Chapter Six

It took about fifteen seconds for Steve to answer the door. From the look on his face, he'd probably waited to do it to avoid looking too eager. It was very…Peckish of him.

If she wasn't mistaken, he'd gelled his hair, and put on aftershave, too. He leaned against the doorframe, giving a self-satisfied smile.

'Hi.'

'Hey.' Traci returned his smile, and stepped inside. They shared a quick kiss that seemed burdened with the promises of the evening.

'You have fun watching my sister get trashed?' he asked, not even bothering to hide the amused look on his face.

'She's just…going through some stuff.'

'She told you about her girlfriend, huh?' Steve said, knowingly.

Traci stared at him. 'How long have you known?'

'Well they did make out at the wedding.'

'Really?' Traci frowned. That, Gail had failed to mention.

'Well, I mean I only know because of my impeccable Detective skills. I don't know what else they could have been doing alone in the coat room. Anyway. Enough about my sister. We all know I'm prettier than her anyway.' Traci wasn't inclined to disagree, even in spite of the smugness.

He led her into the kitchen, where he definitely hadn't set the mood lighting, and the soft jazz playing in the background. The greenest of rookies would have picked up on his intentions for the evening. Not long ago, Traci would have done anything in her power to avoid this. Now…now, she felt like she was ready to be moving on

He poured out two glasses of Glenfiddich. Definitely much classier than margaritas. Apparently Guns and Gangs paid well.

Three and a half glasses later, they were at the door to Steve's bedroom. Traci's shirt was half off, and caught around her shoulders.

Steve put his hand to Traci's neck, and stopped. 'Is this okay? I mean…'

'Oh, so now you feel like going slow,' Traci teased.

'Hey, I was specifically told that if I hurt you, I was going to get murdered, and even though I know she can't take me in a fight I figured I'd try and avoid the hassle.'

'Uh huh.' Traci nodded. She ran her hand up his chest. 'Has anyone ever told you that you're completely full of yourself?'

'Today?' he asked, and made a show of stopping to think about it. 'Just two.' He paused slightly. 'Maybe three.'

'Well I guess it's a good thing I like you the way you are.'

He pulled off his shirt, and threw it across the room. His chest hair was a light reddish blonde, and the skin there was pale and freckled. For a few moments, she let herself just…touch him. He was a little stockier than Jerry had been, and his skin was smoother. Given that he was the first person she had been with since her fiancé's death, she couldn't help but compare them. She hated herself for it – Steve didn't deserve that.

'You okay?' he asked, his hand stroking at her cheek and hair. 'If you don't want to do this, please don't feel as though I'm forcing you into it.'

'If you don't kiss me right now, Steve Peck, I swear to God…'

Steve smiled, and pushed the bedroom door shut behind him.

…

Gail was just starting to drift off when her phone started to beep.

So are you coming back tonight?

Gail stared at her phone. Shit. Somewhere around the sixth drink, she'd kind of forgottenthat she'd been staying with Holly. Well that was just embarrassing.

may hve accidentakly gttoenn waaay too drunk and come back hoem by mistake. She recognised the typos she was making, but declined to fix them. Her brain was tired, and her body was sore, and all she wanted to do was sleep. Preferably with someone's arms wrapped around her. Why wasn't Holly here?

Well that does sound like something you would do. Want me to pick you up? Gail could almost hear Holly's amusement at her behaviour.

Nooo. Come heere and keep me warrm.

Are you asking me for a booty call?

Gail stared at the phone, suddenly unsure of how to answer.

Yes.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a loud tapping on the window. At first, Gail was wondering what the hell was going on, before her brain managed to catch up. She found Holly standing outside her window, knee deep in hydrangeas.

'Are you seriously trying to sneak in?'

'Well I wasn't sure who was going to be answering the door.'

'You're a dork,' Gail said, plainly, but she did appreciate the discretion. It wasn't that she worried about what Chris might say, but she did want to wait a little while before the whole "telling everyone she was dating a woman," thing. She wrenched the window open, suddenly glad that their landlord was too cheap to put in flyscreen. Grinning, Holly clambered through, seeming to not even touch the sides of the window frame.

If it was Gail, she would have tripped and landed on her ass, even sober. Holly had a more athletic finesse. She landed softly, and gracefully enough that Gail's hands waiting to steady her were pointless.

'Hi,' said Holly, smiling. She looked a little flushed, a little nervous, and a little excited, all at the same time. The sight of the other woman suddenly invigorated Gail. Simply cuddling was no longer an acceptable outcome for the evening.

