3. Sky
My heart flutters every time Nora looks at me that way she does. The small touches, how gentle her voice is when she speaks to me. Even down to the way she speaks. All the times I’ve caught her staring my way and never said anything, because she’s my friend.
My best friend.
And there would be nothing worse in this world than losing her if she didn’t feel the way I do.
The most annoying part about this whole situation I hear you ask…
I’m straight. Well, at least I thought I was.
At least that’s what I told her when we first met.
I was taken aback by how utterly gorgeous she was, unable to understand why I was looking at her in a way I’ve never looked at another woman before in my life.
I’ve always been into men—I have no idea why, because who the fuck would choose to be into those oxygen bandits?
But here I am, yearning over a woman that… doesn’t want me the way I want her, and it’s killing me.
Nora. Is. Stunning.
No, she’s more than that.
She’s everything.
Hazel eyes and beautifully plump lips. Smooth looking, tawny skin covering every inch of her phenomenal body.
Tall, and lean from years working out to get herself in perfect shape.
Her soft hair is styled into a short pixie cut that helps accentuate all her perfectly angled facial features.
Especially those intoxicating high cheekbones of hers.
I’ve tried everything I can to fight the feelings I have for her, but since everything has gone to shit in Missouri, and the way she’s protected me every single time... They’ve only grown stronger.
I swallow hard before clearing my throat once more. “So… I think… um, this is the best place for the three of us to hit tonight, because—”
“You’re staying here,” Nora counters, cutting the end of my sentence off before standing up.
I spin my chair slightly to face her better. “I’m sorry?” I frown in utter confusion and point to my right ear. “Can you repeat that again for me because I think I’ve gone deaf.”
Rubbing both hands over her face, she releases a deep sigh. “Sky, please, can we not do this right now. I need you to stay here so you’re—”
“Safe?”
“Exactly. Look, I—”
“No.”
“No?” She mirrors me, arching her left eyebrow.
“Yeah, you heard me.”
Nora snorts, her tongue dancing over her bottom lip as she looks away from me for the briefest of seconds. “I’m not playing this game with you again.” She shakes her head. “You’re not coming and that’s final.”
“Final? What are you, my daddy?” Sky doesn’t respond to that, but her eyes tell me everything I need to know. She doesn’t want this argument, but I do. There’s no way I’m staying here while her and Paz do this alone.
“Why?” I cut her off, standing from the chair and stepping towards her.
“Because I said so.”
“That’s not a valid answer, Nora.”
“Well… that’s about all you’re going to get from me.”
“That’s bullshit!” I bark. “Why can’t I come? Just tell me.”
“No. Now drop it.” Turning away from me she makes her way towards the door. “Stay here, where you’re safe, where I can protect you. And when everything’s done, I’ll come and—”
I move faster than her, launching myself from my computer chair and placing my body in front of the steel door. “I’m not staying here.”
“Yes… you are,” she counters, resting her hands on my shoulders. As she tries to move me out of the way, I stand rigid. Refusing to do what she wants. “Sky.”
“Nora.” I cross my arms in front of my chest. There’s no way I’m staying here while she goes out to that building with her sister.
Groaning, Nora drops her head back with her hands resting on her hips. “Please, don’t fight me on this. I’ve thought long and hard about everything, and I don’t think that—”
Reaching up, I grab her by the chin, tugging her gaze back to me. “You can at least look at me when you’re about to lie.”
“Lie?”
Okay, not the best choice of words I could’ve used.
“Yes, lie.” I know she’s about to get pissed off. The vein in her forehead is already throbbing. “You want me to stay here because you don’t think I can do it. Not because you want to protect me.” I step forward, closing the space between us. “It’s because you think I’m weak, isn’t it.”
“What? No. That’s not it at all. It’s because I—”
“Oh, don’t bullshit me, Nora. Just fucking say it. You don’t think I have the capacity to murder someone. That’s it, isn’t it.”
“Sky—”
“Just fucking say it!” I shout. “Tell me to my face. At least have the dignity and respect to tell me the truth. Then I’ll know how you really feel about me!” I egg her on.
“What?”
“That you think I’m weak. That I can’t do what you and Paz are about to. That—”
“Is that what you think!?” she barks, laughing through the words in utter disbelief.
“Yes!”
