Chapter Text
“I really can’t stay.”
“Kell,” Sonnett pouts. “It’s cold outside.”
It’s a weak, not to mention ridiculous, attempt to get her to spend one more night, Kelley is fully aware of this. But her expression turns almost sympathetic when she notices that adorable lip jutted out. She knows Sonnett wants her to stay - needs her to, perhaps, because moving to another city (again) is hard for her - but that wasn’t part of the plan. Help her move and get settled. Fly back home. Done and dusted - cute, probably soft, perfect, God-they-look-so-kissable lips be damned.
“I gotta go. I’m gonna miss my flight if I don’t get an Uber soon,” Kelley starts to get up from the couch.
Sonnett pulls her back down. “So miss it,” she says, like that’s such an obvious answer here that she can’t comprehend why Ms. Stanford didn’t think of it herself. She takes Kelley’s phone from her hands and sets it down on the coffee table. No phone, no Uber. No Uber, no airport. No airport, no flight. No flight, no problem. In fact, no flight would be the exact opposite of a problem, as far as Sonnett is concerned.
She hates that Sonnett is making her feel bad about it. Hates even more that she has to leave. And the thing she hates the most? Well that would be the little voice inside her head reminding her how much she wants to stay. How she’s always wondered if a thing with her friend, her very cute and oh so funny friend, could actually be a thing that worked. How good they are together - always laughing, always easy. How goddamn attractive she finds the young defender, though she will never admit that to anyone for anything. Ever. “Sonny, I’m glad you let me help you move in,” Kelley sighs, instantly regretting the use of Sonnett’s nickname in this moment. “Lord knows you needed it and I know you didn’t want to admit that, but-”
“But it’s been fun, right? Spending time together?” Sonnett looks up at her hopefully as Kelley rises from the couch.
Kelley sighs again, louder this time. The hope sparkling in Sonnett’s grey eyes does more to make Kelley feel like she’s coming unglued than the hope in her voice ever will. It has been fun. It’s been silly and comfortable and just about the most fun Kelley could ever imagine having with someone whilst moving because moving is an absolutely arduous task. Kelley hates moving. Always has, always will, cannot wait until she can retire and settle down and never - ever - move again. Ever. But this weekend was anything but arduous. Even when she was annoyed out of her mind with Sonnett, there was just something about the woman with that cute little blonde bun that made it hard to stay mad, and she found herself feigning frustration for effect more than anything. Something in the way she smiled with her eyes made her unpreparedness adorable. Something in her full laugh was forgivable when anyone else pulling the same crap would have been subject to her wrath. She wouldn’t have been able to spend so many hours in a car with anyone else, of that, she’s sure. She doesn’t know why that is. Or maybe she does, but doesn’t want to admit it.
The drama that is Emily Sonnett started less than thirty minutes into unloading boxes at her new apartment.
“Where’d you pack the toilet paper?”
Sonnett looked at Kelley like she’s grown another head. “Pack the toilet paper? Why would I pack toilet paper?”
“What are you? An animal? How’m I sposed to pee?”
“I thought we’d go to the store,” Sonnett shrugged. “I didn’t pack anything I could just buy here.”
Kelley’s eyes widened. “What the fuck? Like... what else did you not pack?”
“Toothpaste, toothbrush, towels, tissues… Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Your fucking OCD.”
“Does it trigger your OCD?” Sonnett asked sarcastically, flicking Kelley’s ear with the sole purpose of adding to her annoyance.
“You trigger me! You’re like one giant trigger!” Kelley rolled her eyes at how incredibly unbelievable - how incredibly Sonnett - this all was. She made a mental note to ask Alex to check in with their teammate periodically. How she functioned alone in Sweden was beyond Kelley.
“Packing is such a bitch and I hate it and you weren’t there to help me decide what I needed to bring and I mean, they have stores here and stuff… I left everything that I’d also need in Atlanta back in Atlanta. Otherwise, I'd have to go to the damn store there!”
