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“I’m serious.” Annalise couldn’t help the smile that came to her face as she playfully slapped her best friend. Nathalie was ridiculous, but there was no one else like her. She also knew Annalise better than anyone else, which meant Annalise didn’t have to say the words for Nathalie to know the truth. She dropped her eyes to the floor as she thought about the real issue holding her back. “It doesn’t matter how I feel. Brinley doesn’t want a relationship. I need to respect that.”
“Correction. She didn’t want a relationship. How do you know that hasn’t changed?”
“I don’t, but—”
Nathalie raised a hand to stop her. “And you won’t unless you ask. Talk to her. Tell her how you feel.”
“I’m scared.” Annalise’s voice was soft and vulnerable. It was the sound of the truth finally coming out. “I’m scared of things changing. Brinley isn’t just a woman I have sex with. She’s become one of my best friends. If she doesn’t feel the same, I’m worried it will ruin that. I don’t want to lose her.”
“But what if you end up losing more by not telling her how you feel?”
“When did you become such a romantic?” Annalise asked with a laugh. This was certainly a side of her best friend that she wasn’t used to seeing.
“I don’t know, but I hate it, so you need to talk to her so it stops.”
“I’ll think about it. This is big for me. This is the first time I admitted out loud that I’m bisexual. I need to take things one day at a time. Plus, it’s less than a month until she takes the MCATs. There’s no way I’m saying anything before that. It wouldn’t be fair.”
“That makes sense. I’ll accept that.” Nathalie held her arms out toward Annalise. “Now can we hug and both forget about the disgusting lovey words that left my mouth today?”
Annalise accepted the hug and melted into Nathalie’s arms. No matter what happened, at least she always had a safe place to land with her best friend.
Their moment was interrupted by the sound of one text, then another, coming through on Annalise’s phone. The first one was from Brinley letting her know that she was on her way, and the other one was from Lexie wishing her a Merry Christmas Eve and telling her she hoped she had a nice time with her family.
Nathalie whistled as she looked over Annalise’s shoulder at her phone. “Both women texting you? Wow. Guess I better let you go.” She pointed at Annalise as she backed away toward her door. “You better tell those two that they’ll never be the number one woman in your heart. That spot belongs to me. Don’t forget it, bitch.”
As soon as Nathalie was out the door, Annalise ran to the bathroom to continue getting ready. No matter what happened between them, Brinley spending Christmas with her was a big deal, and she wanted to look her best.
After thirty minutes, she finally felt satisfied with her hair, make up, and outfit. She looked in the full-length mirror in her room and took in the red form-fitting sweater dress she had paired with black leggings and a pair of gray boots. She teased her curls once more and smiled as she did so. She already knew Brinley was going to love this outfit and that fact caused a flutter in her chest.
The fluttering got worse when there was a knock on the door. All of the pep talks couldn’t have prepared her for what was waiting on the other side of the door. There stood Brinley, hair falling perfectly to one side, red pants, green sweater—modest enough for a family event, low cut enough to make Annalise’s mouth water—and in her hand, a single red rose.
She held the rose out toward Annalise. “Just a little thank you for letting me come.” She smiled sweetly when Annalise took the rose and smelled it, all of her senses heightened as she took in the wonderful aroma.
“It’s beautiful, Brinley.”
“Second most beautiful thing I’ve seen all day,” Brinley said with a wink.
Annalise giggled like a giddy teenager with a crush, which, minus the teenager part, was exactly what she was. “That was so cheesy.” Yet, I’m swooning. “Very off-brand for you.”
Brinley chuckled then wrapped her arms around Annalise’s waist and backed the two of them into her apartment. “You’re right. How’s this? Roses are pretty, but you’re fucking hot.”
“Hm, not quite as poetic.”
Brinley’s hands stayed on Annalise as she bent down to kiss her neck. “Okay. I’ve got it. Roses are red, lemons are sour. Spread your legs and give me an hour.”
Annalise knew it was supposed to be a joke, but just the thought of Brinley between her legs had her extremely turned on. So much so that she couldn’t focus on anything else. She had no other choice but to scratch the itch that Brinley had created. “We’ve got 15 minutes.”
Brinley laughed against Annalise’s neck as she continued to kiss her. “I can work with that.”
Exactly thirteen minutes later, Annalise stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom rubbing at her neck as if that was going to somehow take the big purple mark away. “I know you said you were going to change the fact that I’ve never had a visible hickey, but did you really need to do it before we were meeting up with my family?”
“Sorry. The way you said ‘ we’ve got 15 minutes,’ was so fucking hot, I couldn’t help myself.”
She wasn’t wrong. Everything that had happened since Brinley entered her apartment was extremely hot. The truth was, Annalise knew with how hard Brinley was sucking on her neck that it would leave a mark. But how was she supposed to tell her to stop? That mouth on her neck mixed with two very determined fingers moving in and out of her was pure ecstasy. And honestly, Annalise thought it was hot that Brinley had left her mark on her. If she wasn’t about to be surrounded by her whole family, she would wear that mark proudly.
Brinley rested her chin on Annalise’s shoulder and smiled that smile that could get her out of any and all trouble. “At least after the dickey, you are an expert on covering up a bruise.”
Annalise rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress her smile. “I still can’t believe you keep calling it a dickey.”
