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10:30 on Saturday night found Toni, unsurprisingly, laying in bed, watching Black Mirror and eating some strawberry ice cream. Fatin had invited her to go out, but Toni was content to stay in. An entire year of the L.A. club scene was enough to last her a lifetime, even though it did feel pretty badass to be let into clubs under age 21 just because Fatin convinced the bouncers they were famous enough, at least for the time being.
She pulled out her phone while an episode she’d seen half a dozen times played in the background, and scrolled through her socials. Fatin’s insta story from just a few minutes prior showed she was in some swanky club with Rachel, Leah, and Dot. Martha was already snoring in the bedroom next to Toni, and Shelby was suspiciously absent. Toni sighed.
After they got out of the bunker, they’d tried to make it work between them, but they were both reeling from the trauma and the Goodkinds made it even more impossible. When they got the money from the lawsuit and everyone moved to L.A., they’d agreed it would be best for the group dynamics to remain strictly platonic friends.
It was about a month into their time in L.A. that Toni woke up in Shelby’s bed, both of them naked and wrapped up in each other, and there hadn’t even been any alcohol the night before that they could blame it on.
Still, they agreed it was best if they remained friends. Toni knew Shelby needed to experience all the world had to offer, that she shouldn’t just stay with the only other lesbian she’d been trapped on an island with at 17 (Even if that’s what Toni wanted, deep down). She told Shelby to go out and meet women and be romanced and try new things and Shelby agreed she should, but from what Toni could tell, Shelby downloaded Tinder and then never even created a profile, and left it at that.
Even so, they remained steadfastly friends. They made rules for themselves like “No hanging out without anyone else around” which led to them having sex in bathrooms while their friends pretended not to notice, and “No having sex” which led to them being touchy all night and then going home and calling each other while they got off.
So, yeah, the rules got bent until they broke, and Toni and Shelby would meet up for dinner and fuck each other in Shelby’s bed or shower (or on the couch, or the kitchen table, in the car…one time on a public beach…), rules be absolutely damned.
They were friends, though. They were the best of friends, bonded to each other and as part of a group of friends who needed to lean on each other, and for that reason, she and Shelby had decided it was done. No more sex. They had one last session that lasted upwards of six hours and ended in tears on both sides, then they kissed until the sun rose and agreed that was the very last time.
That was three weeks ago. Since then, things have been good and rules have been followed. They saw each other last weekend at a play Leah had gotten them all tickets to, and the week before that at a restaurant Martha had been wanting to try. They sat next to each other, as they always did, but the only physical contact were brief hugs to say hello and goodbye, same as they shared with the rest of the girls. (And if theirs lasted a second too long and Toni’s heart raced at the smell of Shelby’s hair, well, so be it).
It was for the best, though, as they reminded each other in a late-night phone call four days ago. If they dated and then broke up, what would become of the group? They all needed each other in L.A. as much as they needed each other on the island, maybe even more. Additionally, while Shelby insisted she didn’t need to meet other women, Toni told her she should, whenever she was ready. She didn’t want to deprive Shelby of the chance to meet someone who wasn’t as fucked up as she was. Shelby deserved so much more. So, two friends in a group of seven it was.
This weekend, though, Toni had opted out of the group plans in favor of her solitude and Shelby had opted out in favor of something Toni didn’t know about and wasn’t sure she wanted to. Maybe she was at home as well, surely watching something campy like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and eating chocolate-covered cherries. Or maybe she was out at a gay club, trying to find a woman to bring home and do all the things she’d only ever done with Toni. Or maybe she was on a formal date with a woman and falling in love and forgetting all about Toni and soon they’d be engaged and—
Shelby was calling her.
“Hey,” Toni answered, not waiting for the phone to ring twice.
“Hey, how’s it going? You’re not out with everyone?” Shelby was not anywhere noisy, which was a good sign.
“No, Marty and I just decided to stay in. How about you?” It rolled off her tongue casually, like she hadn’t been obsessing about it.
“Yeah, I just wasn’t feeling it tonight. Felt more like watching Crazy-Ex Girlfriend and chilling, you know?” Toni felt a rush of emotions at the simple admission—she’d been right, and that was because she knew Shelby better than she knew herself. She felt angry at herself for thinking she’d been on a date, then cursed herself for that anger because she wasn’t supposed to care, she had no claim to her, but the guilty satisfaction that she wasn’t with anyone else, that couldn’t be ignored.
