Chapter Thirty-One
Nola
““Wow.” I breathed, less a statement and more a feeling.
Brittney Lee was in my arms, blissed out, in a home that we shared, owned by the team we’re both playing for. This might be the worst idea either of us could have acted on.
And yet, I didn’t feel an ounce of regret in my body.
I danced my fingertips across her bare back, her breathing finally slowing from her orgasm as she nuzzled her face deeper into the crook of my neck. I found the movement endearing until I started to overthink.
Was she embarrassed about what just happened? I told her to tell me to stop, mentally begged her to be the stronger person and put an end to this. But when she answered me, I knew she was just as down bad as I was.
I didn’t want her to feel obligated to answer my impulsive whims. Even if she seem
Something told me friends didn’t give each other orgasms.
“Are you good over there?” I inquired.
Brittney nodded her confirmation, her loose curls wild and tickling my skin, but I didn’t mind. “I just…needed a second.”
Inch by inch, she peeled herself off of me. I wanted to pull her back, kiss her again. But we should also really talk about what the hell had just happened.
I was expecting to see a wall back up between us when our eyes met. I thought she’d leave me stranded, reeling from our mouths on each other and my fingers pressed against her clit.
Instead, Brittney looked at me with soft eyes. Her mouth curved into a small smile, her eyes warm as her hands cupped her breasts, hiding what I’d already seen. She didn’t look like she was getting ready to flee; she looked like she wanted to stay.
“Uh…do you think we should—”
“—Talk about why I’m partially naked? Duh, Nola.”
“So like, wha—” I didn’t get to finish my sentence because my phone rang with a ringtone custom to Olive. No matter where I was, I answered every phone call from her. Including when a half naked Brittney was on top of me.
Brittney eyed the name then passed me the phone.
The normalcy of it felt like a sucker punch to my gut.
I got the urge to ignore my sister when I watched Brittney feel around for her shirt, put it on and lean back on the couch opposite to me.
Her fingers tapped across my ankle and calf.
God, I really liked it when she touched me.
I wiped a hand down my face, hoping to remove any traces of euphoria from it.
“Olive Young,” I greeted.
“T-minus seven days until I come and you have yet to make an itinerary.” My little sister lectured.
“I live by the beach, it’s spring break—what more could you want?”
“Museums? Parks? Shopping sprees sponsored by my super famous and rich sister?”
My gaze landed on Brittney, who had thrown her head back and cackled without sound like she had been trained to disappear into the background.
“What are you looking at?”
“Sorry, my roommate is being annoying.” I checked Brittney’s appearance before I flipped the camera, “This is Brittney, Brittney this is Olive.”
“Hi Olive!” Brittney lit up, her smile so wide I wish it was on me. “You can call me Bee. If we’re on a nickname basis.”
“We’re not even on a nickname basis,” I clarified, moving my phone to show the profile of my face while I put Brittney in view.
It didn’t matter that I’d called her Bee just a few minutes ago.
Now that we weren’t blinded by lust, it was important I listened to Brittney. That she knew I was listening to her.
“I think I can now promote you to the next role.” She winked at me, and goddamn my face was hot again.
“Bee…” I whispered, letting the syllable roll around my brain, my tongue, my lips. It tickled my brain, the same way eating cookie butter did. A buzz from my tastebuds, straight to the nerves in my brain.
“I’m gonna head to my room and let y’all finish.” And then she was up, and I was flipping the camera back to my face. What I hadn’t realize was that my sister was watching smugly.
“You have the hots for her, don’t you?” Olive practically screamed, making me rush to lower the volume.
“No.”
“You were distracted.”
“And now you have my undivided attention.” I looked back at the camera seeing Olive in the bathroom parting her hair.
“And why was your attention divided, Nolly?” I was about to answer, then I realized how much I’d missed my sister. She was about to enter one of the toughest phases of her life, and I was ogling my roommate.
Grow up.
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is I’ve already made an itinerary for your approval, so just take a look and tell me if there’s too many museums or not enough beaches.”
“Is Disney on there?”
“We do not live near Orlando.”
“I think we should go to Disney. I need it.”
“You only like roller coasters; theme parks are not your vibe. You did a whole presentation for the family on it.”
“Yeah, well I’m one inconvenience away from being someone who becomes a Disney adult.”
“An inconvenience? You’re thirteen.”
“I’ve lived a long life.” Olive rolled her eyes.
“Tell me about your life. What’s new?” I was all ears.
By the end of the call, I was feeling less paranoid that I was a terrible older sister, and a growing dread over where I stood with Brittney.
I hesitated at the frame of her door, hand ready to knock when I listened closer to the other side.