“That’s ridiculous, and you fucking know it. I’ve never once called you weak, Sky, and you insinuating that I believe you to be is insulting.”
“If that’s not it” —I raise my arms to the sides and drop them, my palms slapping against my bare thighs— “then what is it, because I sure as shit don’t have any fucking idea as to why you would want to keep me locked away like Rapunzel while you go off and—”
“Sky, stop.” She presses both her hands together as though she’s praying. “I’m begging you.”
“And also, I don’t understand why you’re doing this to me!?” I’m speaking faster than the words are forming in my brain. “Is it because you don’t want me around anymore?”
“Sky…”
“Is it because all you think I’m good for is hacking?”
“Jesus Christ.” Nora rolls her eyes, and it’s warranted because I know I’m being ridiculous right now.
“Is it because you think I’ll fuck something up and get us all killed?”
“What? No! Fuck… No, it’s not that, it’s—”
“Then what!?” I shout. “What is so fucking private that you can’t tell me and let me be part of—”
“Because I love you!”
My lips part, as though I’m going to speak, but no words can form right now after this admission. I must have it wrong. A friend, she loves me as a friend.
“Fuck!” she bellows, causing me to jump.
But not in fear. More so because she has never once raised her voice at me in the decade we have been friends.
“Don’t you ever say that shit to me again.
Do you hear me! Ever! Jesus fucking Christ, Sky, I don’t want you there because I fucking love you!
” Nora slaps the back of her hand into her other palm frustratingly.
“It’s not because you’re weak, or stupid, or whatever fucked up shit you have running through that incredible mind of yours.
It’s because I care for you so fucking much that I can’t bring myself to put you in a situation where you might get hurt. ”
Turning from me, she leaves me standing there with my mouth agape, moving to sit on the edge of my computer desk. Nora’s fingers curve around the edge of the wooden desk so tightly that her knuckles turn white.
“If something happened to you, if you got hurt, if one of those fuckers touched you… I would never forgive myself. Let alone live with it.” Looking at me she continues, “It fucking eats at me.” She pokes herself in the chest, her face contorting with hurt.
“It drives me insane. Constantly wishing I didn’t feel the way I did about you, that I could just…
stop thinking about you every second of every day, but I can’t.
So forgive me if I want to keep the woman I love safe from the grimy hands of rapists and fucking murderers!
” Taking a deep breath, she continues speaking, as though she’s finally able to release all the pent-up emotions inside her after however long.
“If you truly believe all those things you said before, then you really don’t know me at all. ”
Nora drops her head forward in defeat, the silence between us now thick with tension.
I’m utterly taken aback by everything. That was the last thing I thought she would ever say or admit.
After a few long, agonizing seconds that feel like an eternity, I push myself off the door and slowly begin walking to where she sits.
The connection of my clumpy boots play out as the only sound in the room, as I slowly close the space between us.
Stopping between her legs, I take both my hands and raise them, cupping her face to lift it so she will look at me, and the moment I do, I can see all the pain in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe. “I don’t believe what I said and I didn’t mean it. Not even for a second. I shouldn’t have said it. Forgive me.” Leaning in, I angle my face towards her and gently press my lips against hers.
Nora moves her head to the side and sighs. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“… Kiss me. I don’t want you to feel like you have to.”
I pull her face back, bringing her attention to me once more. “When have I ever done anything because I have to?”
Silence.
“Exactly,” I murmur. “So, please just… let me kiss you before I lose all my confidence and go bury myself somewhere from embarrassment, and—” I’m cut off.
No words are able to be formed because the woman I’ve been in love with for as long as I can remember, is kissing me.
With her soft mouth pressed against mine, I can’t halt the low whimper that descends from my throat.
She runs the tip of her tongue against the seam of my mouth, as though begging for entry, and I happily oblige.
And the very second I do, she eases it inside.
Tenderly sliding her tongue against mine in a deep, meaningful kiss.
My skin ignites with gooseflesh, running from the bottom of my spine, all the way up into my hairline.
Feeling as though this is the first kiss I’ve ever experienced, a kiss so perfect that none previous can compare.
I underestimated my imagination greatly, because this is unlike anything I expected from her.
Nora’s hands grip my waist, fingers squeezing tightly at the skin, and in reaction I wrap my arms tightly around her neck, bringing myself flush with her body, silently demanding more from her.
“Please,” I beg her.