Page 112 of Derivation

Sarai laughed and replied, “I am. And I like the idea of taking a nap out here with my girlfriend.”

“We’re going to be that couple, aren’t we? Arlowe’s going to hate it.”

“I can’t wait.”

Sarai kissed the top of Gabi’s head, and they didn’t say much after that. Soon, Gabi closed her eyes and focused on the sound of Sarai breathing, the feel of her chest rising and falling, and the touch of Sarai’s hand on her lower back. She fell asleep, and when she woke up, the sun that had been in the sky was gone, replaced by a bright moon. Gabi looked down to see that Sarai was still asleep.

“Babe?”

“Hmm?”

“Sarai, it’s dark.”

Sarai slowly opened her eyes and asked, “What?”

“Babe, we passed out, and it’s dark now.”

“What? Shit,” Sarai said, moving to sit up quickly. She reached for her phone, which was next to the water that they hadn’t opened, and checked the time. “It’s six o’clock.”

“We slept for four hours?” Gabi asked.

“I guess so. Arlowe texted that she saw us out here but didn’t want to wake us up. I must have been out because I did not hear that notification. They left for their dinner thing.”

Gabi looked up at the sky and said, “I haven’t napped that long in forever; maybe since college, when I had an eight AM class and my next one was at, like, four in the afternoon.”

“Yeah, me neither. It was nice though, huh?”

Gabi turned then and took her in. Sarai’s smile was wide and beautiful. Her eyes were still a little sleepy, but Gabi could see the light from the moon in them, and they looked radiant. Sarai’s hair was down and slightly mussed from lying on the blanket in the grass, but she was perfect, and she seemed to be in the same moment with her. Neither of them said anything as they just moved to one another, and soon, Gabi was straddling Sarai. She held Sarai’s face in her hands and kissed her softly, slowly, taking in every bit of every touch.

“We have the whole house to ourselves,” Sarai said before her lips hit Gabi’s neck, her hands moving up and down Gabi’s back and under the sweater she’d put on before coming outside. “Want to go inside?”

“No,” Gabi replied, shaking her head. “Not right now. Right now, I want this.”

“Gabs, I meant…” Sarai looked up at her. “Go inside to my room or yours.”

“I know.”

“Not because we have to, but because we want to, and because–”

Gabi kissed her and said, “I know, Sarai.”

“You don’t want to? You said you were ready the other night.”

“I am ready,” she replied and sighed. “I am very ready to be with you. All I want right now is to be with you.”

“Okay. Well, I’m ready, too, now.”

“Tell me something first.”

“Okay…”

“Is it just because Arlowe and Enya are gone, and you want to take advantage of us finally being alone?”

“No, that’s just a nice coincidence. If they were home, I’d still want to go into my room with you now and have this.” Sarai kissed her neck. “I’m ready, Gabi.”

Gabi smiled and said, “Okay. Then, here.”

Sarai stopped kissing her neck and looked back up at her in confusion.