“What season are you watching?” Shelby would tell you every season is equally incredible, and Toni would tell you they’re equally ridiculous, as though she hadn’t ever jumped on Shelby’s bed with her while singing along to the show’s music.
Shelby giggled a little and Toni’s eyes widened and she felt her body react because she knew that laugh, she knew that laugh, and no one else did. “I was watching the third season but I turned it off before I called you.” Then, a small sigh, just loud enough for Toni to know what she’d heard.
“Shelby…” she tried to warn, to give some semblance of an attempt not to give in so quickly. But the smile on her face was noticeable in her tone and she knew it. Toni was powerless, and if this was going to stop before it started it was on Shelby to stop it.
“I love hearing you say my name.” Yeah, of course Shelby wasn’t stopping it, she was the one who was starting it.
Toni clicked off the TV and put her ice cream bowl on the nightstand as she asked “What are you doing, Shelby?” She imagined Shelby was probably just starting to tease her clit, maybe her nipples. She didn’t hear the familiar hum of her vibrator, or the whirlpool jets she’d once heard in the background while she got Shelby to orgasm to the sound of her voice.
Shelby didn’t answer for a second, and Toni danced her fingers across her stomach, waiting to hear what Shelby was doing so that she could do the same. Instead, she heard, “How about you come over and find out?”
No sooner had the words left Shelby’s mouth than Toni was swinging her legs off her bed and searching for her keys. She hesitated, briefly, because there was a little melted ice cream on her shirt and her pajama shorts were arguably her rattiest pair, but Shelby had seen her in every state, and her clothes would be coming off soon after she got there anyway.
She snuck out the door to her apartment, careful not to wake Martha, less because she was concerned about her sleep and more because she knew Martha would give her that look, and Toni so did not want to deal with that look.
Toni had never once regretted her and Martha’s decision to move a seven-minute drive from Shelby. It was convenient, and gave her minimal time to reflect or second guess herself on the way over there. All that she could think about was getting her hands on Shelby, feeling her against her once again. It had been way too long, and the memories and fantasies alone in her room were just never enough.
She checked her glove compartment and sure enough, the extra overnight parking pass and security card for Shelby’s apartment building were still in there, almost like they’d known there was no point in her giving them back.
Toni rode the elevator alongside a group of three women, dressed up for what must have been a fancy dinner, and she knew she looked out of place in her stained pajamas and messy hair but she felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be. Or rather, she was about to be.
She opened the door she knew would be unlocked and was immediately greeted by the sight of Shelby standing up from the couch she’d been sitting on. Later on, Toni would register that Shelby, too, had been wearing stained pajamas, her short hair a mess, but at the time, she was too laser-focused on getting as close to Shelby as possible, as soon as possible. She kicked off her sandals on the few steps to meet Shelby halfway between the couch and the front door.
Their lips and bodies collided immediately, and Toni sank into the kiss she’d been craving every minute since the last time she’d kissed her. Her hands fought to touch Shelby wherever she could reach while her arms just wanted to hold her close. She took a step to walk them back and lay Shelby down on the couch, but Shelby pushed back into her and walked her back against the closed front door, ignoring the sandals they stepped on in their path.
With Toni pressed up against the door, Shelby’s hands worked their way under her top, sliding quickly up her abdomen and grabbing at both of her breasts. Toni kept her arms around her, kissing her back with every ounce of passion and desire and love that she could, though it was nothing compared to all those feelings exploding inside of her.
Shelby swiped her thumbs across Toni’s nipples while she pulled back from her lips to kiss her way sloppily over her cheek then down to her neck. Toni whined in displeasure and Shelby stilled her movements and looked up at Toni, a questioning and nervous look on her face.
Toni couldn’t think of the right way to word it, so she showed Shelby instead, grabbed her head with one hand and brought her lips back to her own, while she put the other hand over one of Shelby’s and squeezed, urging her to keep playing with her breasts.
