On the Same Page

by Haley Cass

Not only did it have the table, but two ridiculously comfortable chairs at the perfect height to perch on, with a small shelf just above it with a docking station for their phones, where they could keep their wine glasses and snacks.

She’d come through with the water and a pack of the cookies from the specialty market that Riley loved…

she reached down and grabbed Riley’s socked foot before it could fall back to the floor. Instead, she pulled it into her lap and started massaging.

Gianna was, objectively, as close to physical perfection as Riley thought a human being could get.

It was a ridiculous feeling that curled through her. This sense of betrayal and hurt and – ugh, stupid. Bad feelings.

Gianna was typically the opposite of having social anxiety and she certainly didn’t need Riley with her to kick off a party. Just like Riley didn’t need Gianna as her plus-one whenever she had a big work event. It was just what they did for each other.

And Gianna was very much an attractive woman.

What was new, though, was that it kickstarted a strange feeling deep in her stomach. This feeling that edged along the nerves that had kept her on-edge and daydreaming. An edge that was sharp with curiosity and anticipation in equal measure, one that had her stomach flip-flopping in a much more pleasant way than the anxiety.

It was far from the first time Gianna complimented her in such a way, but it was the first time the words made Riley’s pulse jump.

She gasped at the sensation, at the way Gianna’s touch sent that spark right through her core.

Riley must have scrolled through her photos so many times in the past without even a second look at them, beyond the memory held within. Right now, as light holiday music played through the four-star restaurant, she was staring. Staring and feeling more than the memory.

Riley smiled at the picture instinctively, as she always would have. Her stomach swooped down low at the sight of Gianna’s vibrant grin, and… yeah, she still wasn’t used to that.

She could feel their hearts beating in tandem as she breathed in Gianna’s scent, and her stomach devolved into a swarm of butterflies despite her resolve to be normal. Still, she tightened her arms. Attraction or not, she’d missed Gianna.

Riley’s throat ran dry as she kept her gaze trained firmly on Gianna’s face. Her perfectly made-up face that – from whatever product she’d used – was literally emanating a glow.

That for the first time in twelve years, Riley didn’t know how to simply be with Gianna? That she felt every casual touch as though Gianna was made of lightning and Riley was a conductor, electrified?

Pretending that she wasn’t feeling something so intense around Gianna wasn’t just difficult; it felt like an outright lie with how much work she had to put into not acknowledging it.

There was no one in here who was remotely as interesting as Riley.

Gianna ran her eyes over Riley’s face all over again, as if she hadn’t just studied her. As if she didn’t already know exactly what Riley looked like. As if they hadn’t lived together for almost a whole year at this point.

Riley returned her smile, tremulously. And, god, she really was so beautiful, Gianna thought, unbidden. Her eyes glittered with tears, still, and her hair was a little tousled, and she wasn’t wearing makeup, and her smile was a little raw. But something about Riley Beckett was simply breathtaking.

Seeing Gianna’s success gave Riley pure joy, that was the simple truth. Gianna beamed, and warmth settled right in Riley’s chest at it.

She hadn’t felt this same swoony sensation at every smile, the way her stomach erupted in butterflies with every sweet word, the way her heart raced with anticipation at a simple text.

She tried to make herself join in on the joke. But treating the intimacy she had with Gianna like a joke, laughing about it with Joel, felt so disingenuous. It made her stomach twist and turn like she was going to be sick, and she couldn’t do it.

Where Riley used to find Owen’s crush on Gianna part amusing and part exasperating, she’d never felt this… this heated irritation that bubbled through her, unbidden.

Falling for her best friend was much more emotionally taxing than Riley could have ever anticipated.

She continued to plant kisses over Riley’s face and Riley allowed her to. She didn’t stop, even when Riley started laughing, even when she started laughing as well. It felt so right – the perfect outlet of all of her feelings.

Still, though, Riley’s heart flip-flopped at the sight of her. “You look beautiful.” There was a promise in her voice that she could feel settle in her veins.

Her lips tingled as she applied the brush – the same one she’d just used on Riley’s lips – flicking her eyes to Riley. There was something incredibly satisfying that tingled in her stomach at the way their mouths matched so perfectly.