When Sonnett shrugged nonchalantly, Kelley raged all over again, and had to go out to the car to retrieve the travel pack of Kleenex Sonnett kept in her console.
“Let’s go,” Kelley called as she came out of the bathroom. She grabbed Sonnett’s keys off the counter and waited by the door, hand on her popped out hip so Sonnett couldn’t miss her annoyance.
“Where?” she asked innocently.
“To the store! I’m not wiping with Kleenex anymore and do you even have lightbulbs? Or are we supposed to work in the dark?” Sonnett looked at her with no sign of understanding on her face. Kelley pointed up to the ceiling. “You didn’t notice? The previous tenants were such thorough packers that they took the lightbulbs with them. And I’ll bet you $100 that the lamp you bought on the way here didn’t come with a lightbulb either, did it?” Kelley snarked, referring to the “required” stop at IKEA along the way. When is this kid going to grow out of IKEA furniture, she wondered.
Sonnett shrugged again. “I didn’t think about needing those.”
*****
“What are you doing?” Kelley asked as they wandered down an aisle, stretching to lean over Sonnett’s shoulder and look into the shopping cart. There’s two of almost everything, except everything is different. Two toothbrushes - one firm and one soft. Two tubes of toothpaste - Crest and Hello. Two deodorants - Old Spice and Secret. Two flavors of chapstick. Two brands of hair ties.
“Shopping? For the things we need? What else do you do at Target?”
We . The word almost causes Kelley to run into Sonnett, who has stopped in front of the shampoo.
"Extras for when you bring some slut home with you from the bar?"
Sonnett's mouth dropped and Kelley immediately regretted it, more because of how those words had the potential to make her sound jealous than the potential accusation in them. "They're for you, Kell. To leave at my place," Sonnett said quietly. "I don't do that. You should know that by now," she added and as the words were spoken, Kelley almost detected a hint of sadness in her voice.
“I brought my own toiletries," Kelley mumbled, feeling the embarrassment of her mini outburst burning her ears. A moment later, everything clicked in Kelley’s brain. It’s Kelley’s brand of toothpaste and Kelley’s deodorant and Kelley’s chapstick. “Why would I need things at your place?” It was now Kelley’s turn to stop in the middle of an aisle, eyes following after the younger woman in disbelief at what she was hearing.
“Dunno. Maybe for when y’all play here. Or when you have a bye and miss me. Or what if I get injured and I need you? Also, can you have Beast ship some of the shampoo and body wash you like, please. You can leave that at my place, too.”
“I’m not gonna fly to you just because I have a bye,” Kelley cocked her head to the side, confused.
“That’s what you say now…” Sonnett winked at her. “Fine. When you get injured again, you can come here for a little TLC while you recuperate.”
Kelley chose to leave that one alone because the thought of needing TLC from Sonnett was both horrifying and heartwarming, but she continued watching - and processing - as Sonnett added more items to the cart. A moisturizer with a minimal SPF that Sonnett would never use. Her eye cream. A brush. Cotton balls and witch hazel.
“How do you even- ” Kelley started.
“I pay attention, Kell.”
“But why? None of it matters.” Her stupid toiletries could not matter to a single person on the entire planet.
“It does matter. All the little things that make you you matter. You deserve someone who pays attention.”
This quiet, almost serious version of Sonnett was rare. Likeable. Loveable - more than usual. This version of Sonnett made Kelley’s heart pound in her ears. “I’m not gonna be here enough to make it worth it,” Kelley protested, but deep inside, it was like she could suddenly feel her blood pumping, spreading a warmth throughout her body that she couldn’t quite explain. “I could just use your stuff.”
“Well I wanted to make sure you had choices. And FYI, peppermint is better than cinnamon,” Sonnett tossed two kinds of floss into the cart. “But take your time figuring things out.”
Does she mean floss flavors or us? Kelley wondered. But she didn’t have to wonder for long.
“I’ll wait.”
Oh good God, she means us.
