The Art of Pretending Read online

  Ashley was already showered and dressed by the time Nira followed her nose out to the kitchenette.

  “Coffee,” Nira grunted as she claimed a mug from the cupboard, “good. You’re a horrible blanket thief.”

  “I know. Sorry.” Ashley, who had been reading in one of the armchairs, set her book down. “I haven’t shared a bed in a long time. Figured coffee was a safe peace offering.”

  Nira poured herself some, then paused. “Is there—”

  “Sugar is in a bowl there, and I ran out to the store down the road to get you some milk.”

  Her mood improving once she’d prepared her coffee and taken a big gulp, Nira smiled. “I don’t hate you anymore. Good job.”

  Ashley chuckled. Nira froze. The domesticity of it was overwhelming, just for a moment. She’d finally gotten used to being alone in the mornings. If she closed her eyes, it could have been two, three years ago, when Regan had still wholeheartedly loved her.

  Only, when she imagined being wrapped up in Regan’s arms from behind, the fantasy felt wrong.

  Nira’s heart broke a little more. There was no going back. Even her subconscious knew it.

  “Hey.” Ashley’s voice had gentled. A warm hand landed on her shoulder, and she let herself be turned around. “Everything okay? I really am sorry about the blanket.”

  Her eyes connected with Ashley’s, and she shivered.

  Ashley frowned and used both hands to rub her shoulders, stepping closer as she did so.

  Nira could only stare up at Ashley and cradle her mug. Yes, imagining Regan close to her felt wrong.

  Something in her stomach fluttered when Ashley smiled. She really did love that beauty mark.

  “Terri texted me. They want to meet for breakfast at the little diner opposite the store. That sound good?”

  It took Nira’s brain a moment to process the words. “Sure, yeah. Did she mention what else she had planned for today?”

  Ashley grinned. “Something about a boat and maybe some water skiing. I hope you brought sunblock.”

  Nira clicked her tongue. “As warm as it’s supposed to be today, the water is still going to be pretty cold.”

  “Where’s your sense of adventure? I was looking forward to helping you put sunblock on.”

  A flash of heat stole through Nira’s abdomen, though she was immediately embarrassed by it. “I’m capable of doing that myself, I’ll have you know.”

  Ashley’s dark eyes twinkled. “Of course, but what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t make sure?”

  Nira bit the inside of her cheek. “I already told you Terri, Amy, and Leisha know the truth.”

  “Regan doesn’t.” Ashley grinned and dipped her chin. “Come on, tell me you don’t think she’s an asshole for coming on the trip only after you said you were coming with me.”

  “That’s not what happened.” Nira frowned and stared at the collar of Ashley’s plaid shirt. It was half-flipped up. She straightened it out. “Is it?”

  Ashley pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows.

  Nira sighed and nodded. “Okay. Fine.” She thought for a beat. “But I get to help you, too.”

  “I don’t really burn but, hey, I don’t want skin cancer either. I’m fine with that.” Ashley stepped back and slipped her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “I should go dig out my swimsuit.”

  Nira held up her mug. “I’ll get ready after I finish this.”

  “Sounds good.” With a last smile, Ashley headed back into the bedroom.

  As soon as she left, Nira realized they still hadn’t talked. There would probably be time after breakfast.

  **

  Three hours later, when they were skimming along Lake Travis in the rental boat, Nira realized waiting had been a mistake. A very big mistake.

  “Tilt your head,” Ashley murmured next to her ear.

  Nira swallowed and nodded. They’d been out on the lake for over an hour, and Ashley was concerned that the sunblock Nira had applied before leaving the cabin had been washed away during her initial (and probably only) clumsy venture out on the water. That had mostly amounted to her being gracelessly dragged through the water for a small eternity. Five minutes, Terri had corrected.

  She shut her eyes and gripped her knees. Ashley had insisted on reapplying her sunblock, which felt a lot more like an intimate massage.

  “Regan looks pissed.”

  With Ashley’s hands slowly and thoroughly rubbing sunblock on in places Nira could easily reach, Regan was the furthest thing from Nira’s mind.

  “Don’t care,” she mumbled without thinking.

  Ashley’s hands stopped moving.

  Nira worried she’d messed up. The heat of Ashley’s body came closer to her back.

  “Progress?” She could almost feel Ashley’s lips against her ear. “Or something else?”

  “Both?” Nira felt like her heart was pounding hard enough that Ashley could feel the vibrations through her skin.

  The boat hit a rough patch of water. Nira sucked in a sharp breath when Ashley instinctively wrapped an arm around her middle, bringing their torsos in partial contact with one another. “Mostly something else,” she admitted as the boat slowed.

  Ashley’s arm tightened around her middle, and then her back was pressed fully against Ashley’s front. “Good.”

