Page 44 of Shift the Tide

“I’d look up at you,” Izzy went on, quieter now. “Just to see your face when I finally touched you. I’d make you wait for it, just a little longer, until you asked for more.”

A sharp inhale on the other end of the line, followed by a breathless whisper: “Izzy…”

Izzy closed her eyes. “I’ve got you,” she said softly. “Just feel it.”

Kiera let out a sharp, stuttering breath.

“Izzy…” Kiera’s voice cracked, rough with need. “You’re driving me fucking crazy.”

Izzy’s breath hitched. “Good,” she said, low and warm. “That’s the idea.”

There was a pause. A breath. Then Kiera spoke again, quieter now. “I wish it was your hand. Your fingers. I keep pretending it is.”

The admission hit Izzy hard, heat blooming under her skin. “Me too,” she said, voice softer now. “If I were there, I’d take my time. I’d learn exactly what you like and give it to you until you can't think straight.”

A shaky exhale came through the phone. Izzy could hear how close Kiera was, how much she was holding onto every word.

“You’re doing so well,” Izzy murmured. “Just keep going. Let it build.”

She could hear it in Kiera’s breathing now, faster, uneven. It made something deep in Izzy tighten.

“You sound amazing right now,” she said, her voice dipping lower. “I wish I could see your face, see how good it feels. I want you to keep going. Don’t stop.” Another soft, broken sound. Izzy’s fingers curled tighter around the phone. “Kiera,” she said, her voice steady, coaxing. “Are you close?”

A gasp. Breathless. “Yeah.”

Izzy closed her eyes. “Then come for me,” she said. “Let yourself take it. I’m right here.”

Kiera’s breath stuttered — shallow, uneven — then a hitched gasp slipped through the line. Izzy felt it in her gut. It wasn’t just release. It was more like something Kiera had been holding in for too long, finally breaking loose.

Izzy closed her eyes as her own orgasm swept over her, quiet and consuming, like everything outside her body had dropped away.

The line went still, just the sound of Kiera breathing — each inhale a little deeper than the last. When she finally spoke, her voice was wrecked, but calm. “Oh my god, that was so hot.”

Izzy let out a soft laugh, breath catching on the tail end of it. “Yeah. It really was.”

Kiera’s voice came again, quiet, more certain this time. “Iz?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you stay on the phone? Just until I fall asleep?”

Izzy’s throat tightened with emotion. She turned onto her side, holding the phone a little closer. “Yeah. I’m here.”

And that was it. No big declaration. No need to fill the space. Just two steady heartbeats on either end of the line, settling into quiet together.

For once, silence didn’t feel like absence. It felt like enough. It felt like a shift — like they’d stepped over an invisible line together and neither of them wanted to go back.

CHAPTER 15

Kiera

Kiera satat the kitchen table, filling out the spreadsheet that Danica had forced her to create to keep track of every job application she’d put out. As she filled in the mundane details, all she could think about was Izzy and their phone call the night before — the way their voices were low like they were keeping a secret. Her body still hummed with distraction and unmet need.

Across the kitchen, her parents moved around each other in their usual chaotic dance of domesticity. Her dad was chopping an excessive amount of ginger, while her mom poured hot water over loose-leaf tea.

“You’ve been at that for two hours,” her mom observed, setting the kettle down. “Honey, I’m sure color-coding the spreadsheet isn’tthatbig of a deal.”

Kiera sighed, dragging a hand through her hair. “You’re probably right, but it makes me feel like I’m doingsomethingat least.” She paused, exhaling hard as she rubbed her temples. “I feel like I’m floundering.”

---