Don't Get It Twisted, page 12
There was always a little part of Haley that worried Claire was still just being friendly to try to extract information from her, but Haley was in too deep to stress about it anymore. Claire had reawakened something in her– feelings and desires she’d thought were lost forever– and no matter what happened, Haley wanted to see it through.
But those were things a guy like Noah could never understand, so she just shrugged. “I trust Claire.”
“Just be careful,” he repeated. “Don’t let it distract you from everything you’ve worked so hard for.”
“I’m not,” Haley insisted. “We’re just talking, it’s not anything serious.”
“Seems pretty serious if you’re willing to miss the biggest outbreak of the year.”
“Don’t give me your clickbait bullshit, Noah, I saw the same forecasts you did. It’s not even going to be the biggest outbreak this month.”
“You think so?”
Haley shrugged. “I’m not a meteorologist,” she said bitterly. “Or a fortune teller.” Noah’s expression said he was over her shit, and she relented. “Tomorrow will probably be big and I probably should be there, but…” Listening to herself, she began to doubt her decision to go back to Tulsa. Claire would understand if she couldn’t. But then when would Haley have an opportunity to see her again? When would she have an opportunity to kiss her again? Just thinking about it made her head swim a little and her breath catch in her throat.
“But you’re going to throw away thousands of dollars on ‘not anything serious’ without even consulting me?”
“You don’t control my streaming schedule. That was part of the agreement.”
“You still owe me money.”
“And you’re still getting ten percent of everything I earn,” Haley hissed, glancing around to make sure no one was in earshot. Thankfully, the gas station was deserted except for the convenience store attendant who was smoking a cigarette by the ice freezer.
“Can’t earn anything if you don’t stream,” Noah said.
“What is wrong with you?” Haley was bewildered. “You’ve never acted like this before.”
“I’m wondering the same thing, because the Haley I’ve known for four years wouldn’t give up a storm for some girl she’s known for a few weeks. You’re one of the smartest people I know and yet you somehow think it’s a good idea to fuck off and sleep with someone who has the power to ruin all of this if it doesn’t work out.”
“Whatever, Noah.” Haley’s temper flared because she knew she had no rebuttal. “Forget I said anything. I’ll pay you twenty percent this month, but I’m going to Tulsa.”
“That’s not what I want. Just don’t make this a habit, the season is too short and you have momentum right now. That’s hard to get back if you lose it. And don’t get caught on Reddit again.”
“Trust me, I definitely learned my lesson there.”
“I’ll see you around, then.” Noah disappeared behind the pump and Haley heard his truck door slam and the engine roar to life.
She had to fight back the urge to follow him and tell him he was right, smooth things over until he apologized and his words about her debt to him no longer stung. Their business partnership and friendship had always been easy, and he had never pressured her about the loan he gave her to invest in the car and equipment she needed to go solo. He’d never pushed back on any decisions she made about her channel, only propelled her forward. His opinion mattered more than anyone else’s—at least when it came to work—and what hurt the most was feeling like she was letting him down.
She reached for her phone and hit Claire’s number, intending to cancel as the dial tone rang through the speakers. But Haley’s mind changed again as soon as Claire’s voice filled the car, warm and soothing as a hot shower after a long day.
“I was just about to call you,” Claire said. “How was the chase today?”
“Not great,” Haley said. “Just a brief spin-up that was mostly obscured by trees and a barn. I’m not even sure it actually touched down. And now Noah’s mad at me.” Oops. She hadn’t meant to say that last part.
“Noah’s mad at you?” Claire sounded disbelieving. “Why?”
“He thinks I should be chasing tomorrow and not going back to Tulsa.”
“Oh,” Claire’s disappointment was obvious. “Well, if that’s what you need to do…”
“No, I want to see you. I’ve been looking forward to this all week. I still can’t believe your flight is through Tulsa, what are the odds?”
Claire chuckled. “I know, right? What are the odds?”
“So how did the interview go?”