  For a moment, Nira mourned the fact that Ashley hadn’t worn a bikini. The bare patch of skin under the hem of Ashley’s red and white tankini felt really good against Nira’s back. As did Ashley’s soft, warm breas—she heard the soft splat of wet feet on the deck, and then a second later cold splotches of water hit her face. She forced her eyes open.

  Leisha, fresh from her own more graceful time on the water, was grinning down at her. “Ashley, you look like you need to cool off. Why don’t you go next?”

  Ashley’s hand dragged over her stomach, and Nira wished she could see the look on Ashley’s face as she stood.

  “Sure,” Ashley said gamely. She strapped on the life vest Amy offered her, then proceeded to the back of the boat.

  Nira held her breath when their eyes met. Ashley smiled crookedly, then descended into the water. The boat felt a little colder without Ashley on it, but Nira was entranced when it started moving forward and Ashley successfully started gliding on top of the water.

  Ashley really could do anything. She sucked on her lower lip. Still, it only seemed fair for Nira to help Ashley reapply her sunblock when she climbed back on deck.

  ***

  By the time they returned the boat and found a lakeside restaurant to have a late lunch at, Ashley was a befuddled mess. She couldn’t be sure all the signals Nira was sending her weren’t for show, but Nira hadn’t been like this before.

  Then again, they hadn’t spent a lot of time around Regan before. Regan, who had been glaring at Ashley off-and-on all day when she thought no one else was looking.

  Ashley wasn’t sure how Regan hadn’t taken one look at Nira in a bikini and dropped to her knees and begged for forgiveness. Erin was attractive, but she wasn’t Nira.

  Nira laughed at something Amy said, then subtly dropped her hand to Ashley’s knee. Ashley wondered if she could get away with moving her arm from the back of Nira’s chair to take her hand. Nira’s fingertips were making soft circles against her knee, which she’d never thought of as sensitive until that moment.

  Leisha suddenly clapped her hands together. “Okay. Now that our bellies are full, we should move on to our next activity.”

  Ashley wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or upset that they were leaving. Leisha went on about something, but Nira’s hand dipped to the inner part of her knee and Ashley couldn’t process a word she said.

  Everyone began getting up, so Ashley hurried to follow. The car ride back to the cabins was short, or so she assumed. Her mind was too busy screaming a thousand different things at her.

  Ten minutes later she was stripped back down to her swimsuit in the woods near their cabins. She wasn’t sur
e why, but she was standing in front of a blank canvas in the middle of a clearing, holding a squirt gun. Her confusion increased a thousandfold.

  “So, uh,” she glanced at Nira, who was several safe feet away. “Painting with squirt guns?”

  Nira grinned. “You weren’t paying attention, were you? The paint is non-toxic, plant based, washable, and biodegradable. Totally safe. Terri says it’s fun. Come on.”

  Deciding it would be as good a distraction as any, Ashley pointed at the canvas and pulled the trigger. She snorted softly at the messy, uneven result. She turned her head. It kind of looked like the start of a face. Hm.

  She tried different motions and different pressures. Just as she was starting to get the hang of it, Nira spoke.

  “Terri gave us a couple more guns with different colors.” Nira bumped a small cardboard box with her foot.

  In it were a few more squirt guns of varying colors. Curious, Ashley swapped the blue she’d been using for another. Bright yellow joined the blue in an arc, dripping to blend into green at some parts. She snorted again.

  The vague face was just a blur of nothing. She raised the squirt gun again, wondering if she could make something else by accident.

  “Swap yellow for orange?” Nira asked after a while.

  Ashley paused and tried to picture what orange would look like with the rest. A disaster. It sounded great. “Sure.”

  As she handed over her plastic gun and reached for Nira’s, a strong stream of paint gushed forward and hit her left cheek. “Nira!”

  Nira’s eyes were wide. “Sorry. It was an accident! Well, I mean, I thought a little would come out…”

  “You did that on purpose?” Ashley narrowed her eyes and tilted her gun. She squeezed the hard plastic trigger without remorse.

  A burst of yellow hit Nira on the chin. Nira sputtered and gave Ashley an incredulous look. “I can’t believe you!”

  “Believe it.” They stood motionless for a moment, then scattered. Nira dipped down to get a second gun, and Ashley barely missed stopping her.

  “Ladies, please,” Amy said from further down the line. She sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

  Ashley dodged a gush of paint and doubled back to the box, successfully retrieving her own second squirt gun. “She started it!”

  Nira glanced around at everyone, then took off down the trail that led deeper into the woods. “Sorry!” she called out from over her shoulder.

  Unwilling to let Nira win, Ashley immediately gave pursuit.

  “Try not to hurt yourselves!” She heard Leisha shout as she made it around a thick set of trees.

  Running in flip-flops was hard. Ashley playfully glared ahead at Nira, who was luckily having the same problems.

  A thick set of unkempt hedges blocked her vision a moment. Once she was clear of them, she stopped. She’d lost sight of Nira. Panting lightly from exertion, she squinted at her surroundings.

  A twig snapped. She rushed to turn around—and was met with a cold shot of green paint to the face.