Shelby got the message, she always got Toni’s messages, even when they were communicated without a single word. Still, the feeling was so overwhelming she felt the need to speak it against Shelby’s lips, even after she’d already gotten it. “Kiss me, kiss me,” she groaned, and she opened her eyes just long enough to see Shelby’s open while she nodded, before they closed them again and kissed more.
Shelby massaged her breasts and played with her nipples for only a minute longer until Toni felt Shelby pressing her hands against the inside of her shirt. She knew what it meant, so she slipped her arms through the sleeves and out the bottom. Shelby pulled the material up and Toni hit her head against the door as she pulled back from the kiss as quickly as she could, so that the time spent not kissing would be minimal. She barely felt the impact but Shelby’s eyes widened in concern, and Toni told her she was just fine in the way she pulled her back in to continue the kiss.
Shelby’s hands went right back to her breasts, but Toni’s hands grabbed at the hem of Shelby’s shirt, she wanted nothing between them, needed all of Shelby against her. She pulled it off of her, and in the split second they broke the kiss and Toni opened her eyes, she saw Shelby’s eyes were still closed, her mouth waiting for Toni’s. And Toni would never deny Shelby.
Shelby’s shirt hadn’t even hit the floor next to them before they were kissing again, breasts pressing against each other, their hands wandering all over the skin, as though they had to re-memorize every little inch. Toni brought her hands to Shelby’s breasts and once the first moan escaped Shelby’s mouth into hers, Toni was even more on fire than she had been before.
Toni caressed Shelby’s tits, enjoying the perfectly familiar weight of them, and the way her left side was just a little more sensitive than her right. Toni’s mind wandered, for only a second, as she wondered if some other woman in the future would discover this secret of Shelby’s body that Toni could never forget.
She pushed this thought from her mind as she moved her hands from Shelby’s breasts to her back, and pulled her in with force. She was the only one who had ever gotten Shelby, and tonight, it was her that Shelby was desperate for. She could even tell herself she’d be the only one to ever be with her, even if that was so not the plan they’d laid out.
Her hands moved down Shelby’s back and into the pajama shorts, grabbing at Shelby’s bare ass before she shoved the loose shorts off of her hips. Shelby kept kissing her as she tried to kick them off, but started to lose her balance, so she broke the kiss to bend down and fix the situation. It was too much, and Toni wanted Shelby too badly, she bent down with her, and the next thing she knew, she was on her back, on the floor of Shelby’s entryway.
The hardness of the floor didn’t matter, the fact her head was two inches from Shelby’s shoes didn’t matter, the fact that someone might walk by and hear them didn’t matter, and the fact this was against their rules certainly didn’t matter at all. What mattered was that Shelby’s lips were on hers, and her hands were tugging off her shorts and underwear.
Toni kicked them off while they continued kissing and Shelby threw a leg over her waist. She could feel Shelby wet against her stomach, but she wasn’t concerned about that as she was with simply feeling her hands all over her, the weight of her whole body, and her lips against hers.
Shelby brought her hands back to Toni’s breasts, giving her nipples more attention this time, properly working her up. It wasn’t long until Toni started to buck her hips and whine into Shelby’s mouth, desperate for more. Her mind was already overwhelmed by Shelby, her body needed the same.
Her lips grew unfocused as the rest of her body got louder in its demands for attention. Shelby knew just what was happening, just the right moment to pull away from Toni’s lips and whisper the first words she’d spoken since Toni’s arrival, “Are you wet for me?”
Toni nodded, grabbing at one of Shelby’s wrists and attempting to push it down so that she could feel for herself, but Shelby rotated her hand and interlocked her fingers with Toni’s instead, bringing it to her lips to give it a quick kiss.
“What do you want, baby?” she asked, and Toni couldn’t read if she was asking in a way that was meant to be dominant or submissive, but it didn’t matter, because the answer was the same.
“You. I just want you.” Her fingers, her tongue, her thigh, a toy…it didn’t matter, none of the specifics meant a thing, all she wanted in the world was Shelby.
Shelby shifted to straddle her thigh, kissed her a little longer, then let go of Toni’s hand in order to bring a finger down to slide through Toni, gasping at just how wet she was. Shelby didn’t tease this time, they were too frantic, too focused on pleasure, and her finger quickly started swirling around Toni’s clit. It felt amazing, she knew just what Toni liked, the location, pressure, and pattern, but still,ponytail something was missing. Toni slapped her hand on the ground lightly and Shelby grabbed it with her free hand, linking their fingers together. Then, everything felt complete.
