“It’s true,” Kate argued and looked at Cali. “Really?”

  “Kate, leave it. You and I aren’t together. You don’t get to decide who I spend my time with.”

  “You literally broke up with me because you thought I was a player. Now you’re dating one?”

  Cali leaned in and said, “You cheated on me, Kate. I know you did. It’s why you keep coming back to me. You feel guilty for doing it, and you feel guilty because you’ve lied about it over and over again.” Cali shook her head and then watched as Kate swallowed. “I’d ask who with or how many times, but it doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

  “Cali, I–”

  “Do you want to just go somewhere else?” Dayton asked her.

  “Yeah, back to my place,” Cali said, standing.

  “Cali, come on,” Kate said, standing up, too.

  Dayton moved between them, holding the two beers out.

  “I think you could use these more than us,” she told the woman.

  “Fuck you!” Kate snapped.

  “No, thanks,” Dayton replied.

  She placed the beers on the table. Cali took her hand. They walked past Kate, who gave no further objections, and left the bar.

  “I’m sorry. I should have known she’d be there. She’s there a few times a week. I figured if she was, she’d leave me alone. I was clearly wrong.”

  “No big deal.” Dayton shrugged.

  “It is a big deal. I’m sorry for what she said about you.”

  “Don’t be. She was right.” Dayton squeezed Cali’s hand. “She was right, but she’s not anymore. And she doesn’t know me, Cali. I don’t give a crap what your cheating ex-girlfriend thinks of me. I only care what you think of me.”

  Dayton’s phone rang in her pocket.

  “It’s okay. You can take it,” Cali told her.

  Dayton pulled it out with her free hand and answered.

  “Hello?”

  Cali continued to hold Dayton’s other hand as they walked along the sidewalk in the direction of Dayton’s car.

  “Oh, really?” Dayton asked, sounding surprised. “When?” She waited for a bit. “That much?”

  “Car is over here,” Cali said, pointing to Dayton’s car up ahead and to the left.

  Dayton nodded at her and said, “How long?” She paused again. “That long?”

  Cali listened, but she tried not to. She wasn’t hearing a lot outside of Dayton’s questions.

  “I don’t think so,” Dayton said. “No, it’s not what I want. I know. I’m sorry, Alec, but it’s not for me.” She paused. “Maybe it’s time you and I have lunch and talk. I’m thinking about making some changes, and they would impact you.”

  Cali swallowed hard. She knew who Alec was. Dayton had told her of her agent before. Cali worried that Alec had just told Dayton that she was wanted on another show. As Dayton said her goodbye, after arranging that lunch, Cali’s worries subsided a bit. Dayton had said no.

  “Sorry about that,” Dayton said as they approached the car. “So, where do you want to go?”

  “My place, remember?”

  “You said that in the heat of the moment to your ex-girlfriend. I figured you were just trying to get a rise out of her or something. We didn’t even have our drink. We can go somewhere else.”

  “My place, Day.” Cali moved into Dayton and gripped her hips.

  It was Dayton’s turn to swallow before she asked, “To play war?”

  “Among other things,” Cali teased.

  ◆◆◆

  When they arrived back at Cali’s place, after having stopped off at a liquor store to pick up a bottle of halfway decent wine, Cali poured them two glasses and went back into the living room, where Dayton sat nervously on her sofa.

  “Will you tell me something?” Cali asked, passing Dayton her wine.

  “Sure.”

  “Did you just turn something down?”

  “Huh?”

  “On the phone, with Alec.” Cali sat down next to Dayton and turned to face the woman, placing her own elbow on the back of the sofa and resting her head on her hand.

  “Oh, yeah. He said there’s this new show that’s actually looking for a host, not a cast member.”

  “Oh,” Cali muttered, disappointed. “That’s why you turned it down.” She sipped her wine.

  “Huh?” Dayton wondered out loud.

  “You’re cute when you’re confused,” Cali told her, moving her wine glass to the table.

  “You think I turned down the show because I wouldn’t be in the cast; I’d be the host?”

  “Yes.”