“I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”
The warmth pumping through Kelley's body quickly transitioned to a very focused pain behind her eyes, one she desperately needed to shake off. She couldn’t be with Sonnett. No matter how lovable the kid was. No matter how flushed her skin became when she was near. No matter how different she felt around Sonnett compared to everyone in her past. No matter that this wasn't even the first time she had considered it. This trip to Target was suddenly making something Kelley had suspected for quite awhile seem like an actual possibility, and it was too much for her.
*****
“We forgot the lightbulbs,” Sonnett muttered, afraid of Kelley’s reaction, as she sorted through her purchases.
“Ooooffffff course we did.”
“It’s cool, I’ve got candles,” Sonnett supplied
“Of course you do,” Kelley mumbled under her breath. And then louder, “Where?”
“That box,” Sonnett pointed to the corner. “The one that says ‘MAKE IT HOMIE.”
Kelley groaned.
“Get it? Homie. Like, what’s up, homie? But also homey.”
“I get it, Son.” Kelley ripped off the tape and opened the box. There were at least a half-dozen candles inside. And a lighter. And a diffuser. And essential oils. And a picture of Sonnett and Lindsey. Kelley’s annoyance at Sonnett immediately shifted to annoyance directed at herself, for the jealousy that flooded her veins the second she saw that photo. It made her want to run to the nearest Walgreens and print one of her and Sonny to supplant it. Or at least go alongside it on the fridge. Seriously?”
“What?”
“You could remember to pack all this but not remember that you might need to pee? Or see? Or I don’t know… shower after unpacking all day?!?”
“Lindsey comes with me everywhere. Those scents are discontinued,” Sonnett explained, skirting around Kelley to grab the candles out of the box. “I have a couple of lighters and diffusers so I could spare these, and essential oils are expensive, so,” she threw up her hands like she didn’t understand why this was a big deal. “See? Light,” she said proudly after wandering around her living room, selecting spots for the candles, and lighting them.
“We’re supposed to unpack your shit by candlelight?”
“No, we’re supposed to stop. It’s dark.”
“We’re not done. I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“All the big stuff got done.”
And that was true, because they had put together all of Sonnett’s IKEA furniture, but they weren't done done. “I’m talking about these boxes. You know… what you told me I had to help you with?”
“Eh, we did enough. Let’s watch TV,” Sonnett plopped down on the couch, leaving Kelley no choice but to follow suit; she wasn’t going to do her friend’s work for her alone. Within minutes, Kelley regretted giving in. Sonnett’s fingers found hers across the couch cushion, and even though she wanted to, she couldn’t pull her hand away. Then her hand ended up in Sonny’s lap. And a few minutes after that, her head ended up in Sonny’s lap, and there was just no coming back from Sonnett dragging her nails across her scalp like she knew it was the one thing that could instantly make Kelley melt into a puddle. She couldn’t watch her favorite show like that. She couldn’t do anything except manage to bite back the little hums trying so hard to escape her lips. So she pretended to fall asleep, and when Sonnett gently “woke her up” a couple hours later, she pretended to stumble, still half asleep, to the bed. Pretending, Kelley could do; dealing with what was unfolding in front of her, not so much. So she bought herself time.
“You know I love spending time with you Son,” Kelley admits quietly, unable to meet Sonnett's eyes.
Sonnett takes Kelley’s hands in hers, toying with her fingers, and Kelley almost loses her resolve right then, as the taller woman steps into her space. “You’re cold. You can’t possibly want to go out in this. If you love spending time with me, stay. Spend more time with me.”
“You keep it fucking freezing in here, of course I’m cold,” Kelley argues, pulling her hands back. “Besides, my parents are expecting me home tonight.”
“What’s the hurry?” Sonnett searches her eyes.
“My dad’s picking me up from the airport.”
“I can start a fire. First fire in my fireplace at my new place. Whatdaya think? Feels like you should be here for it.”
