Chapter 8
The hot Mexican sun makes Charlotte’s cheeks flush. She sits back on the lounger on the balcony of her hotel room, closes the lid of her sunscreen, and puts her sunglasses on.
It’s been two days since she, Gabi, and Lou have arrived, and apart from dealing with her friends’ sickening smooching and generally being all lovey-dovey the entire time, it has been nothing but relaxing.
She’d put in some extra hours at work so that she could actually take two full weeks off without having to think about work or any errands she should be running.
Now her biggest concern in the morning is which swimsuit to wear that day, and her biggest concern in the afternoon is whether it's time to reapply her sunscreen. She can definitely get used to this. Sure, there’s a wedding coming up, but there’s plenty of time to chill.
She crosses one leg and picks up her e-reader from the side table. She smirks as she clicks it on and it shows her the page where she’d left off: it’s the lead up to a pretty spicy chapter.
Riley had recommended this book to her during one of their Zoom calls, and to her own surprise, she quite likes it so far. She realizes it’s actually been a very thoughtful suggestion, as it introduces her to some pretty detailed woman-on-woman intimacy without having to participate herself.
Riley had scoffed when Charlotte had initially asked her why she wouldn’t just send her a link to her favorite lesbian porn video.
“You shouldn’t watch it, you should read it,” Riley had said. “You’d be surprised what happens when your own fantasy fills in the gaps.”
And so Charlotte had downloaded her suggestion and had started reading.
Reluctantly at first, but after just two chapters the sexual tension between the two women in the story got so intense, she hadn’t been able to put it down.
It almost got her into trouble when she’d read through the first sex scene on the plane, tactically angling the screen away from Gabi’s prying eyes.
She had been able to imagine everything so vividly that when one of the characters in the book had started begging the other to 'please fuck her already,' Charlotte’s face got bright red and she’d knitted her brows, her eyes almost rolling back in their sockets.
The steaminess of it had manifested as an uncomfortable flash of heat, so she’d turned it off to quickly take a few large gulps from her water bottle.
Gabi, upon noticing her discomfort, had slowly faced her to ask if everything was alright.
Luckily she’d been able to save herself by shrugging it off (“Just a hot flash!”) and when Gabi had asked her what book she was reading immediately after, she’d been able to convince her it was an educational paper on the psychology behind aircraft safety procedures.
Nearing the end of the book now, she actually finds it exhilarating to read it in public.
Nobody’s able to tell she’s reading an erotic novel—oh, who’s she kidding?
It’s porn—so it feels like her own dirty little secret.
And sometimes, the idea that Riley has read all of this too, adds a little extra something to the good parts.
As she’s approaching one of those good parts, she gets abruptly torn away from the story by a loud whistle from somewhere below her balcony. Have they picked an adult-only hotel for nothing?
Slightly irritated, she tries to focus back on the story, wherein one of the two women is very, very close to reaching an explosive orgasm.
Then, she hears the whistle again. Louder this time.
She throws her legs to the side and springs up from the lounger to glare down over the railing of the balcony. Her heart leaps—actually leaps—at the sight of a gleefully waving Riley.
“Hey hot stuff!” Riley yells up at her. Her right hand is still on the handle of her suitcase, and her left hand lands on the stylish sun hat on her head. She’s wearing sunglasses too, but they do nothing to hide the radiating smile on her face.
Charlotte feels her entire body starting to buzz. It's like being tickled from the inside, and it makes her grin. She pulls her own sunglasses down to the tip of her nose, looking down at Riley over the rim.
“Why the hell are you in sweatpants?” she shouts down. Riley looks down at her own body like she has no idea what she’s wearing.
“Oh come on, I literally just got off the plane!” she shouts back. “No need to start judging me already. I’m gonna check in and I’ll go change!”
“You better!”
Instead of walking, Riley stays rooted in place. Charlotte assumes she needs directions so she points in the direction of the reception, but Riley sets her suitcase straight up to open her arms wide.
“Well?” she calls out, wiggling her fingers. “Are you gonna come down or what, Juliet?”
Charlotte laughs heartily. There’s a warm feeling in her stomach that spreads like a wildfire.
