“In your own time too, of course.” April giggled. It was even more adorable than her laugh. Jade didn’t care if April did all three of her dealbreakers as it currently stood.
“Very cute. Number one has to be smoking; it’s gross. Do you?” Jade took in the shake of April’s head while they each ate another spoonful of their gelato. “Good. Number two is related, looking after your health and fitness is really important to me, so do you?”
“Yes, that I definitely agree with,” April replied, reaching out her spoon towards Jade’s dessert, taking a small scoop after Jade nodded her permission.
“Even better. And lastly, tattoos. I know they’re not for everyone and it’s not even that I need my partner to have them, but Idoneed them to accept them and it’s a bonus if they also like mine. So?” Jade knew the answer already, given April’s reaction to the vines down her arms at the bar.
“Oh, I think that’s a given, don’t you?” April blushed furiously and dipped her head, but with a smile spreading across her face. “How many do you have?”
“Well,technicallyit’s just the one, but overall, it has taken nine sittings to get to the stage it’s at just now. The way I designed it with my tattoo artist is that they’re all connected, like a single line that covers the majority of my body.” Jade explained. “The vine leaves vary in type, but the flowers are the more personal aspect. Those are mostly located around my torso, but the vines connect them and feed off and entwinearound my limbs. Each flower that I add had the stem touching off the vine at an angle so that there’s no harsh edges or lines in the whole piece, it all just flows organically across my skin.”
“I thought you said your parents didn’t know about them. If they’re over most of your body, how can you possibly hide them? I mean, do you wear jeans and hoodies in the height of summer?” April asked, surprised.
“It’s amazing how many leggings and long-sleeved tops you can find when you need to.” Jade laughed. “My turn to ask you a question. Favorite holiday location?”
“Well, I’ve travelled a fair amount but haven’t exactly been on vacation often. I love South America. The energy, the food, the people. New Zealand is stunning and the people are so friendly as well. Though to be honest, I always love coming home and feeling rooted again.” April sighed with a warm but distant smile. Jade just watched, truly fascinated with the woman in front of her.
“Great answer,” Jade said, taking the empty container from April’s hand along with her own and dropping them in a nearby trash can. They turned into a quiet street. “Your turn.”
“Hmm,” April lifted her hand and tapped her index finger against her chin. “Ok, three random facts about you, and yes, I like the number three before you ask.” She chuckled.
Jade joined in before answering as she turned to face April, “I’m 26, I am a terrible cook,” she paused, “and I think I could look at your eyes all night and never get bored.” Jade froze. “Oh my god, that wasn’t meant to be my third fact. I’m so sorry.”
April laughed, “It’s fine, I’m just glad you’re feeling as nervous about this as I am. I was convinced you were this cool character who turned the charm on any woman you chose. But here you are, being a total dork, and it makes me like you a little bit more.” April’s eyes danced as they held her gaze, Jade felt her chest flutter with those baby blues locked on hers.
Jade didn’t move her eyes from April’s as she narrowed them slightly to consider what April had just said before continuing. “Then I’ll let my third fact stay.” Jade reached out and let the tips of her fingers touch April’s. She heard the quick inhale of breath from the other woman who took a step closer to Jade. “April?”
“Yeah?” April breathed out.
“Tell me to back off and I will, no questions asked, and we’ll just keep spending the night as friends getting to know each other. But I’d really like to know if it’s ok to kiss you.” Jade held her breath and waited for April to close the gap between them.
A moment passed.
Then another.
Jade waited.
Chapter 8
April
April lingered in that moment; she wanted to take it in and memorize it.
She wanted to remember the heat coming from Jade’s fingers as they rested between her own. She wanted to remember the scent of Jade’s cologne in the air around them, warm with a hint of spice. She wanted to remember the look in Jade’s eyes that while they were green, still blazed with a fire as hot as her hair when she looked at April.
This was it. The moment she’d read about in so many of her books as she travelled from country to country for tournaments but always thought were entirely fictional. She never believed all that was written about tingles, and sparks, andcrackling electricity in the air between two people. She couldn’t comprehend how so many of the characters she read about met each other, eyes locking across a room, then suddenly that was them, pulled together by some magnetic force or mystical fate.
April may have been 22, but she wasn’t naive! Fiction was just that: an exaggeration of real life, where the highs were higher, and the lows were dramatized.
Yet in this moment, April believed every single word she’d ever read.
Her feet moved forward slightly of their own accord, after no consultation with her brain whatsoever.
“Yes, please,” she breathed out.
A smile gently spread across Jade’s lips that April was suddenly very aware she was staring at. She felt Jade’s other hand reach up and gently tuck a loose curl behind her ear, and kept her hand cupped at the side of April’s face before slowly leaning in and placing her lips on April’s.
Fireworks. Fireworks and melting into a puddle. That was the only way April could possibly describe her feelings about what happened next.
