classes once a month where they pair you up with random people and you have to cook a three-course meal with a total stranger using the ingredients they give you. They usually had a winner at the end.”
“Sounds like a nightmare.”
“For Reese, it was more like a dating game,” Kendall said, slicing up some cucumber.
“She’d end up falling madly in love with her partner during those two hours.
You’d hear them giggling in the back for the entire class.
And then, she would fall right back out of love when they lost the competition.
If you don’t know this yet, Reese is scarily competitive. ”
“I had a feeling,” Sloane said, looking back over her shoulder at Kendall. “Something about the way she matched you every time you took a tequila shot.”
Kendall laughed. “That’s nothing.” She lifted her shirt, revealing a faint half-crescent scar beside her navel.
“A few years ago, we went skiing in Austria. I’ve been skiing since I was a kid.
Reese not so much. But she refused to stay off the big slopes.
She had to show me how quick of a learner she was.
On our second day, she completely lost control and crashed into a snowbank, swung her ski pole, and poked me right in the side. ”
“Why haven’t I noticed it before?” Sloane squinted at the scar.
Which honestly made Kendall feel both self-conscious and a little hot. Sloane had seen her naked on two occasions, both with the lights dimmed. It was no wonder she hadn’t spotted the scar. Unless she studied Kendall’s body, which she hadn’t.
At least not yet.
“It’s not that noticeable,” Kendall said, turning back to the cucumber slices. “But I did have to get two stitches.”
“A whole two stitches,” Sloane mused, grinning. “You’re so brave.”
“Ha. Ha.” Kendall muttered, turning back to the counter. “No need to be patronizing.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Sloane laughed.
But then she did something more surprising than that. She winked, which set off an entire rainforest of butterflies in Kendall’s stomach. Her fingers were trembling. She had to place the knife down on the cutting board before she sliced off one of her fingers.
To get her mind off the butterflies, Kendall grabbed the wet cloth and asked, “So, have you ever done this before?”
“Are you trying to ask if I’ve made sushi with my ex?
” Sloane asked, glancing once again over her shoulder.
She dropped the chopsticks she had just taken out of the drawer and then crossed the kitchen to where Kendall was standing, stopping less than a foot away.
She was so close Kendall could smell the disinfectant on her hands and see Sloane’s pupils constrict as they took in the light hanging from the ceiling.
“Because no,” Sloane said, cocking her head to the side. “Louise hated sushi. She couldn’t stand the idea of raw fish. It made her squirm.”
“I wasn’t…” Kendall stopped herself. Maybe it was exactly what she had meant to ask.
Maybe Kendall craved this new experience with Sloane, just like everything they had done up until now.
Driving around California documenting wildfires was, after all, a unique experience that she could never recreate with anyone else.
They would always have that. “I mean, maybe I was. I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m even asking.”
Sloane stepped forward and closed the space between them.
Her hands moved to Kendall’s cheeks, her fingers sliding into her hair, and then she leaned in and brushed her mouth against Kendall’s, taking her lower lip between hers.
The kiss lasted no more than three seconds and when Sloane pulled back; she didn’t drop her hands.
Instead, her fingers drifted down Kendall’s neck.
And then her thumbs slid across her collarbone.
Her breath was raspy and ragged. Just like Kendall’s.
This kiss, well, it was intoxicating. Kendall wanted more. She needed more.
But as if a big bold sign reading, ‘Please stop kissing me’ was flashing across her forehead, Sloane stepped back and dropped her hands to her sides.
“Sorry,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I think the wine’s gone to my head.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Kendall said. “That’s the last thing you have to be.”
The only one who had to be sorry was Kendall.
She’d blown any shot of the documentary ever being seen.
Her dad had called her again last night demanding an answer, and when she told him she’d rather drop dead on his front porch than abandon firefighting, he’d paused and then said with a chilling finality, “Well, Kendall, choices have consequences.”
She had tried to tell Sloane this morning at the coffee shop, but Sloane had invited her to dinner, and she wasn’t prepared to ruin any chance of spending more time with her.
“You know,” Sloane said, glancing down at the floor.
There were bits of sushi rice stuck to the tiles.
“I’ve also been thinking about that farm in Crestline.
Mostly how it made me feel. And then, of course, the last few weeks.
” She tilted her chin up and caught Kendall’s eyes.
“I know this is probably ridiculous and I might just embarrass myself—though honestly, I don’t really care right now—but I think there’s a connection between us.
I’m probably wrong… oh fuck!” Her face crumpled, and she glanced back down to the floor, losing all that lovely confidence Kendall so admired. “I’m wrong, aren’t I?”
“No,” Kendall said, floating forward. “You’re absolutely not wrong.”
She was still too stunned to say something more profound than what came out of her mouth, but it was fine. It was perfectly fine because Sloane felt it, too. That connection.
“I’m not?” She slowly lifted her head until their eyes met.
“No,” Kendall mumbled, very aware of her heartbeat thundering in her ears. “You’re not. I like you. I mean, that’s probably an understatement, but I think it started when you basically forced me to have sex with you after you spotted your ex at that wine fair.”
Sloane’s jaw hit the floor, and she let out a gasp that could’ve startled the neighbors. “I didn’t force you!”
“You’re right. That came out completely wrong. It was consensual. One hundred and ten percent consensual.”
“Well, thank you for acknowledging—”
But the words barely left Sloane’s lips before Kendall closed the gap and cupped the woman’s soft cheeks in her palms. She crushed her mouth against Sloane’s, her tongue dipping into her mouth, and then she swept it over Sloane’s bottom lip.
Before Kendall knew it, they were shuffling out of the kitchen and into the hallway. The filmmaker’s hands were on Kendall’s hips, pulling them closer.
When they reached the bedroom, Kendall barely had any chance to look around.
