“We’ve all done weird shit in our sleep, Tara,” Daisy reassured her with barely contained amusement. She had thoroughly enjoyed Tara’s retelling of her strange night. Despite how serious and thoughtful she attempted to seem, Tara knew when her best friend was on the brink of one of her signature cackles.

“You think I fingered myself in my sleep?”

“I’ve woken up from a sexy dream cupping my own boob before!”

“That’s not quite the same as getting your hand under your shorts, and your panties, and then inside of you! Plus, you sleep in tank tops, so your boobs are always falling out the sides.”

“Look, if it happens again, then you know you’re a nymphomaniac. If not, don’t worry!”

“My jaw is kinda sore, too,” Tara mumbled, half-hoping Daisy wouldn’t hear the admission.

Her roommate cackled. “Maybe you were giving head to a crease in your pillow! Any saliva in your elbow crack?” She laughed raucously at her own suggestions before returning to her smoothie-making. Super healthy smoothies were her newest nutritional obsession. Daisy was determined to treat her body well; she just couldn’t seem to decide how to do that. And she also couldn’t stay away from wine, despite Tara’s insistence that of all the health stunts she could attempt, dry January would probably bring her the most genuine benefit. The amount of wine she consumed never passed two bottles in a week, but it was the frequency that occasionally had Tara scolding her friend and roommate out of worry for her liver.

Tara grumbled, “Whatever. I need to get ready for work.”

Daisy waved over her shoulder as Tara retreated to her bedroom to get washed and dressed for the long shift she had ahead of her. As she left the flat, she said a silent prayer to anyone that would listen that Shawn wouldn’t ask her any torturous questions.

There was no interrogation when she arrived at work, but her colleague’s mischievous smile warned he may know more than she would like.

Around lunchtime, Ava texted Tara to arrange a hook-up in two days. Of course, a small part of her was disappointed that it wasn’t a romantic ‘let’s go out!’ text. But this is what she had suggested, right? Friends with benefits…

She messaged back far too quickly.

Tara: Sure, I’ll see you then.

~

She arrived at Ava’s apartment a few minutes early. Her roommate, the one she said worked at the bar, answered the door. Ava had not mentioned that her roommate was six feet tall and built like one of the wrestling figurines Tara’s uncle collected.

“H-hi,” Tara garbled. “I’m, uh, Tara.”

The woman smiled kindly and stepped back to let her in. She had the same aura of restrained strength that Ava did, as though she had to put a great deal of effort into not moving too quickly or slamming things down too hard.

Tara shuffled into the main room she had dashed through in a daze after she and Ava’s first night together.

“I’m Imogen,” the woman said. She stuck her hand out, and Tara shook it delicately. The gentle action tilted Imogen’s smile into a slightly more carnivorous one. It gave Tara a tingle across her neck at how similar it was to Ava’s teeth-baring grin. She got the distinct feeling this woman had the same taste as her roommate: small and submissive women. “I want to say that Ava has told me so much about you,” she continued, “but she never tells me anything about the women she spends time with.”

Tara hadn’t a clue how to respond to that, so she simply mumbled, “O-oh, that’s oka-”

“Don’t worry, I’m off to work so I won’t be listening in. You gals have fun.”

She was gone with a wink and a wave, leaving Tara to stand in the living room seemingly unable to move an inch. She didn’t know if it was nerves or social awkwardness, but she simply could not bring herself to sit or relax in Ava’s space.

The woman she was there to see strode out of her bedroom with lazily swinging hips, scrubbing her hair with a small blue towel. She wore grey sweatpants and a white V-neck top and looked incredible. She halted and smiled when her eyes landed on Tara. Her smile sent a warmth to Tara’s cheeks; there was something so… primal and predatory about the way Ava grinned. It brought attention to her sharp little canines and dark eyes and left Tara open and vulnerable. Perhaps she liked that feeling… just a little…

Ava threw the towel into a plastic basket, leaving her shoulder-length hair still damp, and grabbed Tara by the sweater, leading her into the bedroom like a pet on a leash.