  “I turned it down because it’s a month of pre-production work and two months of production work, along with at least a couple of weeks in post-production, looping audio and everything. It shoots in New York.”

  “And you hate the Big Apple?”

  Dayton moved her glass to the coffee table next to Cali’s and said, “No, I like New York just fine. Great town with good pizza and the best bagels in the world.”

  “Then, why’d you turn it down?” Cali asked.

  “Cali, I don’t want to go. I’d have to be there in a month, and I have things here I don’t want to miss.”

  Cali gave a soft smile and said, “I’m going to risk sounding like an idiot if it’s not about me, and then risk sounding like a narcissist if I say it’s about me, but… Is it at least in part because of me?”

  Dayton smiled and said, “Come here.”

  She patted her lap. Cali moved into it, straddling her hips and wrapping her arms around Dayton’s neck.

  “It’s partly about you, but it’s not all about you.”

  “Thank God,” Cali joked, running her fingers over the back of Dayton’s neck.

  “I don’t want to go to New York in a month because I don’t want to put a time limit on what this is becoming. I don’t want to have to think about only having a certain number of days with you until I have to leave.” She rubbed Cali’s thighs. “I don’t want to have to be away from you so soon after we just started this and have to do long-distance. I’m just getting into this whole relationship thing. I’m not ready for the distance complication.” Dayton ran a hand through Cali’s hair and down her neck. “I don’t want to come back to LA after a few months and pick up where we left off, either. I just want to be here; in this, with you.”

  “Me too,” Cali said. “But I won’t ask you to give up something you want, Day. We can figure things out if we need to.”

  “We don’t. But it’s also not just about you. I’m ready for something more; something different. I haven’t thought it all through yet, and I’ll never say never to doing another show, because I do have fun, sometimes, and I get to do things I wouldn’t otherwise do, but I don’t want to do another one anytime soon. I want to figure out what’s next for me. I have some ideas, but I still have some thinking to do.”

  “Is there anything I can help you think about?”

  “Yes,” Dayton replied, looking up at her with those gorgeous eyes. “You can help me plan our next date.”

  Cali leaned down, their lips inches apart, and said, “I’d kind of like to keep us focused on this one.”

  CHAPTER 32

  Dayton was staring up at a beautiful woman that she was trying not to have sex with. This was a new thing for her, taking things slow; and she was pretty sure she was bad at it, because she was now unbuttoning Cali’s shirt. Cali was watching her. She wasn’t stopping her. When Cali’s phone buzzed from the front pocket of her jeans, it jolted Dayton’s body.

  “It’s just an email.” Cali laughed at her. “Do you not want to do this tonight? Your hands are fumbling with my buttons, and I feel like you’d be a lot smoother than that.” She winked at Dayton.

  “No, I do. I really do. I’ve never done this with someone I care so much about. I’m nervous, Cali.”

  “Maybe I can take the lead, then,” Cali replied, leaning down and capturing Dayton’s lips with her own.

  Dayton let her do just that. Cali kissed her deeply. When her lips moved to Dayton’s neck, Dayton moaned. Cali removed her own shirt, revealing her bra and skin beneath. Dayton waited until Cali lifted herself up to stare down at her before her hands moved to Cali’s abdomen. She grazed the skin there, loving how good it felt, and watched as Cali unbuttoned her own jeans and pulled down the zipper right after. Dayton could just make out the pale purple color of her panties. She licked her lips, wanting to see more but not minding at all letting Cali lead the way.

  “What normally happens now in those lesbian romance novels you’re always reading?” Cali teased.

  “I said one thing,” Dayton replied, rolling her eyes.

  Then, she lifted Cali off of herself. Just as quickly, Cali was on her back, and Dayton was hovering over her. She stared down at Cali playfully at first, but then she sobered. This was going to be their first time, but it wouldn’t be their last or even one of a few. It would be the first of many, she hoped. And it was suddenly so much more important for Dayton that they not experience this on the sofa, with her still being fully dressed.

  “Cali?”

  “Yes?”

  “Can we go to your bedroom?” she asked, running a hand over Cali’s cheek.

