CHAPTER 25

She probably should’ve changed into something warmer, but when Selma had told her she wanted to go out with her, Drew had not wanted to delay. They stood on the sidewalk outside the hotel, waiting for the car she’d ordered for them after making a hasty reservation at a French place a few miles away in the elevator on the way down because she wanted a nice place that was out of the way and not a likely place that any of the boarders, who were still in town, would want to go to. She wanted to hold Selma’s hand while they stood there, but she needed to keep her gloveless hands in her pockets to try to keep them warm.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah,” Drew said, trying not to shiver out the words.

“Why are you wearing that? And why did you fly here in a very similar and not-at-all-warm outfit?”

Drew shook her head and smiled.

“I didn’t fly here in it. I wore my team sweats on the plane. I changed in the bathroom after we landed.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to look cool when I saw you again, and not like a slob who just got off a plane and had on baggy sweats.”

“You changed because of me?”

“Yeah. And I went to my room tonight and did the same thing. This is my lucky jacket.” She tugged on it.

“Lucky?”

“Not in a sex way. I meant that good things happen to me when I wear it sometimes, so I call it my lucky jacket. God, where is this car?”

“Drew, do you want to go upstairs and change? We can cancel the car.”

“Nope. It’s here,” she said and pointed to the car with the license plate that matched the one showing up in the app, which was sitting at the closest stoplight, waiting for it to turn green. “I’ll be warm inside the restaurant.”

“Okay.” Selma had been standing next to her, but she moved in front of Drew then and put her arms into the jacket, wrapping them around Drew’s body. “Better?” she asked, rubbing Drew’s back up and down, pressing them together.

“Much,” Drew replied and breathed her in. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. It feels like I should say that we’re finally doing this, but I don’t know if it qualifies as a ‘finally’ situation. We haven’t known each other all that long.”

“I think ‘finally’ applies for me, at least,” Selma noted.

“It does?”

“I’ve had a crush on you for years.”

Drew pulled back a little as the car rolled up and said, “Wait. What?”

“Yeah.” Selma smiled shyly.

“Uh… Hold that thought.” Drew walked up to the car and pulled open the door. “After you.” She motioned for Selma to get inside.

Selma climbed in, and Drew followed after her.

“Drew?” the driver asked.

“Yeah. Hey, thanks for picking us up.”

She closed the door.

“No problem. It looks like about ten minutes.”

“Thanks.”

“So polite,” Selma teased.

“Shut up.” Drew chuckled and reached for Selma’s hand. “Is this okay?” She moved it to her lap and entwined their fingers.

Selma nodded and rested her head on Drew’s shoulder.

“So… A crush, huh?”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you? I shouldn’t have said anything.” Selma laughed one of her soft laughs that Drew loved so much.

“Nope. So, how long, exactly?”

“Does the video count?”

“What video? Wait… The video where you saw me board for the first time?”

“That’s the one.”

“You did not have a crush on me then.”

“Yeah, I did. You are the reason I…” Selma lifted up her head and whispered, “Realized I liked women, too.”

“Me?”

“I had ideas about it leading up to that, maybe, but then I definitively knew that I’d be up for that, yes.”

“But why me? I don’t get it.”

“There was just something about you in that race. You were all covered up with your helmet and your goggles and everything, but you were confident and so good. Then, you took the goggles and everything else off for an interview, and your hair was the same as it is now, and I was just a goner.”

“A goner? Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Drew nodded a few times before she leaned over and kissed Selma on the temple.

“It took me a little longer, but I’m here now. Is that okay?” she asked softly so that their driver couldn’t hear.

“I wasn’t ready before now, anyway.”

“That works out well, then.”

A few minutes later, they were at the restaurant, and Drew was pulling Selma in and out of the cold because it had somehow gotten even colder outside, even though it had only been ten minutes and they hadn’t gone that far. Selma laughed when they got inside, and Drew cupped her hands to her mouth and blew warm air over them.