'Come here,' Gail murmured, and she pulled Holly to the bed by her shirt collar. Their first time, had mostly been Holly doing all the work. This time, Gail felt she needed to reciprocate. Maybe it was the Dutch courage still buzzing through her. 'I don't know if I've told you this, but you are seriously fucking sexy.'

This was "drunk, lets her feelings be known to the world," Gail. 'The first time I saw you,' she continued. 'I couldn't stop staring at your ass.' For the first time in the weeks that Gail had known her, Holly looked surprised.

'What?' Gail said, suddenly indignant. 'You were right. I mean, it's not just a switch, or whatever. I guess I just didn't realise I was realising something.'

'Okay, exactly how much did you drink?' Holly asked, amused.

'I'm trying to be sincere! And you're just being…' Gail kissed her roughly. 'Really, really hot. I'm gonna take all your clothes off now, okay?'

'Okay.'

Gail unbuttoned Holly's shirt, simultaneously frustrated and aroused by the fact that the other woman was still wearing a bra.

'Do you seriously wear a bra to bed?'

'I wasn't going to drive to your place without putting on a bra,' Holly said, indignantly.

Slowly, carefully, Gail lowered her hands to Holly's chest. Breasts. She really needed to start working on using the right words for things. Somehow, she'd managed to skip the "experimental college phase," mostly because she felt like her mother would have murdered her if she'd tried it. That alone might have made it worthwhile, but the whole "disowning" thing would have cramped her style.

'What, are you just going to hold them?'

'Well I don't know what I'm supposed to do!'

Holly let out a snort. 'Okay, do you know what you like?'

Gail paused. 'Yes,' she said, finally.

'Then try that. We can work out the details later.'

'Okay.' Gail took a shuddering breath, and made to undo Holly's bra. Thank God it was a front clasp, otherwise she had no idea how she was going to get it off. Even so, it was more difficult than it should have been. Holly seemed to find her struggle amusing.

'Go ahead, laugh,' Gail said, in mock irritability. Finally, she managed to wrench the clasp free, and decided that that was good enough. Holly was still laughing, but Gail was too busy trying to figure out what to do to care. Her hands started to knead at Holly's breasts, the friction kind of hurting her still bandaged wrist. Her lips settled sort of awkwardly on Holly's belly-button, and it seemed like kind of a good idea to explore it with her tongue. The moment she did, Holly's body arched, and she let out a soft sort of gasp. Gail drew back quickly.

'Don't stop,' Holly said, in an almost harsh tone. Gail gave a surprised sort of look.

'Really? Your belly-button?'

'Says the person who liked it when I—'

'Alright, alright.'

Gail put her head back down, and decided to start getting creative.

…

The bed was super comfortable, and Gail was vaguely aware of a warm body pressed against hers. It hadn't been that long since her and Nick's break-up, but somehow, in those last few weeks, his body hadn't felt as warm, as welcoming as it had a year ago.

Holly wasn't a smothering sort of cuddler, but she was close enough that Gail knew she was there. It was comforting, but not overly overwhelming. Still, now that she was actually sober, she was partially regretting the "eleven p.m. drunken text message" thing.

The first time had been easier, since Holly had an enormous bed, and it was easy enough to sleep separately, while still sleeping together. Gail's bed (now that she wasn't living at home) had to be small enough to fit in a tiny-ass bedroom that still kind of smelt like Chris's aftershave. The day he'd moved back in, they'd shunted him into the spare bedroom, which was somehow even smaller still.

'I preferred waking up in swankville,' Gail murmured into her pillow. Holly's sheets had an insanely high thread count, and her mattress was like something made out of puppies.

Holly laughed. 'My lease ends next month, so "swankville" won't be swankville for much longer.'

'You should get a place with a Jacuzzi next time,' Gail told her. 'A Jacuzzi, and a bar. That way, you never have to go anywhere.'

'Except to work,' Holly reminded her, and Gail made a flicking sort of motion.

'Details.' Gail groaned and rolled over, almost falling out of bed in the process. That was as good as any reason to get up, and hope like hell that Chris and Dov weren't around.

She stepped out into the kitchen, only partially checking that the coast was clear. The first things she noticed was that Chris had made breakfast. The smell of bacon and French toast was wafting through the kitchen. The second thing she noticed was that Traci was sitting at the kitchen table, an almost guilty look on her face.

Gail smirked.

Apparently Traci's night had been just as good as hers.