She relaxed into Shelby’s touch, and let herself get lost in the sensation between her legs. She was on her back with Shelby upright on her thigh, watching her face, but Toni didn’t consider feeling self-conscious for a moment. She’d always given herself over to Shelby, freely and fully, and it never occurred to her to hide any of the reactions she got from the pleasure Shelby gave her.
She moaned and contorted her face, flailed her left hand around looking for something to grip onto, which ended up being Shelby’s shoe rack, while she kept her right hand comfortably in Shelby’s grasp.
After rubbing her for a bit, Shelby’s fingers slipped into her, precisely when she wanted, and quickly started moving in her. She knew just the spot, just the pace, and Toni was already so close. She tugged on their joined hands, and Shelby brought her body down on top of hers, as much of themselves flush against each other as possible. It disrupted Shelby’s movements inside her, but what was lost in physical technique was more than made up for in the feeling of having Shelby against her, smelling her, hearing her quiet moans in response to feeling her.
She was getting quite close to the edge, and not a thought was in her mind apart from the present moment and Shelby, Shelby, Shelby. Words almost escaped her altogether but she was able to pull some out of her mouth, “I love you.”
It wasn’t against the rules to say it, after all, all the girls said it to each other all the time in the platonic sense. But as Shelby’s fingers pumped steadily into her, her palm against her clit, it was starkly obvious the kind of love Toni was referring to. And Shelby whispered it back, over and over again, until Toni came undone around her fingers, there on the apartment floor.
Shelby’s fingers stayed in her, her other hand clasped in Toni’s, and she leaned down to cover Toni’s face in kisses while she came down from her high (Well, as much as she could come down from it while Shelby was still on her and kissing her).
As Toni gained awareness, she tuned in to Shelby’s wetness against her thigh, suddenly very aware of her desire to touch Shelby. She thought about simply rolling them over, but the all-consuming rush to get things done as quickly as possible had subsided, replaced with a comfortable understanding that there really was no need to hurry, neither of them was going anywhere. With that in mind, Toni wanted to give Shelby as comfortable an experience as possible while she made her feel good, loved, and desired.
“Do you wanna go to the bed?” She said, squeezing her hand affectionately.
Shelby nodded and leaned down to kiss her a few more times while she withdrew her fingers. They stood up, careful to keep their hands connected. Shelby put her other fingers in her mouth, smiling around them at the taste, staring Toni in the eyes. She didn’t say it, but Toni could still feel it, Shelby was thinking “I missed this taste.”
They walked to the bedroom, hand in hand, and Toni had absolutely no qualms about openly staring at Shelby’s ass as she walked, and Shelby wasn’t afraid to bounce her hips as she walked, showing off a little extra. It was light and silly and comfortable and so simply them.
Toni pushed Shelby lightly onto the bed and climbed on top of her, her hair falling all over Shelby’s face. “Your hair!” Shelby laughed, attempting to push it out of her way.
“You love my hair,” Toni said with a playful edge.
“I do,” Shelby said, and her tone was serious and Toni knew she meant it, she’d always loved Toni’s hair. Shelby reached over to her nightstand, and from behind an open bag of chocolate-covered cherries, she pulled out a hair tie and handed it to Toni.
Toni stared at the little black band for a moment. Shelby’s hair was too short to be tied up. She must have had that hair tie sitting there since at least the last time Toni had been over. Maybe she saw it and chose not to move it in case Toni ever came back and needed to put her hair up.
Before she got any more sentimental about a fucking hair tie, Toni threw her hair into a messy pony tail and leaned down to kiss Shelby properly. Shelby’s hands found her face, holding it reverently, and even though their eyes were closed, Toni somehow felt so beautiful.
She felt Shelby shifting underneath her, attempting to spread her legs open even wider, and Toni knew what that meant, knew every inch of Shelby’s body and all the little signals she’d send, consciously or unconsciously.
She moved her hands to Shelby’s hips while she kissed her down her neck, spent just a moment kissing each breast and each hip bone, before she got to where Shelby wanted her.
