Finding the One, page 1
FINDING THE ONE
LINDSEY PENNINGTON
Copyright © 2022 by Lindsey Pennington
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, places and incidents either are products of the authors wild imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Edited by Thoth Editing
Image © DepositPhotos – Lana Stock
Cover Design © Designed with Grace
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
About the Author
Also by Lindsey Pennington
Chapter 1
“Who is that with Shelby Rockingham?” Hilary Matthews asked breathlessly, all but pushing her best friend Lauren Almquist aside. Her eyes never left the face across the room, or yard as the case may be since they were at a house party they were hosting.
The curvy woman wasn’t looking her way exactly, but she couldn’t tear her eyes from her. This inability to focus on the party around her wasn’t like Hilary. Usually, she liked tall blondes with little-to-no personality, or at least that was how her friends were always describing them. Hillary would argue with them, but even she knew it was true. But this dark-haired beauty had curves that she wanted to touch, taste, savor. Based on how she had to look up at Shelby, Hilary knew she was on the shorter side. And even from here, Hilary knew she had personality.
Lauren Almquist’s auburn head shot up with a frown, looking around the back yard. There were close to forty people present in the postage-stamp-sized yard. Usually, Lauren knew everyone in attendance. As the self-appointed bartender, she talked to nearly everyone during the course of the evening. Add to that the guests at these functions were almost always the same women, all of which identified as gay in one way or another. But it was the beginning of the school year, so there were bound to be a few new faces.
Hilary had met Lauren during an undergrad humanities class, one that Hilary had been putting off for two years. Lauren had just signed up for her first semester at college, and they had become fast friends, from a study group for class to meals to renting a house together. Hilary had been by her side when she had met Leila, and Lauren had seen the countless women Hilary brought home. It was an “opposites attract” kind of friendship.
Lauren completely stopped mixing cocktails on the flimsy folding table that was holding all the alcohol and looked around the yard, scanning the area for Shelby. When Hilary stopped her, Lauren chuckled. “Some freshman she found. Tis the season.”
As the bartender this year, she was getting a workout. It was their third get-together of the year, and it was only the end of the first week. This year was going to be a long drink fest, Hilary could already tell. Lauren and her girlfriend Leila and three other girls getting a house together was possibly a mistake. One that Hilary was going to enjoy a lot.
“The season?” Hilary questioned as she took a newly mixed drink from her friend and scanned the room again as she drank half of it in one. Except her eyes skipped over everyone there, darting right back to the dark-haired hottie that her ex-girlfriend-turned-archenemy was chatting up.
Even from here, Hilary could see the woman was nervous as she shifted her weight from strappy sandal to strappy sandal, drawing Hilary’s eyes to her pink-painted toes. Until she followed the long bare legs upwards to the yellow-flowered dress that hit her just above the knees. There was absolutely nothing sexy about the dress’s cut or pattern until it was on the woman across the room. Her honey-toned skin made the color glow on her in the fading sunlight.
“As if you haven’t been looking forward to this all summer, Hilary. It’s that special time of year when all you horn-dog lesbians seek out the newbies on campus. Seek and destroy.” Lauren was grinning at her accurate assessment of what the last few days had been, though Hilary was sure the last two girls she had met so far weren’t freshmen. To be honest, she hadn’t asked too many questions or listened to any of them talk for too long.
But Lauren was nothing if not someone who liked to tease Hillary. After all, Lauren had only eyes for her longtime girlfriend, and she hadn’t looked at anyone with interest beyond meeting new friends as she happily mixed everyone’s drinks. Neither Lauren nor Leila had ever strayed, a rarity in the group they hung out with.
“Are you putting me in the same category as Shelby Rockingham?” she asked in feigned contempt. Her eyes strayed to the woman Hilary’s next so-called conquest was talking to.
When they had met during freshman year, Shelby had caught Hilary’s eye quickly but hadn’t managed to keep her from looking elsewhere. Looking back, Hillary knew that neither were ready for an actual meaningful relationship. In fact, they weren’t ready for one now. There were too many women and not enough time.
“Of course not, Hill. You’re so much worse than Shelby.” Lauren dodged the incoming punch to her arm. After four years of being friends, they knew each other very well.
Laughing at her miss, Lauren ran her fingers through her auburn hair. It was in direct conflict with the red T-shirt she wore. Lauren wasn’t up on fashion, and unless her girlfriend picked out her clothes, they didn’t always match to look good. Her need for comfort was far stronger than her need to match. At least the black jean shorts weren’t some other shade of red, which wouldn’t have been surprising. Over the years, Hilary had accepted her friend’s quirkiness and loved it about her.
“You might be right.” Hilary conceded as the dark-haired woman laughed at something Shelby said. Hilary was sure it was more of a giggle, but she couldn’t hear it. Damn, she wanted to hear it.