“I think they liked me, but I’m not taking the job. Turns out I hate Sacramento.”
“Really? What happened?”
“Nothing in particular. I toured a few apartments, and none of them felt like a place I could call home. Just a vibe that this isn’t where I’m supposed to be.”
***
”I can’t believe you’re actually here again!” Haley squealed as she jumped out of her car to give Claire a hug.
“I can’t, either,” Claire said, her arms holding Haley tightly around the waist as she leaned back to look at her. She was even more attractive than Haley remembered.
“How lucky are we that this worked out?”
Haley wanted to kiss her right then and there, but she couldn’t, not in the airport pickup line. “So lucky,” she replied, noticing the parking cop coming to yell at them for taking too long. “You said you had four hours, right? Let’s not spend them here.”
Claire hopped in the passenger seat and Haley leaned over to help her with the seatbelt just to have another reason to touch her again. “So what do you want to do?” She asked, pulling away from the curb. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, driven by the weeks of intimate conversations and an intensifying desire to know every part of Claire, and to let her in. The libido she thought had died with her last relationship had come roaring back, demanding validation, but she didn’t know if Claire felt the same way. “We could go to River Parks and walk around, or it’s kind of late for lunch, but if you’re hungry there’s a good barbecue place downtown—”
“Not gas station hot dogs?” Claire teased.
“I do eat other things, you know,” Haley said.
Claire’s eyebrow twitched, but she kept a straight face. “Like what?”
“I don’t know if I should tell you,” Haley said with a smirk. “Are you visiting Tulsa for business or pleasure?”
“Haley…”
“No one has to know.” It was better for both of them that way. “Or we can go to the park.”
Indecision was written all over Claire’s face, and Haley felt a pang of guilt for making her make the choice at all. What was she doing except sabotaging the friendship they had built, the best thing that had happened to Haley in a long time? Maybe she’d misread everything.
“I’m supposed to say ‘let’s go to the park,’” Claire groaned. “I’m supposed to say ‘This would be a conflict of interest.’ That’s what I’m supposed to say.”
“What do you want to say?”
“That I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since you kissed me outside the bar. That talking to you every night is the best part of my day. That this layover is the whole reason I booked this flight, and the only reason I can keep my hands off you right now is because you’re driving and I don’t want to die in a wreck before I get to know what it’s like to be with you.”
“So my apartment?” Haley said, making sure she was understanding what Claire was saying correctly, because it felt too surreal to be true.
Claire nodded.
The drive back to Haley’s apartment was short, and she spent it in nervous anticipation of what they both knew was coming. Haley struggled to keep her eyes on the road when all she wanted to do was look at Claire, and pull over to kiss her, and unbutton the luau shirt she wore, and run her fingers over her freshly shaven undercut and through her silky strands of blond hair.
Claire reached over and laid her hand on Haley’s thigh, heat radiating between them as she rubbed up towards the hem of Haley’s denim shorts. Haley’s breath caught in her throat and she clasped Claire’s hand tightly until they hit a red light, then she leaned over and kissed her until the car behind her honked its frustration that the light had turned back to green.
Finally, Haley pulled into the underground parking lot of her downtown rental.
“Fancy,” Claire murmured, looking at Haley with an expression Haley couldn’t quite discern—not exactly judgemental but not far from it—when she pressed the button and keyed in her code that would take them to the top floor of the building.
“It’s just a place for me to sleep,” Haley said, feeling like she needed to explain herself. “And it has a good view west so I can watch the clouds.”
The elevator doors opened into the living room, the full-length windows that had made her rent the place on full display. Claire walked over to them immediately and stared out in appreciation at the unobstructed view.
“I see what you mean,” she said. “You can probably see for miles.”
“Sixteen miles. Give or take.” Haley stood beside her and reached tentatively for Claire’s waist. Everything she had imagined, all that she had anticipated since Claire told her she would be in town was coming true, and she suddenly felt shy.
