Page 116 of The Other Side of Paradise
“She’s still here?” I leaned past her, looking into the room, at where Ryan was very much still there, sitting in the armchair in the far corner, only a small table lamp on as she read on hertablet. “Why are you still here?” I said, and she threw her hands up.
“What—you two can get your own hotel room instead of trying to gaslight me out of this one!”
“Did you not see—” Stella huffed, pulling her phone out, and she marched across the room to hand it to Ryan. When Ryan reached for one of the takeout bags, Stella snatched it away. “Oh my god, focus.”
“You said you were picking up food forus, not for you and your girlfriend—”
Stella cut her off with the phone in her face before I could have any heart attacks over Ryan referring to me as Stella’sgirlfriend,and Ryan looked like she was seeing stars as she took the phone, eyes wide, quietly reading for a long few minutes. Stella spoke softly. “She’s waiting for you.”
Ryan looked up at her, back at the phone, clearly feeling like she needed to object even knowing everything was right here in front of her. “But she’s…”
“She’s what? Everything you’ve ever wanted?”
Ryan looked back down at the phone, and she swallowed hard as I stepped into the room with the two of them. She looked up between the two of us, a nervous flicker of vulnerability in her eyes before she said, “What are you doing?”
Oh, god, wasn’t that the million-dollar question? Stella took the phone back as she answered it softly. “I don’t know,” she said. “I… I’m not sure. But I don’t want to go back. I’m on summer vacation anyway. What does it matter if I go back or stay here for it? I know—there’s my whole life back there and everything, but—but I want to see what’s here. If I spend a little more time here.”
I swallowed, my heart racing. Ryan and I were in the same boat. Hell, Brooklyn probably was just as nervous too. Stella wasthe only one who could just look at a situation like this, decide what she wanted, and then go for it with no hesitation.
Finally, Ryan seemed to pull on resolve from somewhere, jumping up to her feet, and she was a little shaky when she said, “You can—go ahead and use the hotel room all you like, I’m—”
“Shut up and go,” Stella laughed, clapping a hand on her shoulder. Ryan seemed to cycle through a few things to say before she stopped and nodded.
“Thank you,” she said, and she took off past Stella, stopping to give me a curious smile. “I’ll… see you soon, Allison.”
“Be seeing a lot more of me,” I laughed, and Ryan took off, shutting the door behind her. I relaxed, leaning back against the dresser, feeling winded, breathless, before I turned back to Stella, who sank against the foot of the bed, looking exhausted but beaming brilliantly.
“Hell of a vacation,” she laughed.
“You can stay as long as you like,” I said. “I mean, the bungalow’s pretty big for just one person, and…”
She smiled sweetly at me. “You’re not going to get too fed up with me before long?”
“Would I get fed up with winning the lottery every day?”
She laughed loudly, eyes sparkling. “All that practice flirting paid off.” She reached towards me, taking my hand, and she tugged me towards her. “Allison…”
“Yeah?”
She kissed me. Pulled me flush up against her front and wrapped her arms around me, and her lips against mine made everything feel right—like the world was perfectly designed for the two of us to fall into one another, like my lips had been waiting for the day they’d meet hers.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered, not pulling far away from the kiss as she did, our lips moving together, slow and warm, like we had all the time in the world. Kissing while sheroamed her hands over my sides, and then before long, up under my shirt. My hands found their way under hers, gripping at her back while she took my breasts in her hands, moving slowly, sensually against one another. My shirt came off, Stella kissing over my collar, my shoulders. My bra went after, and then her shirt and pants, Stella pushing me down onto my back in the bed, whispering praise and adoration in between lavishing attention with her mouth over my body. I returned the favor, taking in every inch of her with my hands, my mouth, adoring her, worshiping her, as the rest of our clothes fell away, and she laid me down onto my back, a hand between my legs pushing me into blissful ecstasy. Her lips crashed against mine as I melted into climax, fingers working every bit of pleasure out of me, kissing while she sent me to paradise, and she took her turn next, sitting back against the headboard while I settled in with my mouth against her, savoring every noise she made and following every detail of what she asked of me until she came undone for me too.
And then again. She held me by the head to have me keep going until she came again, which was the hottest thing ever, and then she flipped me onto my back to straddle my thigh and grind herself on me to another orgasm, which was the new hottest thing ever.
“How are you this energetic after everything today was for you?” I laughed breathlessly once we finished, sweaty and spent and blissfully satisfied on the bed. She laughed, kissing me.
“It’s just how I operate. Whenever I’m stressed, I get pent-up, and as soon as the stress is gone, well, you know…”
“That’s hot.”
She grinned, slipping her hand into mine on the bed between us, lacing our fingers together. “Good news is… now we get to do that whenever we damn well please. This and everything else if it’s you and me together.”
Damn, winning the lottery had nothing on this. I laughed. “I’ve, uh… I’ve got a couple things we could do.”
She grinned. “Concierge with the event planning.”
“Ah, you know it. Love being concierge. I do like being told what to do.”