Kelley rolls her eyes. Sonnett didn’t even have lightbulbs; her having firewood is not even in the realm of possibilities. “Sonny, I gotta go. I have things to do tomorrow.”
“Things will wait. Kell, please.”
And the way Sonnett’s voice breaks, Kelley can’t quite say no, so she goes with not yet. Besides, she probably doesn’t really need to be at the airport two full hours early. It’s her mom’s fault for instilling that panic-inducing habit in her. “Fine. Pour me a glass of wine. It’ll relax me for my flight. And then I’ll go.”
Sonnett breaks out in a huge grin and Kelley would like to hate it, except she can’t. She slides her unlocked phone across the counter to the older woman. “Pick a playlist for Alexa.” Kelley doesn’t even need to look through Sonnett’s playlists; Georgia is her favorite for no reason other than she assumes those songs remind Sonnett of home, and their home is a shared one, technically. Sonnett overpours two glasses of red wine and joins Kelley at her breakfast bar. “What’s the worst that would happen if you just changed your flight?”
A whole multitude of things would happen, starting with having to lie to her parents and probably ending in Sonnett's bed, and Kelley’s unsure which amongst them would be the worst. “Well, your neighbors are going to start thinking I live here with you if I stay any longer, which means they’ll assume we’re a couple. And then what are you going to do when one of them recognizes you as a famous soccer player and it gets out that you’re gay?”
Sonnett ignores her. “It’s not even safe to fly in this weather, is it?” She asks, stepping in between Kelley’s legs.
“You know this is like two or three glasses of wine, right? You’re not supposed to fill it to the top. Are you trying to get me drunk?”
“You know, I don’t even think Uber works this late.”
Kelley rolls her eyes again. “Why are you so fucking cute, Sonny?” She didn’t mean to say it. She shouldn’t have said it. But right now, in her soft pink hoodie and tight leggings that accentuate every muscle, standing eye level with Kelley, and so fucking close that those puppy dog eyes can’t be ignored, Kelley doesn’t know if she’s ever looked cuter.
“Why are your eyes so pretty?” Sonnett runs her hand down Kelley’s arm, sending goosebumps as painful as those from an ice bath across her bare skin, and then takes the wine glass out of her hand.
“Stop flirting.” Kelley doesn’t know if it’s the wine or that soft smile, but something is leaving her lightheaded.
Sonnett reaches over and takes Kelley’s snapback off. She can’t very well kiss her with the brim in the way.
“Give me my hat back,” Kelley grabs at the air in a futile attempt to stop what’s happening from happening. “My hair’s a mess.”
“It’s fine. You’re beautiful,” Sonnett reaches up to smooth Kelley’s flyaways.
“Thank you,” Kelley mumbles, suddenly exceptionally nervous. Needs to clear her throat because it feels like it’s constricting nervous. Knee bouncing uncontrollably nervous. Sonnett should not be making her nervous.
Sonnett leans closer, resting her hand gently on Kelley’s bouncing knee. “You’re always beautiful,” she breathes against the older woman’s neck. “With messy hair when you wake up. When it’s humid and these,” Sonnett leans back to try to smooth her flyaways again, “are all crazy. When you’ve worked out and your hair is just dripping with sweat. It doesn’t matter. You’re always the one I can't stop looking at.”
Deep down, Kelley knows this, that Sonnett stares at her, because she's caught her. At first, Sonnett would look away, embarrassed, and it was kind of thrilling to Kelley. But lately, she's held Kelley's gaze. Lately, it's almost like she's been daring Kelley to catch her staring. But also, none of what Sonnett described is beautiful, and Kelley wants to point that out, except Sonnett seems so sincere. And so determined. “Sonny… we can’t...”
“You know how I feel about you, Kell.”
I cannot stay here tonight , Kelley reminds herself. She knows if she stays another night, she’ll give in and she cannot give in. “Stop trying to be smooth.” She laughs it off, like she’s making a joke. Like she doesn’t really believe Sonnett is smooth. Except Sonnett is smooth.
“But I am smooth.”