“Of course you would know that.” Claire turned to face Haley, her eyes sparkling as she grasped Haley by the hips. “And if a tornado appeared on the horizon there, how long would it take to get to us?”
“It won’t. There needs to be a cold front.”
“But if it did?”
“That would depend on how fast and in which direction the storm was moving. But maybe twenty, thirty minutes, if the tornado stayed down that long and tracked this way. Are you worried about that?” Haley wondered if storm chasing had impacted Claire more than either of them had thought, but Claire didn’t seem nervous, just curious. Haley, on the other hand, felt like her heart was going to race out of her chest.
“No, I just think it’s sexy when you explain the weather. But now I want you to kiss me.” Claire’s lips parted and Haley eagerly leaned forward to meet them. Her knees went weak, but Claire was there to catch her and hold her up as their mouths locked together. “I’m out of practice,” Claire whispered in between soft kisses down Haley’s neck that made her whole body tingle. Her hands certainly remembered what to do, warm and caressing as they slipped under the hem of Haley’s tank top, her thumb tracing along Haley’s skin just under the band of her bra.
“Me too,” Haley sighed. “Four years.”
Claire’s thumb stopped moving and she pulled her face out of Haley’s neck to look her in the eyes. “Really?” She didn’t say how long it had been for her, but Haley assumed it was less than four years.
“Is that bad?” Haley asked, feeling self-conscious. The breakup with Ash had been messy and drawn out, with screaming fights and contemptuous sex because they’d had nowhere else to pour their passion and hurt and what little remained of their love. Good until it wasn’t, it had taken Haley a long time to feel ready to be a sexual being again. Then there was the whole matter of finding someone she trusted enough to be sexual with, and then she was so busy working all the time, and her vibrator and hand were just adequate enough that she’d sort of stopped thinking about it all together. Until Claire. Claire was different. Claire was safe, and it emboldened Haley in ways she thought she’d forgotten.
“Not bad, just surprising.” Claire’s thumb resumed tracing, slipping under the band this time, and Haley’s breath caught in her throat. It felt so good to be touched again. “I figured you could have anyone you want.”
“I can.” She leaned forward so her lips brushed against Claire’s. “And it’s you.” She kissed Claire again to drive the point home, tugging gently at Claire’s bottom lip with her teeth to show how very desperate that want was.
Claire’s hands tightened around her ribs and her thumb drifted higher until it reached the pebbly, pointed flesh of Haley’s nipple and made her moan out her hunger for more. Claire chuckled throatily, sliding her hands down Haley’s sides and around her hips and over her ass, pulling her in until their bodies were pressed together. Melting into each other.
“Where’s your bedroom?” Claire’s voice was low and graveled with desire. “I need to taste you.”
Haley needed it more. She stumbled backward through the kitchen door, pulling Claire along with her. Somehow her legs carried her down the hallway and they stumbled into the bedroom, still entwined in each other and knowing they needed to make each second count. She fell onto the bed with Claire on top of her, pulling at each other's clothes until they were both topless and marveling at the sight of each other.
They explored each other with soft strokes and then harder, more demanding ones. They touched and teased until they burned with each other’s heat, every caress an act of desperation. A need for more. Claire pulled Haley’s hands away and pinned them at her sides, leaning down to amplify the exquisite torture with her mouth. Everywhere her lips kissed was aflame, and every path her tongue traced a trail of gunpowder set alight until nothing was left of Haley but scorched ruin.
“I’ve been wanting to look at this up close since the first day I met you,” Claire said, nuzzling the sensitive skin between Haley’s navel and her belt buckle. Her hands freed Haley’s and went to trace it. “Of course it’s a tornado. It suits you.”
“Noah gave it to me,” Haley said without thinking, because how could she think when Claire was cupping her crotch like that? “When I first hit 100k on my own channel.”
“Then it’s definitely coming off.” Claire scowled as she struggled to undo the buckle, then pulled the belt free of her belt loops in one swift motion and tossed it aside.