  Cali nodded when she realized Dayton’s serious expression.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, sitting up as Dayton moved to stand.

  “I’ve never done this before,” Dayton confessed.

  “I’m pretty sure you’ve done it a bunch of times, Day,” Cali replied, standing and taking Dayton’s hand.

  “No, I mean… I’ve never done this with someone like this.”

  Cali looked into Dayton’s eyes, making the woman blush with embarrassment.

  “Meaning?” Cali asked.

  “Cali, I’m kind of crazy about you. You know that, right? I made it pretty obvious when I kept texting and asking you out.”

  Cali smiled and said, “You’ve never had sex with someone you really care about, have you?”

  Dayton shook her head from side to side.

  “At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll ask anyway. What about Bristol?”

  Dayton pulled Cali into herself by the waist and said, “Not in the same way I care about you; not with the same intensity that I just want to spend every moment of every day with you; on top of the fact that I want you under me and over me and everywhere else.”

  Dayton watched as Cali swallowed, and she worried she had said too much; that Cali might run. Then, Cali smiled, and Dayton remembered who she was dating. Cali wouldn’t run. She had been hesitant at first because she hadn’t understood how Dayton would want to be with just her and no one else, but Cali wasn’t a runner. She was someone who committed to something and someone. Cali leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Dayton’s lips.

  “Come to bed with me, Day.”

  Dayton was pulled by the hand down the hall into Cali’s small bedroom. Waking up next to her before had been perfect, but she knew that waking up next to her tomorrow would somehow be even better. Cali moved in front of her, pressing the back of Dayton’s legs against the end of the bed. Dayton wobbled a bit, feeling out of sorts since this wasn’t normally how her encounters with women began. She was usually in Cali’s position. Dayton watched as Cali peeled off her own jeans. They were both already barefoot, leaving their shoes by the front door when they walked in. Cali stood back up in her pale purple panties and that matching bra. Dayton was still wearing dark jeans, that were a staple in her wardrobe, along with a gray t-shirt. Cali lifted the shirt over Dayton’s head, leaving Dayton in a sports bra.

  She hadn’t planned on them doing this tonight. She’d been thinking about the whole taking things slowly thing. Maybe after the third date or the fourth date, they’d get here, but she had worn an old sports bra that had a small hole in it under her damn arm and a pair of boxer briefs that had seen better days. She was silently chastising herself for a moment, hoping Cali wouldn’t notice the hole in her bra, when Cali reached for her belt buckle and undid it. Dayton couldn’t move. Where had all her confidence gone? Her swagger? Women responded to her swagger, her take-the-bull-by-the-horns attitude, and her leading in the bedroom. Cali unbuttoned Dayton’s pants and pulled at the zipper. She didn’t seem to mind the fact that Dayton was actually shaking with nerves. She pulled Dayton’s pants down and off her legs.

  “You’re shaking, babe,” Cali finally told her.

  “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

  “Is it wrong that I’m totally loving this side of you?” Cali moved into her and kissed her shoulder. “Like, it’s a total turn on for me to see you like this right now.”

  “It is? I feel like it’s the least sexy thing in the world.”

  Cali’s hands moved up Dayton’s sides and onto her chest, cupping Dayton’s breasts in the process. Dayton lifted her arms knowingly. Cali removed her sports bra and stared down at her.

  “God, you’re gorgeous.”

  Dayton took a deep breath, reached around Cali’s body, and unclasped her bra. When it fell to the floor, she stared at Cali’s breasts for a long moment, thinking about everything she wanted to do to them. Cali pressed into her shoulders, causing Dayton to fall back onto the bed. Cali moved on top of Dayton, lowering herself into her.

  “That feels good,” Dayton let out accidentally.

  “Remember when we were like this but in reverse positions in Hawaii?”

  “Definitely,” Dayton stated, clearing her throat.

  Cali rolled down into her and said, “I was so wet for you then.”

  “Fuck,” Dayton replied.

