Chapter 38 The Bathroom Decider
The Bathroom Decider
Morgan curled on the couch, nursing a hot chocolate and half watching a women’s soccer match from Europe on YouTube. But even the close match and the athletic women on the pitch couldn’t stop her mind from buzzing.
When she finally heard Heidi’s key in the door, it was nearly ten.
“Hey.” Heidi toed her shoes off at the door. “Still up, I see.”
“Yeah. It’s great now I don’t have to ‘work’ in the mornings.”
Heidi grinned. “Neither do I.” She flopped on the couch next to Morgan. “Hot chocolate?” Her eyebrow lifted. “That smells amazing.”
“The box is on the counter, if you want one.”
Heidi bounced up again. “I didn’t until ten seconds ago. Now it’s all I can think of.”
She returned a couple of minutes later with a mug. “Chocolate orange. This is decadent.” She sat next to Morgan again, resting a hand on her knee. “Tell me about your day.”
Where to start?
“Linda called me.”
Heidi snapped to an upright position, and her hot chocolate slopped dangerously close to the rim. “And how is she?”
“She accepted my offer to pay for her surgery. We both got a bit weepy. She said the reason she didn’t accept it earlier was that she knew I’d lost my job and she didn’t want me to get into debt to pay for her surgery.
She called the surgeon after speaking with me, and the surgery is now scheduled for next week. ”
“I’m so glad.” Heidi remained upright, and her hand squeezed Morgan’s knee. “How do you feel, though?”
“Relieved that someone I love now has the best chance.”
“That’s what it’s all about.” Her hand stroked Morgan’s inner thigh for a moment. “And about her knowing you don’t have a job?”
“I was scared at first. Afraid she’d judge me—but she didn’t. It’s okay, Heidi. She persuaded me to tell Mom and Dad too. I haven’t been able to bring myself to do that yet, but maybe I’ll get there in the future.”
“That’s what families are for. Sharing the good and the bad. My sister Fiona certainly shares the bad about her teenage daughter.”
“I’ve transferred the money for surgery. I have enough for that without selling shares.”
“You’re good people, Morgan Favola.” Heidi took a sip of her hot chocolate and leaned in, and her lips rested on Morgan’s cheek for a moment.
Morgan closed her eyes. It seemed so right, having Heidi kiss her, even a gentle kiss like that. When she pulled away, Morgan missed the touch.
“You’re good people too, Heidi Lincoln.”
“I try.” Heidi relaxed back against the cushions again. “No road trip to New Jersey?”
“Not this time. Which I’m quite happy about, to be honest. My parents are there.”
“And you’re still all buttoned-up and happy-veneered in front of them,” Heidi finished.
“I am, yes. But look at me now. It’s past ten on a weeknight, and I’m not in bed. My less-rigid life is already starting.”
“I’m happy to hear it.” Heidi’s hand came to land on Morgan’s leg again and curled around to her inner thigh.
“I met Lula for drinks after work. She’s been promoted to assistant manager.
” She snuck a side-eye to Morgan. “A career path in the service industry. She’s very happy.
Also… She said there’s a vacant room in her share house. She asked if I wanted it.”
Morgan forced herself to keep breathing steadily. In, out. Rinse, repeat. “What did you tell her?”
“I said I was happy where I was. With you. And I am. But, Morgan, if anything has changed for you, if Linda’s surgery costs less than you expected, if you’re uncomfortable now that we’ve had sex, if you’d rather find a tidier roommate, then I can move in with Lula.”
“Do you want to? I mean, you might want cheaper rent, if you’re uncomfortable now that we’ve slept together. If you’d rather find a more relaxed roommate, I don’t want you to feel obligated to remain here.”
“I don’t. I like living here. I love not having to share a bathroom—”
“Glad to know it’s bathroom time that’s the decider.”
“I don’t mean that! You’re the decider, Morgan. I love living with you.” She moved closer and placed her lips near Morgan’s ear. “And I love sleeping with you. I’m more comfortable with you than I’ve been in a long time.”
Heidi’s breath whispered over Morgan’s ear, and she shivered.
“That’s good,” she forced herself to say.
“So, you’re staying. I’m glad. And not just because I’d have to go to the trouble of finding another roommate but because you’re you.
And I love having you here. Particularly as I don’t have to share a bathroom with you. ”
“That would be the deal-breaker,” Heidi agreed.
“What about sex?”
Heidi sat back and sucked her lower lip. “Actually, that’s more of a deal-breaker than the bathroom.” She fixed Morgan with a stern glare.
Hadn’t she just said she loved sleeping with her? Morgan sifted through Heidi’s words, wondering what she’d missed.
Then Heidi’s stern face cracked, and her laugh rang out.
“Your face!” She moved closer to Morgan’s side and lifted Morgan’s arm to drape it over her shoulders.
Her thigh pressed against Morgan’s, and her breath tickled her ear when she said, “Not having sex with you would make me sad.” Her fingers walked up Morgan’s thigh, and she placed her palm over the junction of Morgan’s legs.
“Did you wait up for me for other, more nefarious reasons? Like you want to see me naked?”
“Maybe. Or maybe I want to carry you up the stairs, throw you down on my bed, and lick you hard until you come.”
“Good luck carrying me up the stairs. I’ll walk up and throw myself on your bed so you don’t break your back before you’ve made me come. Twice.”
A hot throb started in Morgan’s clit. “And what will you do to me?”
“Whatever you want,” Heidi’s voice purred in her ear.