She’d been curious about Sloane’s bedroom since the moment she stepped foot in the house.
She had wondered if it would reflect her personality.
Which was all-white and linear lines and everything in its place.
But her head was too fuzzy to take it all in.
She was drunk on something other than the single glass of wine she’d sipped on slowly during the evening.
She was mad drunk on Sloane.
“Do I have your consent?” Sloane asked, breaking the kiss, her face just inches away from Kendall’s. “I wouldn’t want to be accused of forcing you to have sex with me.”
Kendall rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “You have my full and utter permission to do whatever you want to me.”
“Oh,” Sloane said, smiling devilishly. “You might come to regret that.” She backed her toward the bed, but it was Kendall who took charge. She spun Sloane around, slid her hands down the woman’s thighs, and lifted her up, basically tossing her onto the bed.
“Whoa!” Sloane grinned, looking shell-shocked. “That’s probably the first time I’ve ever been thrown onto my own bed.”
“Well, get used to it,” Kendall said, not caring that she sounded too presumptuous, insinuating that it wouldn’t be the last time.
If she had her way, this was only the start, the beginning of many impromptu sex sessions.
The beginning of what could maybe even be a relationship.
But Kendall didn’t want to get ahead of herself. One small step at a time.
Kendall crawled onto the bed, moving over Sloane until she straddled her hips. They were still dressed. Which wasn’t ideal, but nothing to worry about either. Except that Kendall was soaked. Her panties didn’t stand a chance.
She pressed her lips against Sloane’s, kissing her hard while she palmed at her breasts. Even through the silky fabric, she could feel the woman’s nipples peaking, reacting to her touch.
“Maybe we should get rid of our clothes,” Sloane muttered, already sliding up the hem of Kendall’s shirt, her nails scraping her bare skin. “Before I start tearing everything.”
Kendall laughed, but she complied. It was easy to do, and when their clothes were lying in scattered heaps on the floor, Kendall slotted her leg in between Sloane’s thighs.
There was something extraordinary about skin contact, as if the mere act of just lying naked on top of each other was somehow healing. A cure, possibly, to all the anxiety she’d been feeling the last few days.
She locked her lips with Sloane’s, kissing her deeply while their fingers roamed over each other’s bodies.
Kendall sent a finger down to Sloane’s folds, dipping it in playfully while Sloane did the same. But they were just teases, tiny explorations. Meanwhile, their tongues moved in a tango and their hips undulated over each other’s… until Kendall couldn’t take it anymore.
If she didn’t get some part of Sloane—other than her cupid bow lips—in her mouth, well then, she might just implode.
“I need you to do me a favor,” Kendall said, breaking the kiss. Her breath was wet and raspy.
“Anything?” Sloane said, watching her quizzically, those brows squeezing together.
Kendall touched a finger to the frown and smoothed it before she muttered, “I need you to sit on my face.”
It wasn’t even a question. It was more like a demand. Sloane flipped them over and climbed on top of Kendall. With one leg on either side, she crawled to the headboard. A feeling of relief mingled with a blazing desire, so hot it could compete with the sun, tore right through Kendall’s body.
Kendall pushed Sloane’s legs further apart, grabbing onto the back of her thighs as she positioned the woman over her mouth.
She was basically panting, and her mouth was watering for what was to come.
When Kendall stuck out her tongue and ran it along the very wet length of Sloane, she groaned like a lion in the wild. They both did.
Kendall dug her fingers into Sloane’s thighs and pulled her closer. She licked, sucked, and kissed her seams until the woman’s legs were shaking, her fists banging against the wall.
But Kendall had no plans to stop. Feeling ravenous and needing Sloane to satisfy her hunger, she grabbed onto her hips and pulled her down harder onto her face.
With her nails dug into her delicate skin, she rocked Sloane’s hips against her face in rhythm with her tongue.
Kendall lapped up Sloane’s wetness as fast as it came.
Kendall was so hot and ready that she couldn’t wait any longer. She dropped a hand down to her own thighs, to her own sex. While she licked away at Sloane, her tongue swirling, she dipped a finger into herself, slipping in and out until her vision was clouded with stars.
“FUCK!” Sloane cried, her body shaking so hard that Kendall had to keep her up with one hand, forcing the woman to embrace her orgasm while Kendall’s teetered just right around the corner.
But she didn’t have to wait long. That wave of pleasure slammed into her out of nowhere, knocking the breath right out of her.
“What the hell was that?” Sloane muttered, falling back onto the bed, breathless and soaked. “Because I don’t think I’ve ever been fucked like that.”
Kendall wiped the back of her palm over her mouth. “Well, I’m glad I could surprise you.”
Sloane laughed, her hand resting on her chest, shaking with the movement. She turned onto her side and trailed the tip of her finger along Kendall’s sternum. “It’s your turn.”
Kendall was just about to confess that she had finished by her own hand when the ring of a cell phone suddenly interrupted them.
“That’s mine,” Sloane said, sitting up and rolling out of bed before Kendall could even make sense of what was happening.
She rushed to the wardrobe on the other side of the room and picked up her phone.
“I know this is very rude of me to answer a call in the middle of sex, but it’s my boss.
She said she was going to call tonight, and I absolutely can’t miss it. She’ll have my head, and my job.”
“Go,” Kendall laughed, feeling far too happy to be bothered by a quick interruption. They had the entire night, after all. Maybe even the morning as well.
Sloane winked, then slipped out into the hall, giving Kendall a sight of her naked ass. She really had a gorgeous—
“What exactly are you saying, Lisa?” Sloane’s voice cut through the silence like a broken glass bottle, sending prickles of goosebumps over every inch of Kendall’s naked body. “No… are you fucking kidding me? What do you mean the funding has been pulled and the documentary is canceled?”