She took her time to look at Shelby, splayed open for her, eager to give herself over to Toni, trusting her to bring her pleasure, to make her feel good. Toni thought for a moment to a time she’d been sexting Shelby and used the word “worship,” and Shelby had told her she didn’t like that word in a sexual context. Of course, she never used it again, but in her head, it still felt accurate to what she wanted to do, what she was about to do.
She didn’t want to tease, but didn’t want to work her up too quickly, either. She just wanted to make her feel as good as possible for as long as possible.
She brought her tongue up through her, immediately moaning at the taste she’d missed like hell. She wrapped her arms around Shelby’s thighs and squeezed thighs, pulling them in so she could feel them tight around her. She brushed her tongue over her clit in long, languid strokes, and Shelby’s contented sighs told her she was doing just what she needed to.
She continued licking up her pussy, pressing lightly against her clit, and giving gentle squeezes to her thighs. She licked loudly, moaning occasionally, knowing how much Shelby loved those sounds. She knew Shelby wasn’t going to come from this alone, but she’d keep going until Shelby asked for more or passed out from exhaustion.
Shelby seemed content to let Toni keep licking her softly, and Toni let her mind wander, just a bit. They were “breaking the rules” once again, and Toni couldn’t count how many times they’d done so. Shelby had been the one to initiate it, but Toni knew she would have caved before too long. It felt so good, so intrinsically right, the two of them together. Toni’s heart would always be with Shelby, and in that moment, her tongue just dipping into Shelby, that’s all that seemed to matter.
Thankfully, Toni is broken out of her thoughts by Shelby whining and grabbing at her hair. Toni pulled back and looked up into dark green eyes. She pressed a quick kiss just above Shelby’s clit before asking “What do you want, baby?”
“Put your tongue in me.” Shelby pleaded, and Toni gave her a quick kiss on the clit before sinking her tongue deep into her, relishing in the way she felt around her tongue. She pressed in and out a few times, moaning into her to give her some vibration.
Shelby’s hand brushed over her fingers, gently pushing against her hand. “Rub my clit,” she said, “I wanna come for you.”
Keeping her tongue moving in and out of Shelby, she brought her thumb over to move over Shelby’s clit, gently at first, then with increasing pressure, until she was drawing the quick right circles she knew would build Shelby up. Shelby’s moans of pleasure rang out, getting louder and throatier until her hands dug into Toni’s hair again and she gasped out “Toni,” in a request to be brought over the edge.
Toni switched from rubbing tight circles with her palm to pressing her palm firmly against her clit, and pressing it in just right, while still tongue-fucking her. Shelby pressed against Toni’s hand and face and then she was coming, crying out loudly, her hips rocking while she dug her hands into the blanket underneath her.
Toni drank in every moment of it, Shelby’s taste on her tongue, the smell of her, the warmth of her body, the sounds she was making both in her throat and from Toni’s tongue, and of course, the sight of this beautiful girl having an orgasm, all for her.
Shelby came down from her high, gasping and smiling down at Toni, who took the opportunity to kiss up the thighs she loved so much and hadn’t gotten to kiss earlier.
She reached up to her knees, and then rested her head gently on one as she looked down at Shelby, still beautifully flushed. Shelby raised her eyebrows at Toni, “you got another one in you?”
Toni would honestly probably have sex with Shelby until her lungs gave out if she could, but for now, she was still horny and more than anything, craving Shelby. She nodded, and something in the way Shelby reacted told her that she could tell just how soft Toni felt for her in that moment.
Shelby sat up and met Toni in another kiss, starting gently, softly, sweetly, her hands back on Toni’s cheeks, brushing away the stray hairs that she’d pulled from the ponytail in the heat of the moment. Toni’s hands started innocently on Shelby’s back, but found their way around to her breasts, gently massaging at her nipples. Shelby reacted with a nip in the kiss, a little more passion that built until it was a fiery heat, and then Shelby was pushing her onto her back and climbing on top of her, straddling her thigh.
Shelby wrapped her arms around Toni’s shoulders and pressed their foreheads together, and started grinding forcefully against her thigh. Once again, their bodies were flush together, and all Toni could feel all over her was Shelby. Shelby, who wanted her close as possible while she chased her pleasure against her thigh. Shelby, whose body she knew better than her own, and was absolutely perfect to her in every way. Shelby, who she could never, ever stay away from.