Ok, apparently she knows that.
“And it’s cold outside.”
“Why are you so pushy?”
“Why aren’t you giving into me?”
“I have to go.”
“It’s too cold to leave even.”
“Sonnett. No. Just no!” Kelley shouts, getting up from her chair and pushing past Sonnett. She makes her way towards the door until she has a tight grip on the handle of her suitcase. There's no way she's not going to leave.
“Look outside. It’s getting bad out there.”
“My sister’s going to give me shit about staying longer. She already thinks-”
“I want to taste your lips again.”
Ok, that’s something Kelley absolutely cannot deal with right now. “And then when she tells Jerry, he’ll never let me live it down.”
“I remember what they tasted like that night. Cherry and alcohol,” Sonnett continues, closing her eyes at the memory, and running her tongue over her lips as if she can still taste Kelley’s mouth on hers. She takes Kelley’s hand again, giving it a little reassuring squeeze. “What are you worried about? Your brother and sister love me.”
“Like a little sister. They love you like a sister. Like I’m supposed to like you. Because you’re a child.” Kelley leaves out the part about how much shit her siblings have given her in the past when she’s spent hours upon hours and days upon days with Sonnett when they’re both in Atlanta. You got a crush on her or what, Sis? Erin teased her. Kelley, date someone your own age , Jerry jumped in. Jesus, why are you spending so much time with her? “They’ll never let me live it down if they think that we…” Kelley trails off.
Sonnett scoffs at that. “Would it be that bad, really? If they thought that? Am I that undesirable that you can’t have your siblings thinking we…” Sonnett trails off, unable to finish the sentence. “That hurts, Kell.”
Kelley can’t get a read on her, can’t tell if she’s still playing a game or if she really is hurt, so she continues with her excuses. “And I’m supposed to FaceTime Charlie in the morning. Alex is already mad I didn’t make time to see her. What would I do about that?”
Kelley, who has always said she doesn’t know if she wants children, Kelley, who has fought back in interviews when people assume she does, refusing to be put into a box, is now FaceTiming a child who can’t speak on the regular. Sonnett files that information away for later. “FaceTime her from here, duh.”
“I can’t!” Kelley shrieks. “Alex will know. You know what she’ll think.”
“You smell nice,” Sonnett nuzzles closer to Kelley, breathing in the scent of her own shampoo and body spray. “And do you really care if Alex knows? Can’t you just tell her your flight got cancelled?”
“Like she’d believe that,” Kelley mumbles, looking out the window at the perfectly still, perfectly clear evening sky. “And I care because if Alex knows, Allie will know, and if Allie knows, everyone will know and they’ll… they’ll talk about us.”
“Planes have mechanical issues. Haven’t you ever had a flight cancelled? But really, Kell, why do you care if they talk? Let them talk.”
Kelley huffs. What’s she supposed to say to Sonnett? You’re too young? Too immature? I’ll be the butt of countless jokes about robbing the cradle? “Do you have any more of those peanut butter bars?” Kelley changes the subject.
“Of course. They’re vegan.”
“I know. You’ve told me five times.”
“I made them just for you,” Sonnett says proudly.
“You’ve told me that, too.”
“You want one?”
Kelley nods. “For the road. Son, I really have to get home. Like for real for real. I will miss my flight if we keep this up.”
“You’ll freeze out there!” Sonnett tugs Kelley away from her suitcase and back towards the couch, looking the smaller woman up and down, at her thin leggings and thinner tee.
“Then give me a damn hoodie, Sonnett!”
“Something you can sleep with at night and think of me.”
“Oh fuck off!” Kelley bumps her as she squeezes into the kitchen to get her own peanut butter bar.
“Do you know what it does to me when we touch?”
“Do you not understand what ‘I have to go’ means?” Kelley fires back.
“It’s like electricity shoots through me. Even with just the slightest brush of your hand. I know it does for you, too. Why are you fighting it?” Of course Sonnett knows what it does to her. She had a five-hour car ride to figure it out, with Kelley there next to her, captive.