“I’m not sure that’s the correct line, Romeo!” she yells back with her hand curved around her mouth. “Gimme 30 seconds!”
She turns around and all but stumbles back into her room, rushing to the floor length mirror to check herself out. Tugging on the hem of her sundress, she angles herself to check out her legs: yeah, she’s ready.
Before she leaves, she takes her sunglasses off her face and places them on top of her head so they function like an elegant hair band.
Snatching the key card from the nightstand, she exits the room and starts speedwalking down the hall, until she realizes how ridiculous she looks and she forces herself down to a lazy strut.
The elevator ride takes about three damn business days to get down, but when the door opens, she already catches sight of Riley, patiently waiting in the entrance hall.
Riley notices her too, and raises her wrist to tap at a fake watch.
“That was at least two minutes, Charlie. Who do you think you are to keep me waiting?” she smirks. Charlotte narrows her eyes, wags her finger at Riley, and walks up to her with her arms outstretched.
“Shut up, idiot. Come here.”
They slide into each other’s arms, snug like two puzzle pieces.
Riley’s perfume enters her nose and she inhales deeply.
Not wanting to make their embrace uncomfortably long, Charlotte pulls back relatively quickly, but Riley doesn’t let go yet.
Charlotte tightens her grip again and allows herself to bury her nose in Riley’s hair.
Damn, that smells good. She would recognize this scent anywhere as it’s so undoubtedly Riley, only this time it does something different to her than the last time she’d smelled it.
“Hmm. It’s so good to see you again,” Riley whispers in her ear, just before they let go.
The low humming of Riley’s voice sends a heatwave down her body—which could actually just be the remnants of the book she’d just read, she convinces herself.
Still, Charlotte’s words catch in her throat, so her brain is working overtime to come up with something else to say, until there’s a voice behind her.
“Riley!”
Charlotte spins around and watches Gabi and Lou exit a different elevator, holding hands, of course.
Lou lets go of Gabi’s hand to sprint at Riley, who almost gets tackled to the floor from the force of Lou’s hug.
Gabi trails behind her, more restrained than Lou, but definitely happy to see her fiancée’s friend.
Waiting for her turn to greet Riley while Lou seems to be squeezing the last living breath out of her, Gabi eyes up Charlotte, who quickly looks away.
“How was Europe? Did you just land? Are you hungry?” Lou asks her once she finally lets go, and Riley dramatically rubs her throat.
“Good, yes, and no,” Riley smiles weakly. “I’d be so happy to catch up, but would you mind if I just check in and take a nap first? This jet lag is absolutely destroying me and I cannot promise that I won’t become physically violent within the next twenty minutes.”
“Yeah, of course,” Lou nods understandingly. “Do you need help at all?”
“It’s not my first check-in,” she shrugs. “I’ll see you all later?”
“Let’s have dinner tonight? The four of us?” Gabi suggests.
“Oh hell yeah,” Riley replies, making it sound like the most obvious thing in the world.
As Riley walks off, Charlotte can’t help but wonder which room will be hers.
She spends the rest of the afternoon in the sun with a drunken smile on her face. She blames the mimosas, and the smutty story of course.
Paddling by the edge of the pool, she thinks about what the last six weeks have done to her.
A few months ago, she would’ve never thought to doubt her sexuality, let alone explore her sapphic side.
And yet, here she is; imagining a pretty filthy scene in her head, checking out other women by the pool from behind the safety of her sunglasses—not to shamelessly ogle, but for science—and feeling all giddy, knowing that the person who has awoken this side of her is in close proximity.
She may not be ready for any next steps, but at least Riley has convinced her to open herself up to the variety of possibilities to explore this without actually having to touch or be touched.
‘What’s stopping you from just… looking?
’ she imagines Riley’s voice in her head.
'You can literally just check someone out and ask yourself whether you could be into them or not. You don’t have to tell anyone anything, nobody has to ever know.
And the best thing? It’s legal, it’s free, and it’s fun. '
Fun. That’s the reminder she still needs sometimes. Whenever she feels insecure about the whole process, every situation or new idea she encounters comes down to that one question: is it fun? Could it be fun?
If the answer’s no, she doesn’t bother.