“You should’ve at least put on a warmer coat,” Selma suggested.

“I would have looked all puffy.”

“I look all puffy right now.”

“No, you look cute. Adorable, even.”

“You would’ve looked adorable to me.”

“Do I not look adorable to you now?”

“No, you look hot to me now.”

Drew smirked and said, “I look hot?”

“You know you do. It’s why you wore what you wore.”

“Hi there. Two?” the hostess asked.

“I have a reservation under Oakes,” Drew replied and placed a hand on the small of Selma’s back.

The hostess looked down at her computer and said, “Ah, yes. I can take you to your table now.”

“Thank you,” Drew said.

Selma took her hand, which surprised Drew, and they followed the hostess until they were at the table. There, Drew moved to quickly pull out Selma’s chair and then got behind her to help her with her coat, which she hung over the back of Selma’s chair.

“Are you always like this, or is it just because it’s a first date?”

“I like to take care of a woman. Is that not okay? Should I cool it?” she asked, a little concerned. “I know some women don’t like it.”

“No, I like it. You can help me with my coat anytime.”

“Yeah?” Drew asked, moving around to her own chair and draping her jacket over it.

“Yeah. It means you’re close to me, and I like it when you’re close to me.”

“For someone who’s never been on a date with another woman before, you sure do know what to say to make a girl blush, Selma Driscoll,” Drew replied and picked up the menu left behind by the hostess. “Do you want wine?”

“I’m not a big wine drinker.”

“We had merlot the other night.”

“I know. I just wanted you to come to my room for a drink, and I didn’t know what else to order, so I said merlot.”

“Okay.” Drew laughed a little. “Well, what do you like?”

“I really don’t drink much. Mostly because of Gia, and, you know, alcohol isn’t necessary, like food is, so I don’t buy it often. I can drink wine or a beer every so often; that’s about it. What do you drink?”

“Gin and tonics sometimes,” Drew said. “That’s what I had that time at the hotel. I can drink wine, but I’m not a huge fan. Other than that, beer. I don’t have a preference, though. Sometimes, if I’m on a date, I’ll just ask them to pair a wine or something with what I’m ordering.”

“Do you go on dates often?”

“No, and you know that,” she replied, looking up from her menu and giving Selma a lifted eyebrow. “I tried dating a little after Andy, but nothing lasted long, so I kind of just stopped until now.”

“Have you been with anyone since Andy?”

“Sex?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve been with two women since Andy. Both times, it was once, and it went nowhere after. I got tested after each of them, and I haven’t even kissed a woman since then.”

“I wasn’t asking about–”

“No, it’s okay. You should. We should talk about this stuff if we’re going to do this. Anything else you want to know?”

“No, I’m good for now, I think.”

“Okay. Well, can I know about you?”

“What do you want to know?”

“You had that ex-boyfriend you mentioned.”

“No one since him. I will admit that I didn’t get tested after we broke up right away, but there was this woman… She’s a parent at Gia’s school, and she’s gay. I met her last year. I thought that maybe she was interested in me or something, and I realized that I’d never gotten tested after my ex, only before. As far as I know, he never cheated, but I wanted to be careful. So, I went, and everything was good, but she wasn’t interested in me, so it was a moot point.”

“She wasn’t, huh?”

“No, she had a girlfriend I knew nothing about. So, that was the end of that. And now, here we are.”

Drew smiled at her right when their waiter arrived to take their drink order, and after he left, having poured water into their glasses, Drew couldn’t help but stare across the table at her date, thinking about how three years ago, she’d had a hard time meeting Selma’s eye because of what had happened between them, and now, she was on a date with her and worried about what happened tomorrow when they had to say goodbye at the airport.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” she asked later as she cut into her steak.

“Yes. That’s what this whole first date thing is, right? Basically, a bunch of questions and answers to find out whether or not we’re right for each other,” Selma replied.

“When we go back to the hotel, can I maybe bring my stuff into your room?”