“You’re so perfect,” Toni said, and Shelby let out a small moan in response. Toni ran her hands up and down Shelby’s back as she continued, “You’re so beautiful, babe. You’re so fucking hot like this. I love having you on me, rubbing your wet pussy on my leg.” Shelby moaned and shuddered, and Toni knew she was loving the talk, so she continued, “You’re such a good girl. Fuck, you’re so hot. I love you so fucking much.”
Shelby let out a loud moan and her hips stuttered and Toni squeezed at her back, “Come for me, baby. I want you to come for me,” and with that, Shelby was seizing again, pressed on top of Toni, overwhelming all her senses and making her as hazy as if she was the one having an orgasm.
Shelby caught her breath and began kissing Toni again, first on the lips and then down to her neck, before whispering, “can I make you come again, beautiful?”
Toni had never liked being called beautiful before, but hearing it from Shelby’s lips made her heart flutter every time. “Please do,” she said, pressing her legs apart while Shelby brought a hand over her hip and down to her clit. She rubbed at it carefully as she sucked at her neck, before slipping her fingers inside her.
Shelby pressed and curled her fingers inside of her, slowly enough to work her up gradually, just as Toni had done to her before. Toni was vaguely aware that hickies were being worked into her neck but didn’t mind at all. She closed her eyes and drank in the feeling of Shelby’s fingers inside of her, her mouth on her neck, her body halfway on top of hers.
The physical sensations were wonderful but not so overwhelming she couldn’t think, and so her mind started to wander, and she found herself in a familiar fantasy—one where this wasn’t Shelby’s bed but one they shared every night, where Shelby was officially her girlfriend (or maybe even her wife), and not her friend that she just couldn’t stay away from. She moaned louder and grabbed at Shelby’s back, and maybe Shelby thought it was from something she’d with her fingers, but really it was at the thought of the two of them doing this on their honeymoon.
“Does that feel good?” Shelby purred into her ear as she quickened her pace inside Toni and rubbed harder on her clit. Toni just whimpered and nodded, hoping Shelby would keep talking because God, did she ever love that voice.
“You look so stunning like this. You’re always so beautiful. I think about you like this all the time, you know?” Shelby’s fingers slowed for a second and Toni opened her eyes to see Shelby staring at her with a sort of faraway look in her eyes.
“You think about me all the time?” Toni asked, in an attempt to get Shelby back on track, but it came out so much different. Shelby nodded and for a second it looked like she was going to cry, which would certainly make Toni cry, but they’d already learned that they were capable of crying and orgasming at the same time.
Luckily, Shelby just leaned in and kissed her, moving her fingers more quickly again, and Toni could feel the passion in her lips, and in her fingers and palm. All of Shelby’s physical passion towards her felt so matched by emotional passion, and Toni could feel Shelby’s love for her as much as she could feel her fingers curling.
Toni fought to keep kissing her for as long as she could, but she was just too skilled with that hand of hers, and Toni lost her ability to kiss back. She buried her face into her shoulder and pressed in, just feeling as much of Shelby as she could in her state of barely being able to control her own body.
Shelby began talking to her again, right into her ear, “You feel so good. That’s my girl, that’s my gorgeous girl.” At that moment, it didn’t feel like a fantasy at all, it all felt so true, she was Shelby’s, all Shelby’s, mind, body, and soul. It was as much an emotional experience as it was a physical one when she came, her arms tightening around Shelby’s body as her pussy tightened around her fingers.
She stayed, holding Shelby tensely against her and burying her face in her neck until her arms gave out and she was forced to relax. Her head dropped down onto the pillow and as she caught her breath, Shelby placed a quick kiss just to the sides of each of her eyes. She hadn’t realized she’d been crying and wasn’t sure if it was from physical strain or emotions, but based on Shelby’s reaction, it seemed like she thought it was emotional. And Toni figured Shelby, like always, was right.
Toni settled into Shelby’s arms, and they lay together, pressed close, looking at each other with soft smiles and occasional kisses. Toni never thought about how long that post-sex cuddling lasted, she just drank it in as long as it lasted, ever so content to have Shelby in her arms.
