Chapter Ten #3
Em backed away. If she heard it, there’d be no undoing it—no pretending it was all a misunderstanding. Lennon’s face went flat, and she held her pointer finger out, inching her ear even closer to the door.
Em squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to think about what might be happening.
She didn’t need to hear anything else. She could already see it.
Claire leaning in, Shae not pulling away—that—in and of itself stung.
For all the ways they gravitated toward each other, Shae only ever pulled away.
Their silhouettes blurred together in the dim light of her mind.
“Len?” Em said, her voice fragile. She could feel herself losing control, like she might break at any minute.
“Shhh, I can’t hear anything,” Lennon said, turning toward Em. She quickly registered the look on Em’s face.
“Please, let’s just go!” Em pleaded.
Lennon backed away from the door on tiptoes, clutching Em’s hand as she reached her. She led her into her room, pulling her in for a hug as soon as the door clicked shut.
“Okay,” she said, leaning back to look at Em, who was visibly shaken. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. We don’t know what happened, though, so let’s not jump to conclusions, yeah?”
Em sank onto Lennon’s bed, her hands clenched in her lap. Her shoulders hung like a wilting flower—any energy she previously had, now drained. When her voice came, it was hollow.
“I know what happened,” Em said, barely holding her words together. “I know.”
? · ? · ?
Shae opened the door to her room, throwing herself onto her bed atop the covers.
This day hadn’t gone great for her. She’d actually tried—attempted to open a door with Em when she’d sent that photo, but Em disregarded it.
Only sending back a “Thanks!” She didn’t know what that was even supposed to mean.
Finding out that Em spent time with a girl today at work, and she’d asked Em out, was the hardest part. It threw her, unsettled her more than she would have expected.
Em could do whatever she wanted; they weren’t together, and Shae hadn’t given her any reason to have hope.
A light knock came from the other side of the door, and Claire opened it a sliver.
“Shae,” she whispered through the crack. “Let me in.”
Shae chuckled. It was kind of adorable. “Come in. What are you, a vampire?”
Claire slipped inside, easing the door shut behind her. She tiptoed to Shae’s bed, flopping down beside her.
“What are you getting into up here?” she asked, throwing her phone off to her side.
“I was gonna go to sleep, to be honest.”
“Oh you were? Well, now you have company.” Her brows flicked up, like she already knew she wouldn’t be turned away.
Shae didn’t mind her being here at all; she wasn’t complaining. Claire had a way of immediately drawing her mind away from the present.
“So did your family typically stay here all summer like this?” Claire asked.
“No. Just weekends, and a few weeks out of the summer. My dad still had to work.”
“Right. What about your mom?”
“She’s a painter. She doesn’t do it much anymore.” Shae turned to her side, getting comfortable. “You may have seen some of her work, though. She’s pretty well known in the Boston area, June Hemingway.”
“You know what, I think Lennon mentioned that.”
Claire kept asking questions, leaning in to Shae like she genuinely wanted a glimpse into her world.
It’d been a while since Shae had let anyone close like that.
In Italy, encounters had been fleeting— mostly.
A one-night thing that didn’t require much talking or emotional effort.
She hadn’t seen a reason to open up or get too close to anyone, knowing her time there was limited.
Claire adjusted herself to face Shae on the bed, and Shae immediately picked up on her nervous energy. She reached across the bed, fidgeting with the string on Shae’s hoodie, tugging it subtly while her bottom lip caught between her teeth.
“Okay, so I have a question for you,” she said, tracing an invisible line down the surface of Shae’s comforter.
Shae’s stomach fluttered—partly curious, and she had to laugh because Claire had been asking questions; she hadn’t stopped since she’d climbed into bed with Shae.
“Can I—may I kiss you?” she asked.
Shae’s mind immediately flashed to Em. How tonight, she’d spent time with someone new, and the thought of it burned in Shae, starting in her chest and spreading. Not quite anger, but it twisted the same.
“You don’t have to, we—” Claire was saying as Shae leaned in.
Claire’s lips were full and soft. Inviting. She pulled Shae’s body in closer, and Shae lost the plot entirely. She moved over the top of Claire, her hips dragging between her skirted legs.
Claire's hands were in her hair, grabbing her ass, pulling her in.
Shae’s thoughts went wild, thinking back to Em in the pool yesterday. To all the things she wanted to do to Em in that moment, and suddenly, Claire was her.
Shae’s mouth moved over Claire’s in a frenzy before slipping Claire’s shirt over her head, not bothering to unclasp her bra before dragging it down and wrapping her mouth around Claire’s breast.
Claire gasped, tugging at the hem of Shae’s sweater and yanking it over her head.
As soon as Shae’s arms were free, she brought a hand down, lifting Claire’s skirt in a rush and dragging a hand up and over her center.
“Shae,” Claire breathed, and Shae stopped moving.
Something about the way she said her name had snapped Shae back to reality. This wasn’t Em. This was Claire. What the fuck was she even doing?
She hovered over Claire, smoothing her skirt back down.
“You good?” Claire asked, lifting onto her elbows.
Shae sat back on her knees. Feeling the gravity of the situation.
“I don’t think we should do this, Claire.”
“Oh.” Claire sat the rest of the way up, fixing her bra. Her cheeks were still flushed. She darted her eyes up at Shae, blindly searching for her shirt, tapping the bed behind her.
Shae reached around and grabbed it, holding it in front of her. Claire tugged at it, but Shae didn’t let go.
“Claire,” Shae said, trying to catch her eyes. “It’s not you. You’re great, and I’m obviously attracted to you.”
Shae was not used to having to do this, let someone down easily. She didn’t know what to say or if that was even the right thing. “It’s all just a little fast. Let’s slow down. Go back to talking. What do you say?”
Claire’s shoulders relaxed. “Yeah,” she said. “We can do that.”
Shae let out a soft exhale and sank back onto the bed, trying to shake off the moment.