Page 12 of Carnal Desire

“Yeah, I think I am,” I said, surprised to find that it was true. “I know I ate a huge breakfast a few hours ago but I could definitely eat again.”

My poor body had been starved for nutrients for so long it was going to take any chance it could get to consume calories, apparently.

We walked to the table as Ricky brought plates and gave us bottles of water.

“Wine or sparkling cider?” he asked.

“Cider please,” I answered quickly, not wanting my defenses to be down more than they already were. Plus, I’d never been much of a drinker.

“Me too Ricky, thanks.”

Ricky poured our drinks and walked away, then Ariel opened the lids on the containers.

“We’ve got bread, cheese, pasta salad, potato salad, watermelon, sliced apples, grapes, and cookies,” she said as she checked out the offerings.

After we ate lunch we napped on the deck, waking up when we were on our way back to the pier. Being on a boat was surprisingly tiring, I realized. Maybe it was all the fresh air.

We bid Ricky goodbye and headed back to Ariel’s place.

“Found Family Dinner is at six,” she told me after we entered the condo.

“What is that, exactly?” I asked.

“Maeve and Grace and I started it years ago,” she explained. “It’s grown since then with about twelve of us usually in attendance. Once a month we take over the private room in the restaurant and have a huge carb-filled dinner, along with any friends, partners, or strays we have in our life at the time. Then we go upstairs to the club and dance our asses off.”

“So I’m one of your strays?” I laughed.

“Friend,” she emphasized. “As you know, not everyone is accepting of their queer family members so we wanted to create a space where we could celebrate our found family.”

“You’re not close to your parents?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I see them once every month or so and we text regularly, but my folks have never been super excited about both me and my sister ‘turning out gay’ as they put it. My mother is sure she did something wrong to make it happen.”

Ariel rolled her eyes at that.

“They’re also offended that I started my own company instead of becoming a lawyer and working for my father like they’d always planned. It’s not that there’s bad blood with them per se, we just don’t have too much in common.”

She didn’t seem particularly sad about it, but then again, I’d already realized that Ariel was very good at hiding her feelings.

“My mother never knew that I was a lesbian,” I told her. “I started questioning in high school, but it wasn’t until I was with a woman my freshman year of college that I realized women were a much better fit for me. I’d been planning to come out to her eventually, but she died before I got the chance.”

Ariel cupped my shoulder with her hand, then rubbed her palm up and down my upper arm. It was meant to be comforting I was sure, but all it did was make my nipples ache and my breath quicken.

“Well, now you’ll have a Found Family with us.”

Her eyes were soft and warm as she studied me, her hand still gently stroking my arm. The air between us grew heated and I felt my body shift towards her, like drawn by a magnet. Ariel leaned forward until our lips were only a few inches apart.

Then her phone beeped with a message and we both jumped apart like we’d been caught doing something naughty. And we probably would have been, if not for the interruption.

Ariel glanced down at her phone and frowned.

“I need to talk to Theo and also return a few emails. But I’ll meet you here at six for dinner, okay?”

“Sure, but what should I wear?” I asked, not wanting to stick out like a sore thumb.

“Anything you want is fine,” Ariel shrugged. “Maybe one of the sundresses you got today?”

It was only after she walked away that I wondered how she knew that there were sundresses in those bags that Theo gave me. I’d gone through the clothes in the privacy of my room. Somehow everything he brought was the perfect size for me. And for clothing that was supposedly second hand and going to charity drive, it all looked perfectly new and clean, not a stain or a wrinkle in sight.

---