“I like U-Hauling with you, Kell.”
“We’re not U-Hauling, loser.”
“I mean, it feels like it. I’m towing a U-Haul.”
“With only your stuff. And I’m not staying. Absolutely, unequivocally, not U-Hauling.”
“Details, details,” Sonnett waved her hand dismissively. “Fine. I like roadtripping with you,” Sonnett turned towards her to gauge her reaction.
“Keep your eyes on the road, Sonnett.”
“Why does it make you nervous?” she asked, cocky and grinning.
“The thought of dying makes me nervous.”
Sonnett dropped her hand onto Kelley’s thigh. One at a time, she let the pads of her fingers trace a figure-eight pattern on the bare skin above Kelley’s knee.
“Still,” Kelley said sternly, covering Sonnett’s hand with her own to stop her movement.
“Oh, I get it. Like you want me to be the calm to your storm. The lighthouse in your hurricane. The quiet to your chaos. Your breath before the plunge.”
“Some things are really not that deep, Sonnett. I want you to be still.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t have you... moving your fingers… there. It makes me…”
“Feel things?”
Kelley didn’t answer, just looked out the window and squeezed Sonnett’s fingers so hard that she thought they might break and she had to pry her hand out from Kelley’s vice grip. “Ten and two, sweetheart. Ten and two,” Kelley chuckled as Sonnett put her hand back on the steering wheel. But the electricity between them in that moment never seemed to die down, a live wire just waiting to spark.
Right now, that live wire seems surrounded by combustible material, and the fire seems inevitable.
“We can’t do this. People will find out,” Kelley says weakly.
“I’d tell the whole world if that’s what it took to be with you.”
“You don’t mean that.” Kelley’s voice is even smaller now. Sonnett would not come out for her. Fiercely private, overly concerned about what everyone thinks about her Sonnett could never. Besides, Kelley can’t even stomach the thought of her siblings and best friends knowing. And that makes her hate herself more as she comes to terms with it. When it comes down to brass tacks, she’s actually the one more afraid of appearances, of what people will think of her dating someone so much younger. A teammate, no less. Someone she mentored.
“What if you walk out that door and we miss our chance?” Suddenly, Sonnett isn’t playing around anymore. She’s not smiling. She’s not trying to stop Kelley from gathering her luggage. She’s just leaning against the fridge door looking like she really means it.
And it makes Kelley stop and think.
What if this is their chance ?
Finally, away from the confusion and chaos that is their team, what if this is the universe giving them a shot to see if they could be more?
What if she lets herself explore those lips like she’s been dying to all weekend? Those lips she doesn’t even know because she was too drunk to remember what kissing Sonnett felt like the night of her sister’s engagement party on her parent’s front lawn, because the only way she ever had the courage to do something so stupid and so risky and so right was under the influence.
What if those people who say you should fall in love with your best friend really know what they’re talking about? She’s never done things in that order - build a friendship before a relationship. Maybe that’s why nothing has ever lasted before.
What if age doesn’t matter and the fact that they play on the same team doesn’t matter and what everyone will think of her doesn’t matter?
What if none of it matters except the feelings that she has for Sonnett? That she’s had for Sonnett. For years.
Sonnett seems to sense the change in her, that she’s finally questioning it herself. Once again, she closes the gap between them, hands easily sliding around Kelley’s hips as she presses her into the counter.
This time, Kelley doesn’t duck away when Sonnett tries to kiss her. She meet Sonnett’s lips with the force of everything she’s been holding back, sighing as Sonnett tugs and nips at her lower lip.
This time, she’s sober enough to know she’ll never forget how utterly perfect this woman’s arms feel around her, how quickly Sonnett is able to fall into the push and pull of their lips moving together.
She lets Sonnett lift her onto the counter, like she knows that Kelley needs some illusion, some semblance of control to be ok with this. And that lasts for a few minutes, until Sonnett starts nosing the collar of her shirt out of the way so she can kiss along her clavicles, and Kelley feels like she has absolutely no control over the situation again.