“What stuff?” Selma asked before she took a bite of her chicken.

“All my stuff.”

Selma looked up from her plate then and seemed to need a little more help.

“Can I sleep over, Selma?”

“In my room?”

“In your bed, hopefully. I don’t really want to sleep on the floor.”

“Oh.”

“It’s our last night here. I’ve wanted to fall asleep next to you all week, but I kept leaving your room, or you kept leaving mine, and I just want one night where I can hold you, and we can wake up next to each other. Nothing has to happen. I just know I’m going to miss you like crazy, so I want as much time as possible with you before we have to leave. You can say no, if it’s not okay. Honestly, when you stayed at my place, it took everything in me that last night not to go into my room and slide into bed with you after that night at the park. You had your head on my shoulder, and I wanted to ask you then if it meant more than just a friend sitting next to a friend on a bumpy log trying to stay warm and comfortable, but I was too much of a coward. So, can I maybe just–”

“Drew?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re rambling.”

“I know. Sorry.” She laughed nervously and shook her head at herself.

“Don’t apologize. It’s adorable. Now, you’re being adorable.”

“Am I still hot?”

“You’re always hot. And yes, you can stay with me tonight. Get all your stuff and sleep in my room.”

“Your bed, though, right? Not on the floor?”

“I wanted you to slide into bed with me that night, too. If it makes you feel any better, we were both cowards.”

“Why would that make me feel better? We could’ve been doing this for longer, Selma.” Drew laughed again. “Do you want to get dessert? We could split something.”

“No, I want to finish this and go back to the hotel so you can put all your stuff in my room.”

“Oh,” Drew replied.

“I want us to be alone, Drew.”

“I’ll get the check, then.”

Drew knew they wouldn’t have sex that night. Even if Selma was ready, Drew wasn’t sure that she was. This thing with Selma felt so right to her. She wasn’t about to mess it up by taking things too quickly.

When they got back to the hotel, Drew walked Selma to her room first and kissed her on the cheek before she went into her own room and packed as fast as she could, making her way down the hall with everything from her room and knocking on Selma’s door. Selma opened it right away, almost as if she’d been standing right there, waiting for Drew to knock, and Drew moved her stuff inside the room. She’d changed into her sweatpants and T-shirt back in her own room to make things less awkward and noticed that Selma had also changed into her sleep clothes.

“So? Want to watch a movie? It’s still kind of early,” she suggested as she set her backpack on the empty desk chair.

“You kissed me on the cheek,” Selma said.

“What?”

“At the door, you kissed me on the cheek.”

“Yeah. Was that not okay?”

“Did you do that because of me, or because that’s what you wanted?”

“It’s our first date, and we’re sharing a room tonight… I didn’t know what to do, honestly. But if you’re asking me what I wanted to do – I wanted to kiss you for real.”

“Will you, please? I’ve pretty much wanted to kiss you for a decade, Drew Oakes.”

Drew was several feet away from Selma, who was still over by the door she’d closed behind her, so Drew moved to her quickly and had her pressed against it in seconds.

“My pleasure,” she replied, cupping Selma’s cheek before she leaned in the rest of the way and pressed her lips to Selma’s.

It didn’t take long for Selma to return the kiss. Drew’s free hand went to Selma’s hip, and Selma’s arms wrapped around Drew’s neck, keeping her close. Drew deepened the kiss and heard a little moan fall from Selma’s full lips. She captured the bottom one between both of her own and sucked on it a little, feeling Selma’s hands move into her hair, likely messing it up, but Drew didn’t care. The only thing she cared about was this kiss. Nothing else mattered but Selma’s lips on hers.

“God, you’re a good kisser,” she said and pressed her lips back to Selma’s a second later.

“So are you. I don’t want you to stop.”

“Selma…”

“I don’t mean that. I’m not ready for that tonight. But can we move to the bed and just do this for hours? I don’t want a movie. I want this. I’ve waited so long for this.”

“Whatever you want,” Drew said and kissed her again.