Hilary wanted an up-close view of those pouty lips that were smiling, to have those eyes on her instead of Shelby. Shelby didn’t deserve the attention. Nobody else deserved to be in her orbit, just Hilary.
“Melanie’s here,” Lauren said in a loud whisper before taking a sip of her drink.
“Who?” Hilary asked, not taking her eyes from the couple across the yard in case Shelby did something stupid, like try and kiss the new woman. Hilary couldn’t let something like that happen to some innocent freshman in her own back yard.
Lauren slapped her arm, breaking her concentration on the couple across the yard. “Hilary! The girl who was in your bed this morning. Did you already forget about her?”
“I remember her.” Hilary looked at the blonde, who was making her way towards them like a heat-seeking missile.
Rolling her eyes, she knew that Melanie was going to be a clinger. From the moment Hilary had bought her a drink, Melanie had been all-in on her. And in just two days, Melanie was planning their life together. Not something that was even on Hilary’s radar.
All Hilary’s focus was on getting into the Architecture program on campus, something that would happen any day now. Being top of her classes meant she should get early admission, even if she wouldn’t get her undergrad diploma until spring. But she had already taken classes that would put her ahead in the program. After another year, she was getting out of this town and heading back home to California to find a job near her parents and siblings, where she wanted to be. Only then would she look for a woman to settle down with. Until she went back home, she was going to have fun. No-strings-attached fun.
Melanie had been nothing but fun, but not anymore. Even without the beautiful woman across the yard, she knew that. Hilary just hated to have to tell her that in person. Usually, they got the hint when she stopped answering calls and texts and actively avoided them. It was childish, but as long as it worked, she was fine.
“I’m going to find a corner and hope she doesn’t see me,” Hilary whispered to Lauren and headed through the crowd away from the blonde as fast as she could without it looking obvious. She hoped Melanie found someone else before she found her again.
Without thinking about it, her feet took her right to Shelby and the woman who Hilary couldn’t look away from. Everyone else in the yard vanished as she walked straight towards her.
As if Shelby was aware of her plans, she had moved closer to the dark-haired woman, too close. Shelby’s hand was now on the bare honey shoulder, a move that made Hilary’s stomach roll. It was a reaction she had never had before. Women who were in a relationship were off-limits, and Hilary never bent that rule.
Her steps didn’t slow as she told herself that it didn’t matter if they were already in a relationship—she was only being friendly. She only wanted to talk to the woman, so her relationship status wouldn’t matter. There would be disappointment, sure, but she was OK with that.
“How’s it going, Shelby?” Hilary gave her former friend her best smile. She needed to talk to this woman and couldn’t just approach her without acknowledging Shelby. With any luck, Shelby wouldn’t stay long.
“Good, Hilary.” Shelby flung a lock of chestnut hair behind her back, then actually turned so that her back was to Hilary and started talking to the dark-haired woman again, standing even closer.
The movement actually gave Hilary a perfect view of the softest, biggest br
Chapter 2
“I had Professor Kennedy for Science my freshman year also. It was tough. But if you need a study partner, I could help,” Shelby suggested, but Cate Herrera was no longer listening. All her attention was focused on the short-haired blonde who was looking over Shelby’s shoulder. Her blue eyes were piercing, and Cate couldn’t look away. Didn’t even want to.
Though she tried to listen to Shelby, she couldn’t seem to concentrate at all. She had noticed the other woman earlier across the lawn when she had been talking to the bartender. Something about her drew Cate in. Maybe it was the short blonde hair, or the skin-tight ripped jeans that Cate was sure were made just for her. Throw in a loose tank top half tucked in, and Cate couldn’t look away.
It was her first college party, and she felt overdressed because everyone else was in jeans or shorts and T-shirts or tank tops due to the lingering hot weather—everyone but her. She had worn this stupid dress. When she had gotten dressed, she just wanted to look nice, but now looking around, she felt nothing but awkward.
It was times like this that she wished she had a roommate, someone to approve or disapprove of outfits. Any other time, she loved living alone. Loved that she could finally be away from her disapproving mom and older sister and be who she was. A few wrong clothing choices were a small price to pay for that kind of freedom.
When Cate had first noticed the blonde looking at them, Shelby had been quick to inform her that the woman’s name was Hilary, the one-night stand queen. She was someone who went home with anyone and would be gone by morning. The kind of girl Cate would do best to stay away from.
Cate had taken the words with a grain of salt because she had known Shelby for years. In high school, Shelby Rockingham was like Cate and had never fit in. But it seemed that she had flourished in college. Cate had hoped to do the same.
Yesterday, she had run into Shelby as she rushed to her afternoon English class. Stopping to talk to a familiar face had made her late for class, but it had been worth it. It had been nice to see her old friend, a familiar face in a sea of strangers.
Back in high school, Shelby had been at a few of the parties Cate had gone to and knew that Cate was out. That was why she had assumed Shelby had invited her to the party tonight. To show her that college students were far more accepting than those in high school had been.