Eventually though, a guilty smile worked its way onto Shelby’s face, and Toni knew what it meant, but Shelby said it out loud anyway, “I gotta go pee.” Toni kissed her several more times for good measure before they both rolled out of bed, and Shelby headed to her en-suite bathroom while Toni made her way to the kitchen.
She grabbed the Texas Cowboys glass she’d found in a thrift store and given to Shelby. It was sitting in the same cabinet it always was, which wouldn’t be so impressive if Shelby didn’t have the habit of shoving things in whatever cabinet struck her fancy (or just leaving them on the counter). She filled the cup with water and quickly turned on the ice dispenser, and three ice cubes fell in. She chucked two into the sink and took a long sip before grabbing the extra phone charger from the kitchen outlet and heading back to the room.
She settled onto her side of the bed and took a few more sips until Shelby joined her, and Toni handed her the glass. She looked into it and smiled, “One ice cube,” she said, as though she was happy but not at all surprised Toni remembered this silly preference of hers (As if Toni would ever forget anything about Shelby).
They passed the water back and forth until there was just a little left, which was for Toni to drink first thing when she woke up.
A few minutes later, they settled back into bed, the lights off, and their bodies still naked and intertwined. Shelby drew lazy patterns across Toni’s back. Toni tried to discern letters but quickly decided she must just be moving her hand randomly, and let herself be lulled by the gentle rhythm and the feeling of Shelby all around her.
She was just starting to fall asleep when two glimmers of light from each side of the bed told them that they both had a notification, which meant it was likely the group chat.
Shelby kept one arm around Toni while she rolled over to grab her phone, then rolled back so they could look at it together.
"Fatin: Brunch at 10 tomorrow bitches!! Bottomless mimosas at Freya, and I better see you ALL there *cough* Shoni + Martha *cough*"
Completely ignoring that their names had been squished together, Toni groaned as Shelby turned to put her phone back down. “That’s in like eight hours. What the fuck, Fatin.”
“At least it’s close by!” Shelby offered, and it was, only a block away.
Toni nodded until another thought struck her, “I don’t have anything to wear, I came in those damn pajamas.”
Shelby laughed, “I honestly don’t think I registered what clothes you came in. But I got your light blue tank top and white shorts here, if you want.”
Toni nodded, that would make a decent brunch outfit, and the fact Shelby just knew right away she had those sparked something in her that she couldn't identify, so she just held Shelby even tighter while she whispered, “that sounds good.”
Toni tried to muster up the courage to bring up the elephant in the room that would be joining them for brunch, but just as she decided she couldn’t bring herself to it, Shelby did it for her.
“They’re all gonna know you spent the night, you know. They’ll know we’re having sex again.”
Toni replayed it in her head, the way Shelby said they were having sex again instead of that they’d had sex again. This wasn’t ending, this wasn’t slowing down, and the rules had been broken too many times to even try to enforce anymore.
“They probably don’t think we ever stopped.” Toni pointed out. It wasn’t like they kept their friends up-to-date on their sex lives, although Fatin was known to fish for dirty details here and there.
Shelby hummed in agreement and began drawing a soft pattern over Toni’s bare arm. “I don’t like stopping,” Shelby said after a minute.
“I don’t either,” Toni said, and though the dark she could only just make out Shelby’s eyes staring into hers.
“No more stopping?” Shelby whispered, and Toni’s brain was foggy with tiredness and spent from the night’s activities, but she could still understand her.
“No more stopping,” Toni agreed. Whatever that meant for them could be figured out in time. For now, it was just nice to be with Shelby and not worry it could be the last time.
Shelby continued drawing a pattern on her arm, until finally Toni tuned in enough to realize she was writing something, and it wasn’t hard to figure out what.
“I love you, too,” She said into Shelby’s ear.
“I love you so much,” came Shelby’s response, along with a quick kiss.
“I really love you a lot,” Toni replied softly, giving her a sleepy kiss back.
In the morning, they’d go to brunch, and then maybe they’d break the other rule and spend some time alone, hopefully to talk about what the hell it was that they were doing. But for the night, Toni was happy to just love on Shelby and be loved by her, in exactly the same way.