The Map to You by Rachel Stockbridge

Author:Rachel Stockbridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary, kissing, lgbt, sweet, f/f, friends to lovers, college, nyc, university, new york city, sapphic, lesfic
Publisher: Rachel Stockbridge
Published: 2022-01-25T08:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

The first thing Kinsey noticed as she found her way to wakefulness the next morning was the warm, foreign weight on her shoulder. The second thing was that the skin under her fingers wasn’t her own. Blearily, she reached for the bedside table and slid her glasses on, moving slowly so she wouldn’t disturb Sasha.

From the quality of the light peeking around the curtains, it must be early still. At least by Kinsey’s standards. It was probably late for the early bird folded under her arm, but Kinsey made no move to wake her. Sasha should have a chance to sleep in for once. Get a little reprieve from the stress she wouldn’t talk about, while she still seemed untroubled by bad dreams.

The two of them had sprawled out during the night, though they were almost as tangled now as they’d begun. Sasha’s head was tucked against Kinsey’s shoulder, one hand resting against her ribs under her rucked-up shirt. Their legs were tangled under the covers, ankles hooked together. Sasha looked so peaceful, so lovely. It was enough to melt anyone’s heart.

Kinsey wanted to hold onto this moment for as long as she could. She didn’t know the next time she’d get a chance to admire Sasha like this without making her feel like she had to deflect the attention with a series of self-deprecating jokes.

Gently, Kinsey moved a few rogue strands of hair out of Sasha’s face. Whatever anxieties had followed her into dreaming last night seemed to have lifted. That tension Kinsey had noticed after they came back from dinner had eased from her features. The fan of her pale eyelashes was delicate and graceful. Kinsey could count every last one of the tiny freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks.

She caught herself tracing the curve of Sasha’s browbone with her gaze and bit her lip, a little warning voice in her head telling her she was being too sappy again. Who laid around in bed obsessing over the beauty of an eye socket?

But Sasha was just so . . . lovely. It wasn’t just that blue-eyed blonde, traditional-western-beauty-standard thing she had going on. It was the way she threw her heart into whatever she was doing. The way she took pains to make people feel comfortable and included. The way her whole being lit up when she was happy. It was everything about her. From her eyebrows right down to her shining, lovely soul.

Not that Sasha would hear it if Kinsey tried to say as much.

Kinsey wasn’t sure how it had taken her so long to notice Sasha’s aversion to compliments. Maybe it had been because Kinsey didn’t offer them very often. And when she did, they were usually buried in the middle of a grumpy threat, which made them easy to dismiss.

She was determined to do better from now on. She wasn’t going to make a mess of this relationship. She couldn’t.

Not that she was entirely sure how to go about keeping that resolution.

Sasha stirred, drawing Kinsey closer as she inhaled, and Kinsey’s heart trilled in response.

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