Slow R&B was on, which meant she was winding down for the night.
I didn’t hear the water, which hopefully meant she wasn’t in the bathroom washing me off.
I knocked hurriedly as if I could stop the task myself.
Brittney opened the door quickly, her hair down and parted in the middle, in an emerald green sweatshirt and sweatpants so long they dragged on the floor. Maybe she hadn’t washed me off yet, but I clocked that every inch of her was covered now.
“You don’t wear glasses?” Were the first words out of my mouth because yes, that was important.
“You’d be disappointed to know I have 20/20 vision.
” Brittney stepped to the side to let me in.
The first time either of us had entered the other’s space since we got our stuff delivered.
Our rooms differed drastically with shelves that hadn’t come with the apartment, screwed into the walls with knick knacks and stuffed objects.
Pictures lined inch of wall space possible, glimpses into a life I knew nothing about other than what she’d put online.
“Yet another thing we’re very much equal in.
” I laughed and kicked at nothing on the floor.
I hated this bashful, gentle version of myself when I was around her.
But it was also the side that gave her the least guarded version of myself, like me being vulnerable helped create space for her to do it too.
Who would’ve thought?.
“I’m assuming this is our big and serious talk.
” Brittney flopped onto the bed and I sat at the end.
Even though she was in the baggiest clothing imaginable, I still wanted my hands to get lost trying to find all of her.
Sitting the furthest I could still didn’t do enough to tamper down my impulsiveness.
“Yes, big, and maybe serious.”
“Is that a question?”
“I don’t really know, Brittney,” I answered earnestly. “It’d be great if maybe…you went first?”
“I meant it when I said you can call me Bee. I wasn’t just doing that to get on your sister’s good side. But if you’re asking me to go first because you need time to stall, then just say that.”
“I need you to go first because it might help me breathe a little more.”
“Okay.” Bee closed her eyes like she was making a wish. “That was, um, great, and unexpected, but in a way…not? Like please tell me you’ve been feeling something between us? Unless I’m crazy and it’s just been all in my head.”
I nodded before she could even finish the sentence, as if she could see me through her eyelids. Up until tonight, all I could think about was why I felt full and bright whenever we were around each other. I hadn’t felt an ounce of this when I was with my ex. This new territory was overwhelming.
“I feel it all the time,” I whispered, wanting to grab her hands. “Can I ask…why are your eyes closed?”
“Because I’ve trained myself to never say anything incriminating around you again. You seem to have a habit of spilling my guts to the media.” She opened her eyes with a wince. I knew I’d never repent enough for the pain I’d caused her.
“I’m really sorry, Bee.”
“I’m not saying that to make you feel bad. It’s just the truth.”
“I understand.”
“It’s kind of crazy how I beat you six months ago.” Brittney looked away.
“And then we joined the same team two months ago,” I finished.
“And then we did that twenty minutes ago?” Brittney pointed out the obvious with a smirk I wanted to lick off her face. “And your sister is coming to visit next week.”
“I know, and she’s going through a lot, with the impending move and being mad at our mom, so I know she wants me to be here with her 24/7.”
“No, trust me I get it. It’s a party of two.”
“But roommates, maybe.” I proposed, eager to gauge her reaction. I wanted her to know I’d rather not close this door on us. But my sister came first. “We’re good as friends and teammates.” I tried to convince myself. “And we should stay that way.”
Brittney held my gaze, her face going unreadable as she said, “Maybe it was just a one-time thing. Something to get out of our systems.”
My stomach rolled at that thought. I didn’t want to agree because I didn’t know if I’d be telling the truth. “Can I ask you a question?”
Bee pulled her knees into her chest, her head resting on top of her knees. “Shoot.”
“What do we feel like for you?”
She didn’t miss a beat and closed her eyes again. “Well, for one, you quiet everything down in my head when we touch. But between us? It feels like an electric wire is pulling, zapping me when you look at me, sparks flying like two pieces of metal making contact.”
And she thinks this is a one-time thing?
“What about you?” She lobbed back to me.
“It also feels electric for me. Like static electricity that won’t leave my body, clinging to me.”
But it only sparks with you. Were the words I didn’t say, because the longer I was on this bed, the more I knew I didn’t want to have Bee only once.
“But how we make each other feel is no longer our concern,” I finished, feeling like I should be leading the conversation but I was drowning in Bee instead. “Our on-court relationship is the priority.”
“Agreed.”
“We’re going to be two of the best teammates this league has ever seen,” Bee rambled. “We’re gonna give the Violets a run for their money. We’re gonna make the Jaguars cry—even though I’d rather not—and we’re going to get Miami a ring.”
I smiled at her positivity, her unbending confidence, and pure joy. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”