  She sputtered and coughed, playing it up until she heard a concerned, “Ashley?”

  When Nira was close enough, she raised both plastic guns and aimed for a cheek and shoulder, respectively.

  Nira squealed, instinctively raising her arms and losing one of her paint guns in the process. “You tricked me!”

  “You started it.” Ashley stopped firing. She waited for Nira to drop her arms, wanting an opening to get her other cheek.

  Nira surprised her by rushing forward and blindly slapping toward her hands. She laughed and evaded the swings, causing Nira to open her eyes and focus her attacks.

  Ashley stumbled and lost the gun in her right hand. Sensing weakness, Nira grinned. Ashley went on the offensive, intending to make Nira drop her last gun.

  They lightly wrestled for a minute, resulting in both losing the last of their weapons. Chests lightly heaving, they laughed once they realized they’d only made each other messier; they were both smeared in terrible blends of all four colors.

  “Sorry,” she said once she’d calmed down some. “I think I got carried away.”

  “As you pointed out, I did start it.” Nira wiped her face with the back of her arm. The paint smear on her cheek looked worse.

  Ashley bit her lip to contain a laugh. “Maybe we should go get cleaned up.” She scratched her head and was unsurprised when she encountered a blob of paint.

  “Yeah.” Nira glanced up, then focused on a spot on her face. “Just, you have,” her fingertips lightly brushed Ashley’s cheek.

  Ashley held her breath and didn’t move.

  Nira held up her hand but Ashley didn’t look at it. Couldn’t. Nira was staring at her mouth.

  “Um, you know.” Nira rolled her lips together and flicked her eyes up to Ashley’s. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you. A-about the party. The kiss—when you kissed me? I felt something.”

  Unsteadily, Ashley’s breathing resumed. There was no way Nira meant what Ashley thought she did. The entire day, Ashley’s confusion, had just been the result of Nira playing things up for Regan.

  Unless that wasn’t the case at all. Nira hadn’t been the one to bring it up. “What do you mean?” she finally asked with a dry mouth.

  Nira’s hands found hers. Ashley took them without thinking, then let herself be led slowly forward, until Nira’s back was to a sturdy oak. Nira didn’t stop pulling.

  Again, Ashley held her breath.

  Nira didn’t let go until they were chest-to-chest. She kept hold of one hand, then brought the other up to her cheek.

  Ashley’s chest heaved as she waited.

  Nira tilted her head. “Kiss me again. The same way. Please.”

  Unable to do anything but as Nira requested, Ashley dipped her head and pressed her trembling lips to the corner of Nira’s mouth. Once. Twice.

  The third was interrupted when Nira sharply turned her head. They locked gazes briefly, and then Ashley’s eyes fluttered closed.

  Nira’s mouth brushed over hers so lightly, she wondered if she imagined it. Nira let out a shaky breath, then rushed to deepen the contact.

  Ashley felt dizzy as Nira fit their mouths together and parted her lips. The kiss was hot and wet, and Ashley felt it driving any hint of rational thought away. She lightly shoved forward, wishing their bodies could be closer.

  She cupped Nira’s face with both hands as another kiss began, her hips swaying and bumping into Nira’s.

  Nira groaned, then her hands were pushing the hem of Ashley’s top up. The next time Ashley swayed into her, the skin-on-skin contact left her feeling dizzy.

  She leaned more heavily into Nira, who froze and winced.

  Panting, Nira pulled away. “A bikini and tree bark do not mix.”

  “Sorry,” Ashley said. She shifted her hands until they were on Nira’s back, smoothing them over soft skin to check for damage.

  Nira’s nostrils flared and her eyelids drooped as she focused on Ashley’s mouth again. “We should go get cleaned up. Our cabin isn’t far.”

  Ashley’s heart stuttered in her chest. She swallowed and searched Nira’s face. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” she said in a whisper, “I think we should.” She brushed a thumb over Ashley’s lower lip.

  Wondering what Nira really wanted but unsure if she should ask, Ashley could only smile. “Okay.”

  ***

  Nira wanted to calm things down. Given the circumstances of their friendship and situation, she thought it was best they have a thorough conversation.

  That was her intent when she initially put a stop to things in the woods.

  Halfway to the cabin, Ashley took her hand. Nira made the mistake of looking up at her; Ashley smiled like there was no place else in the world she’d rather be.

  That led to Nira stumbling, which led to Ashley twisting and catching her, which led to—God, she felt like she could kiss Ashley forever—making out at the edge of the woods, followed by awkwardly stumbling toward
their cabin as they stole more kisses from one another.

  One minute she was annoyed they’d locked the cabin, the next they were inside and both naked from the waist up.

  “Bed?” Ashley asked against the side of her jaw.

  Nira shook her head. It had been too long. She could feel the tension in her body, the build in her abdomen even though they’d hardly done more than kiss. “I won’t make it,” she panted out.