It wasn’t until they got there that Cate realized it was kind of a date and less of a finding friends party, specifically when Shelby seemed over-excited to see her and then didn’t introduce her to anyone. Which wasn’t going to help her meet new people.
Not that Shelby wasn’t cute—she was, and Cate once had a crush on her. That might have stemmed from the fact that there weren’t a lot of girls who were out in high school. That little crush had ended sometime over last year when she hadn’t seen her, and now Cate only saw Shelby as a friend, nothing more. Not like Hilary, with her blue eyes and sexy arms. Those eyes were still looking at her, but then again, Cate was staring right back.
Shelby had stopped talking as it dawned on her that Cate wasn’t listening anymore, that she was looking over Shelby’s shoulder. It was only then that Shelby must have realized that Hilary was still there. Rolling her eyes, Shelby turned to the other woman and demanded, “What do you want, Hilary?”
“Who is your friend?” Hilary ran her fingers through her short blonde hair as she asked, acting smooth and in control, something Cate envied instantly.
“Hilary, this is Catie Herrera. Catie, Hilary Mathews,” Shelby said quickly in exasperation, probably hoping that once the introductions were over, Hilary would leave.
Instead, it just gave the blonde an excuse to take a step closer, to look at Cate from head to toe in a way that Cate knew saw deeper than the stupid dress. Deeper than anyone had seen before.
“Cate, it’s just Cate. With a C. C-A-T-E. No K. No, uhm, E sound at the end.” Cate instantly blushed deeper at her ramblings. She could talk to people all day … except the sexy ones. They were always impossible. And this woman before her was far sexier than anyone she had ever encountered before.
Hilary smirked and took her hand in a caress that was in no way a handshake. “Nice to meet you Cate, no K, Herrera.”
The way she said her name was completely different from how anyone else had said it. Where the woman was from was a mystery to Cate, a mystery she longed to solve.
“Hilary.” Cate said the name as if it were a prayer. The hand in hers was soft and warm, and the innocent touch made Cate’s entire body heat up ten degrees.
Instead of dropping her hand, Hilary took Cate’s second hand, ignoring Shelby completely as she did. Their eyes were locked when Hilary asked, “Dance?”
Though there was music playing, nobody else was dancing. But Cate didn’t care or notice or want to; she just nodded in agreement. Any hesitation was lost when Hilary dropped her hands, only to wrap them lightly around her waist.
“What’s your major?” Hilary asked, their feet barely moving.
“Business, I think. Kind of undecided right now, but probably business.” Cate stumbled over her answer. It was true she hadn’t landed on the exact thing she wanted to do for the rest of her life, but there was time for that. After all, it was still just the first week of college.
“Business is a good one,” Hilary replied, her hands flat on Cate’s back, pulling her slightly closer.
“And you?”
“Architecture. It’s been my dream since I was a little kid. It’s what my dad does,” Hilary said as their bodies swayed together to a beat that wasn’t from the song playing, a beat all of their own making. “Where are you from?”
“I grew up here. I mean, not at the college, just in the town. I grew up in this town. All my life.” Cate stopped talking and took a relaxing breath. She was rambling and needed to stop. “How about you?”
“California, actually. This is where my dad went to college, so it was where I always dreamed of going. Now I am. When I graduate, I’m heading back.”
“Oh.” Cate’s heart sank. It wasn’t like she was leaving tomorrow, but it felt like she was.
Cate tried to ignore how disappointed she was that Hilary was going to leave one day, which was the perfect reason to not let this attraction get away from her. After all, she was eighteen and on her own for the first time in her life. There was no need for a girlfriend when she could finally see how many fish were in the sea.
High school had been stifling under her mother’s iron thumb. Now she was free to be who she wanted and date or not date who she wanted. No more setups with men, forced by her mom ever since Cate had come out to the woman. Her mother couldn’t believe that her daughter was attracted to women. Still couldn’t.
“But I’m here for another year or more, babe.” Hilary pulled her even closer, so their entire bodies were pressed together.
Glowing at the nickname, relief rushed through Cate. Years, she could handle a year with this woman, even if she barely knew her. She could see herself spending a lot of time with her. No matter what Shelby had said.
Chapter 3
Life was simply perfect for Hilary.
She was a year out from being an actual architect. A year from realizing the only dream she ever had as a kid.
And now she had found a woman she was sure she could spend time with. Maybe not the rest of her life, but for the months left before she left? Definitely. Cate had dark, mesmerizing eyes, honey skin, lips that were made for kissing, and breasts she wanted to touch so bad it hurt.
Until right now, she had never wanted to spend more than a few nights with one woman, but with Cate in her arms, she knew she wanted more, longer. A deeper connection than ever before. To know everything about this woman, what made her happy, what made her sad, and everything in between.