“However you want. As often as you want. Starting now.” She took Morgan’s hot chocolate and set it with her own on the coffee table.
A wicked glance, then she reared up and straddled her, pressing Morgan’s head against the back of the couch, holding her face between her palms and kissing her hard.
Kissing her fiercely so Morgan’s lips pressed painfully against her teeth until she pressed back and fought for room.
Her tongue met Heidi’s, and the dance softened, gentled.
And then there were sweet kisses, no less heated and hot.
Heidi’s thighs gripped Morgan’s hips, and Morgan thrust up, her center throbbing with the need to be filled.
She didn’t carry Heidi upstairs; of course she didn’t. They both hurried up and into Morgan’s bedroom with the bigger bed and the softer sheets. Morgan did make Heidi come twice, and, in between, Heidi fucked Morgan hard, filling the empty ache inside her.
They left the blinds open, and although the moonlight shone through the window, the way it glistened off the snow-covered peaks of the Front Range was worth the light.
Morgan stroked a hand over Heidi’s back, feeling the soft skin, the slight indentation that Heidi had said was caused by a collision with a steel fence post as a kid, and turned her face to see the snowy mountains.
She sighed—a contented, sated breath. This was good. What she had with Heidi was good.
And that was good enough for her.
For now.
~ ~ ~
The next day, Heidi’s phone pinged with an email. She glanced at it on the bedside table but continued putting away her clean laundry. Most likely it was just the weekly grocery specials. It was a few minutes before she looked. The subject line jumped out at her: Your Admissions Application.
She fumbled the email open and scanned the first few lines.
She was in! Starting in September, she’d be a first-year student studying for a BA in psychology.
For a second, the negatives piled on top of her: the cost of tuition, the demands on her time, would she get enough work to get by, could she manage the study?
And the big one: Would she stick out a four-year course?
But she was in. A college student. Older than most, maybe wiser, and certainly poorer, than some. She took a deep breath and turned toward the door. The urge to share the news with Morgan beat in her chest. But Morgan was out running errands.
She opened WhatsApp and clicked on Fiona’s name.
Fiona answered almost immediately. “Don’t leave your dirty dishes on the bench. The bloody dishwasher doesn’t load itself.”
“Is that your life advice for this morning?” Heidi smirked into the camera. “Because I stopped doing that when I left home.”
Fiona rolled her eyes. “That was directed at Iza, of course. She’s cleaning her room, and she’s just done a dump and run.
There must be four cereal bowls. Still, if you can change, there’s hope for her.
Even if she’s just ignored me. Again. Why can’t kids spring into the world fully formed as adults? ”
Heidi laughed. “Think of all you’d miss. I remember you telling me about the overwhelming love for baby Iza, about the joy of her little mouth smeared with spaghetti sauce, the first smile, first steps, first time she said she loved you—”
“First-period angst, first-crush heartbreak, first broken bone. Next kid I have, I’ll farm it out until it’s twenty-one.”
“You won’t, you know.” She paused. “Next kid? Are you telling me something?”
“No.” A sigh. “I’d have to find someone to father it first. And talking of romance…how’s the not-girlfriend situation?”
“Morgan?”
“Yes, Morgan. Unless there’s anyone else in the picture?”
Heidi smirked. “Morgan and I are good. The ‘girlfriend’ word has not been mentioned, though. We’re happy. There’s nothing formal about it, nothing really discussed. But for all that we’re such different personalities, she’s wormed her way in. Our road trip really changed things.”
“Seeing someone naked can do that.”
“Not just that. She’s less uptight. And I’m walking on eggshells less around her.”
“I’m happy for you,” Fiona said. “Really I am. It’s a sort of jealous happy; I want what you have.”
“You want to be alone in a foreign country working for an arsehole boss?”
“No, idiot. I want that falling-in-love feeling again.”
In love? No. She wasn’t doing that…was she? “It’s not love, Fi.” Not yet.
“It’s starting to sound like it. Think about that for a hot second and come back to me.”
She would. Later. Another day.
“I called to tell you something great, though.” The news from DU bubbled up inside her, the words hammering in her throat to be let out.
“I got into the University of Denver on their Early Decision process. I’m officially an impoverished student.
On my way. I’m committed now—but the Early Decision means I get a merit scholarship of a few thousand. That helps.”
Fi threw her arms up. “I knew you could do it. My awesome about-to-be-educated sister. When does term start?”
“Not until September.” Heidi sighed. “So long away. But it gives me more time to earn money.”
“To pile on top of the money you got back from Serena. I’m still not sure how you managed that.”
“Best you don’t know.” Heidi squirmed. “But she hasn’t tried to contact me at all since we confronted her, so I think she’s accepted it.”
“So she should. However you got it back, it was your money to take. I don’t suppose you’re coming home for Christmas? Bring Hot Housemate with you.”
“I can’t, Fi.” Longing for her messy, uncomplicated family gripped her chest. “It’s so expensive. More so at Christmas. Maybe next year.”
“Make sure you do. I wish I could come over there.”
She laughed. “Try not to do it the way I did. You don’t need a Serena upsetting your life and stealing your money.”
“No, I already have a daughter who does that. Although she only pinches ten bucks from my purse, not twenty thousand from the bank.”
“Don’t give her ideas!” The sound of the front door opening and closing. Morgan was back. “I have to go. Morgan’s home.”
“Go tell your girlfriend the good news.” Fiona blew a kiss. “Miss you, Heidi. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Heidi blew a kiss back. “Talk soon.”
She ended the call and ran downstairs to share her news with Morgan.