Page 24 of Sugar High
Is this happening?Her friend, openly hitting on the woman she was seeing, in front of her? All this time, she’d believed Annalise respected boundaries.
“Uh, I don’t think…” she began.
“Sounds like fun,” Sid broke in. “Kit, how about it? We should all go.”
“Kit? Homebody Kit who never goes out on a school night?” Annalise teased. “No amount of free drinks would budge her from her couch.”
Sid watched her, her expectant expression tensing. Not ten minutes ago she’d tempted her with a sex toy, and was now willing to cast aside the chance for intimacy to hear Annalise caterwaul at the Den. She realized she had irked Sid earlier, but this standoff unnerved her. She wanted Annalise gone so the two of them could talk.
“Doesn’t look like Kit’s interested, so where am I meeting you?” Sid asked Annalise.
The air left Kit’s lungs.
“You know The Woolf’s Den outside of town? I could pick you up.”
Kit watched the scene unfold as though inserted into a movie, unable to stop the action. When Sid held out her phone to touch Annalise’s to exchange contact information she thought she’d explode.No way is this happening. After what she and Sid shared, she couldn’t stand by while her soon-to-be former friend snatched her in plain sight.
“Sid has a car. In fact, I’m escorting her to it.” Kit broke in between them and nudged Sid out to the sidewalk, flipping the sign on the door toCLOSEDalong the way. On Main Street, other merchants observed closing time with dimmed lights and lowered blinds. Only Mick’s at the end of the block showed signs of life.
“What the hell was that?” Kit followed a silent Sid to her car. “We had plans.”
“And I changed them, only you weren’t keen on it, soyouhave plans with pizza and I’m going to enjoy myself.” Sid rounded the trunk to the driver’s side.
“So spending time with me isn’t enjoyable? I hadn’t realized that for all the sex we…” Kit abruptly went silent and looked around for curious listeners, then swiveled back to Sid’s glare.
“You can’t say it out loud anywhere. You won’t go out for dinner, or even the park. We haven’t been back to the Den since we met and every time I suggest it you balk. Who are you hiding from, Kit?”
“Nobody. Maybe I like having you to myself. I figured since you’re buying all these not-for-public-consumption toys maybe you felt the same way,” Kit said. She moved a step and Sid opened her door. It looked like a dare. Push further and she’d drive away before resolving their argument.
“I put on a vibrating thong for you at my workplace,” Kit added. “That has to account for something.”
Even from the distance, she noticed the redness rimming Sid’s slate blue eyes and the sheen of tears yet to spill. “It does,and I feel bad for haranguing you into it. But, I want to be public. Dance like that first night. I’m not ashamed of who I am, Kit.”
“Neither am I, and I really care for you.”
“I care for you, too, but I want to be with someone who isn’t afraid to hold my hand or tell people I’m her girl.”
Kit’s heart surged.Are you my girl? Am I yours?It hadn’t been communicated vocally, but Kit liked the idea. She wanted to cling to it.
“I told Annalise,” Kit said. For all the good it did. Annalise hunted for sport, and hadn’t given consideration to Kit’s feelings.
“What about your other friends? Tish? People youdon’tthink are trying to bed me.”
Kit made her next mistake by waiting too long to answer. Sid huffed and dove into the car. “I’m not asking you to march in a damn parade,” she called out from her open window as the engine hummed to life. “I don’t want to be your dirty little secret.”
With nothing to block her car, Sidney shot it forward and rolled down the side road, leaving Kit to watch as she turned a corner.Shit, shit, shit.Why couldn’t she say anything, do something, to make this better? The past month with Sid had been incredible, and it was more about the sex. They connected on another level, funning each other about favorite fandoms, and cooking tips, and sharing their life goals. Sid had loved the mobile shop idea, and once in a while Kit would receive a link to her phone about vehicles for sale, or related baking and chocolate competitions.
In a quiet blink, Kit pictured that easiness dissolving into a cooler working environment with Sid diverting her attention to other things around Tish’s shop. What if she quit? Lord, she’d never hear the end of it from Tish. Moreover, she’d miss being with her all day.
Annalise’s car had been parked on Main Street, but it was gone now. Smart girl to not hang around to incur her wrath, but Kit then wondered if she’d eavesdropped on her fight with Sid. Once her lover lit into her, everything around them disappeared.
“Annalise, you bitch,” she muttered. The girl could have any queer woman in town, in the state. What would possess her to make a play for Sid after Kit spoke of their relationship? This was her fault for inviting them to the Den. Had Annalise kept her mouth shut, Sid would be driving to her duplex…
She kicked something that skittered across the asphalt. Kit picked up the vibrator’s remote control, having forgotten the blasted thing was still attached to her thigh. Sid dropped it on the way to the car.
No, this is my fault. I did nothing to stop this.In her yearning to keep her private life as such, she’d stifled Sid. Once in a while you have to turn off the remotes and go outside. Being in a relationship had rattled her to the point where she couldn’t bring a steady girlfriend to the Woolf’s Den, her one safe place outside her home.
“Hey, Kit!”
