“Well, kind of,” Jodie answered, rubbing the top of her arms as if she was starting to feel the chill. “He was good in bed. I mean when it was good it was great!”
“And you don’t think you will find someone better?”
“I don’t know. Are you going to try and tell me that a woman would be much better?”
Nikki sat back and raised a carefully plucked eyebrow. “Not at all. Why would you pluck an idea like that out of thin air?”
Jodie went several shades of scarlet deeper in just a few seconds. She took a deep swig from her own glass, looking around to see if anyone was listening in. Of the selection of drinkers left outside, all seemed to be deep within their own conversations. “Don’t all women think about that? A bit, at least.” All of a sudden I didn’t think I liked where this was heading again. Was my old boss hitting on my friend?
Nikki shrugged, a self-satisfied smile on her face. “That is definitely my theory, yes. Of all women, including the ones who say they don’t like the idea, they’ve all imagined the scene. At least a little. How it plays out when one woman kisses another. Even if it’s only to decide it’s not for them. But some decide they really like the image and want to take it further. I take it that’s you, honey?” She had leaned in now, forming a conspiratorial circle out of the three of us.
“Uh … yeah. I liked it a lot actually.” A hint of a naughty smile had formed in the corner of her mouth as her eyes looked down. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Have you ever acted on it?”
Jodie giggled and spun her glass around on the table absentmindedly. “No, I don’t think I ever could bring myself to kiss a woman. I wouldn’t even know how to approach one!” She was pulling the literal face that she used to pull in lessons when I was interrogating her about a crush.
“Well there isn’t a book of cheat codes for lesbians. Did you never think about asking Kate to practice kissing when you were younger?”
The crimson flush returned instantly to my friend’s cheeks. “Uh …”
Wait, answer quicker, I thought. She will get the wrong idea.
“So that’s a yes?” Nikki pressed her.
Jodie looked at me and then back at her tormentor. “Kind of? Sometimes, maybe?”
“Wait, what?” I said, astonished.
“It crossed my mind,” she added. “I have always thought that you’re so pretty. And when I started to, uh, wonder … you were just the natural choice on who to wonder about.” It was my turn to feel the flush rise through my neck and across my face.
Nikki was trying desperately to maintain her cool in front of the gaping open goal which this entire conversation had become. “And were these feelings reciprocated, Kate? You are quite the pair and you don’t have the entire monopoly here on the cute friend badge.”
“No! Of course not. We were best friends – are best friends. Practically like sisters for years.” I glared at them both for different reasons, knowing that my tone was hopelessly defensive. But as my gaze met Jodie’s I could see the hurt that the harshness of my answer had caused.
“It would have been wrong to think of her like that,” I added to soften the blow. There was also the fact that I wasn’t being entirely honest. There had been times when, I had to admit, the thought had crossed my mind. And Jodie was right about being the obvious subject for such thoughts. Or fantasies if we called the spade what it was.
There was a silence for a few moments whilst egos cooled and information was processed. It was a lot to take in and the yearning to be at home in the PJ’s, or actually anywhere else away from this strange woman’s questions had become overwhelming. The problem now was the look in Jodie’s big, brown eyes which was somewhere between hurt and curiosity.
“Why not start by stroking her leg?” Nikki asked. She spoke in such a matter of fact way. Like what she had suggested was the most normal thing in the world.
I was wearing a short dress with an abstract pattern of pinks, black and turquoise. Jodie had on a white dress of similar length with a subtle leaf print. We had both worn tights with our black high heels to ward of the chill of the late summer’s evening.
“Umm …” I could see my friend debating whether this was a good idea. Her eyes were fixed on the sheen of the top of my thigh. She broke her gaze momentarily to glance over her shoulder to check that none of the other drinkers were obviously watching what we were doing. As her eyes returned to me, there was a naughty glint in her eye. “I did always think you had nice legs.”
Self consciously I hitched the hem of my dress down a little, as close to the knee as I could. Jodie leaned forward and just allowed three manicured fingers to curl around my knee. Her hand lingered there for a moment, resting as we both acclimatised to this new sensation. Then, when she realised that the world had not imploded around us, she stroked the palm of her hand up onto the soft flesh of my thigh. A gasp stuck in my throat as her hand pushed deeper, emboldened. I closed my eyes for a second. There is no denying that it felt good. Naughty.
When I opened my eyes, Jodie was that little bit closer. Biting her lip gently as if in deep thought, her eyes were focused on my lap as the tips of her five fingers savoured the feel of the nylon.
“Kate, why don’t you do the same to Jodie now?” Nikki asked, breaking the spell for a moment.
“But … this isn’t my thing!” I snapped.
“Kate,” she sighed, “you never could lie. No matter how trivial the topic. Let your hair down. It’s just a bit of fun.”
With a gentle shake of my head I decided it was just easier to play the game for a few minutes and then be gone. Jodie was always the one who had the better curves. Her legs looked perfectly feminine with the lines which rose between her calf through the knee and up to her thigh. The colour of the tights definitely amplified this magic. In that moment I could totally see what the guys obsessed over.
“Go on then you wuss, just do it,” Jodie giggled. She hitched her dress up a little.
With a roll of my eyes to deflect the level of intrigue that may have built, I placed my hand on the tender flesh just above her knee. I was entirely unprepared for the electroshock which coursed through my body as I touched her. The warm, satin feel was like nothing I had ever felt. Of course I have pulled these garments on countless times for school, work. I have tugged them away wearily at the end of a hard day as well. Probably grazed my hand against another body’s material in passing as well. But the sheer tactile bliss of Jodie’s leg merged with the years of ups and down, innocuous times that we had hugged and touched in the past. Somehow, the emotions that came about from all that were greater than the sum of all the parts. She felt heavenly as I ran my hand upwards and then back down her thigh without having gone inappropriately high. But somewhere near the back of my brain, I became aware that I would love to have continued. To see just how much nicer her gorgeous legs felt with each tantalising inch I climbed higher.