  “I don’t know that I would’ve stopped, Dayton. I’m glad I did – I think it was right to wait, but I wanted you so much. I’ve never stopped thinking about how good it had felt to be pressed up against you.” Cali rolled down into her again.

  “Are you that wet now?” Dayton asked, grasping Cali’s ass under her panties.

  “Want to find out?” Cali teased, licking Dayton’s collarbone.

  Dayton nodded rapidly. Cali chuckled against her skin. Dayton grew wetter; not just because Cali was turned on, but because Cali was teasing her, and it was sexy.

  “You’ll have to do something about it then,” Cali added as she nipped at Dayton’s jaw.

  Dayton slid her right hand around the front of Cali’s body and into her folds.

  “God!” she exclaimed at the contact, and Cali twitched down into her.

  “So, am I wet?” Cali whispered into her ear.

  “Yes,” Dayton whispered back, slowly stroking Cali’s clit; not even really for Cali, but for herself.

  “You can move your hand then now,” Cali replied.

  “Why?” Dayton asked.

  “Because I want to touch you now.”

  “We can both–”

  Cali reached down and removed Dayton’s hand. She sucked Dayton’s fingers into her mouth, tasting herself and making Dayton nearly pass out. Then, she let go of Dayton’s hand, leaned down, and kissed her. Dayton tasted Cali on her lips and against her tongue. She grunted in frustration because she wanted to taste more; to have Cali’s sex in her mouth; her body writhing beneath her as Cali came.

  Cali reached down between them, tugging at Dayton’s underwear on one side and then the other until they were low enough. Her fingers danced against Dayton’s curls as she continued to kiss her. Then, they slid a little lower, and lower still, until they were against Dayton’s clit.

  “Fuck,” Dayton said again as she pulled away from the kiss.

  “Is that what you want?”

  “Yes, but not now. Now, I want slow.”

  “I can do slow,” Cali said as she stared down into Dayton’s eyes. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she added, her confidence waning a bit.

  “I can,” Dayton said, her confidence picking back up. “This was always going to happen, babe.”

  Cali moved down a little, slowing her strokes. She kissed Dayton between her breasts, dragging her tongue between them until she reached a nipple. She sucked it into her mouth, forming a hard peak, and let it go. Then, she blew on it with slow, hot air, causing Dayton to close her eyes tightly in response. As Cali stroked her on both sides of her clit with two fingers, Dayton lifted one of her legs, needing to give Cali more access. Cali smirked against Dayton’s skin as she continued to lavish her breasts with attention, not paying any mind to Dayton’s pleading tones or her hips arching off the bed with every few strokes.

  “You wanted slow,” Cali spoke, lowering her lips to Dayton’s stomach and changing the angle of her fingers as she did, pressing a little harder.

  “I didn’t want to rush our first time,” Dayton replied between gasps.

  Cali kissed her below her belly button. Then, she lowered herself further, spreading Dayton’s thighs and looking at Dayton’s center with greedy eyes.

  “I think this whole night is going to be classified as our first time. This is just the first round,” Cali said, sliding her tongue out and licking the inside of Dayton’s left thigh.

  Dayton wanted to keep her eyes open. She wanted to watch everything Cali would do to her, but it was going to be hard. Cali’s lips on her skin, in those sensitive spots, were driving her wild. When Cali’s lips kissed her clit directly, her eyes snapped shut. Cali slid a finger inside at the same time she licked her for the first time.

  “More,” Dayton requested, knowing she’d need more than one finger.

  Cali pulled out and pushed back inside with an additional finger. She licked Dayton slowly and moved inside her at an identical pace. Dayton’s eyes opened to watch Cali move. Cali’s eyes lifted in time to catch her staring. Dayton watched her as Cali looked into her eyes. When Dayton moaned, Cali’s eyes closed briefly, as if she was enjoying this even more than Dayton. Maybe she was, but Dayton found it hard to believe because she was enjoying this immensely.

  “Faster,” she requested.

  Cali refocused. She licked and sucked for the first time, causing Dayton to grip the back of Cali’s head and press her down further into herself.

  “You’re ready, aren’t you?” Cali asked, placing a kiss on her clit again.