Was she jealous? There was nothing for her to be jealous of, but if she was, it only turned Haley on more to feel so wanted. Claire’s eyes darkened as they locked on Haley’s, smoldering with such intensity that Haley thought her soul might ignite. Her hands undid the button of Haley’s denim shorts and Haley lifted her hips so Claire could pull them down.
“Jesus, Haley,” Claire groaned as the black lace was revealed. “Do you wear lingerie under those shorts every day?”
“Only on days when I’m picking up hot journalists at the airport to fuck them during their layovers.”
Claire made a noise that was somewhere between a moan and a growl and forced Haley’s legs further apart. Her hands were everywhere– digging into Haley’s thighs and moving lace aside as she murmured her appreciation– and then her fingers were inside, one, two, coaxing and firm. Haley bucked at the intrusion, her back arching against the sudden sensation of fullness and stretching and wet—God, she was wet—and open and free. Claire’s forearm locked down across her hips, holding Haley in place as she writhed against Claire’s other hand.
“More,” she panted.
Three. And Claire’s thumb, grazing across her clit but denying her the pressure Haley needed to come.
“More,” she begged, her muscles clenching around Claire’s fingers. “Please, more.”
But Claire wasn’t giving her more, keeping her suspended just on the edge of release until the sensations were torture.
Delicious, meticulous torture.
Unbearable, overwhelming torture.
Haley whimpered because begging wasn’t getting her anywhere, and felt Claire’s hand withdraw. Claire licked her fingers lazily, tasting Haley on them before smiling slowly and sinking her tongue into Haley’s folds. And this was what Claire considered out of practice?
“You’re going to come on my face now,” Claire said authoritatively, as if it was her decision alone. Maybe it was, because the second her tongue flicked across Haley’s clit in one quick pulse of pressure, Haley exploded.
***
“Was that your first time with a woman?” Claire asked later, cradling Haley’s head in her lap and stroking her hair.
It felt like a trick question, and Haley wasn’t sure if Claire wanted to hear yes or no. “I guess technically not,” she said, but that didn’t feel right. “Or maybe yes. I don’t know. My ex was AFAB but not a woman.”
“It doesn’t matter, I was just curious.” Claire said quickly. “Was it okay?”
Was it okay? How could she even ask that when Haley still didn’t trust her legs to stand, when she was still slick with sweat and come? Couldn’t Claire see what she did to Haley?
“Better than okay. The best I’ve ever had.” Haley wasn’t just saying that to smooth the wrinkle of worry between Claire’s eyebrows. Claire made her feel wanted in ways she’d never felt before, claiming her territory over every inch of Haley’s geography, and Haley was happy to cede it to her. It was safe to cede it to her, and lie in her arms afterwards with the cold air blowing from the vent drying their sweat as they chatted about everything and nothing. “Was it okay for you?”
“Better than okay,” Claire echoed, pulling Haley up until their mouths crushed together again, the hunger never sated as they tasted themselves on the other’s lips.
Claire’s touch was softer than before, as if she knew Haley belonged to her and no one else, and that knowledge gave her the luxury of taking her time. Haley was fully undone in her embrace, malleable and willing. A shrill alarm stopped Claire’s hands from drifting lower, and she pulled away from Haley with a reluctant groan.
“You could just stay,” Haley offered. “Miss your flight.”
“I have to be back in Boston tomorrow. Work doesn’t even know I left, I told them I was sick and working from home. Do you think I could hop in the shower real quick before my flight?”
“Only if I can join you.” Haley sat up and stretched, wanting to prolong the afternoon as much as possible.
Claire was urgent again under the stream of the rainfall showerhead, her skilled fingers extracting the orgasm from Haley in what had to be record time. Don’t forget this when I’m gone, she seemed to be saying with her hands and her mouth and her moans. Don’t forget what I can do to you. Haley wondered if her vibrator would ever be good enough again.