Except for once, she realizes she doesn’t really mind that much. “Fuck. Couch, Son.”
Sonnett’s lips separate from Kelley’s skin so fast that she’s unprepared for the cold air that hits her. The flicker of the nearby candle dances in her eyes, and the pure excitement and adoration Kelley sees in them leaves her with no doubt this is exactly right for her right now. Sonnett lifts her off the counter, easily carrying her back to the couch. She lays Kelley down gently, tosses the loose cushions onto the floor to give them more room, and lies down beside her. Kelley turns into her, so they’re facing each other. “I really like you, Kell,” she whispers, tucking Kelley’s long hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to tell anybody, I just want to be with you. I don’t care how or what that means, I can be whatever you want.” Sonnett’s demeanor shifts from the boldness she’s been exhibiting all night to almost desperation. But her sureness never falters, and it makes Kelley feel surer, too.
“I want to be with you, too, Son.” Her gaze flicks from Sonnett’s eyes to her lips and back again.
“Really?” she asks with almost a childlike shyness that’s so endearing. Kelley nods. “Like, you mean it?”
“Yes, I mean it. I’m positive. I've always... kinda... you know...” And she does mean it. Everything about Sonnett feels right in a way that seems far more important than what Alex or Allie or even her own family thinks of her. “You’ve been talking a big game all night. You’ve got me on your couch. Are you going to do something about it or not?” Kelley teases between kisses.
“What do you want me to do, Miss Kelley?” Sonnett grins, rolling onto Kelley and pressing her into the couch. “Do you want me to do this?” she nibbles on Kelley’s earlobe. “Or this?” she slides her hand under Kelley’s shirt, walking her way up over Kelley’s ribs until she’s cupping Kelley’s breast, and Kelley is shivering under her in pleasure.
“Sonny!” Kelley whines, immensely unhappy about the effect the younger woman has on her. Sonnett makes her needy. Frantic. Impatient verging on impulsive. “I swear to God, Sonny, if you make me beg you to fuck me, I will not be able to come, and this is going to be a big bust.” Kelley didn't mean to say that either. Sonnett makes her say all the things she should be able to keep inside. Makes her nervous. Makes her a little crazy. And makes her so comfortable because they know each other better than they know almost anyone else on the planet.
Sonnett’s eyes go wide. She doesn’t need to be told twice. And she doesn't even dream of teasing Kelley for once.
*****
“I hate you,” Kelley whispers, framing Sonnett’s face and staring into her eyes.
“That how we’re gonna play this?” Sonnett laughs and then kisses her, and Kelley can taste herself on Sonnett’s lips.
Kelley nods. She means it, a little at least. She hates how good Sonnett is and how much time she wasted and how Sonnett doesn't even have to try to make her feel that funny feeling in her gut that she only ever gets on a rollercoaster.
“Ok. That’s fine.” Sonnett kisses her again, soft and sure, and Kelley melts, because this is what she missed out on that night at her parents’ house. This is what she’s been missing out on because she’s been too damn stubborn. “I hate you, too,” Sonnett nips along Kelley’s jaw until she’s right beneath her ear. “So much,” she whispers and then pulls away abruptly, leaving Kelley flabbergasted.
“I missed my flight. You promised me a fire in your fireplace. And you still haven’t told me what I’m supposed to do about Alex. Sonnett!” Kelley grumbles, pinching her side. “You’re not even paying attention to me!”
“Hold, please.” Sonnett doesn’t even look up from her phone, tapping away furiously. “Favor to the rescue, my lady. A box of Duraflame logs is on the way, and you will have a fire in the fireplace in under an hour. Until then, you should just snuggle with me so you don’t get cold.” She pulls Kelley closer, and all is forgiven because there’s no way Kelley can get enough of that silky smooth skin against hers.
“I’m certainly not going anywhere without clothes. I don’t know why you had to be all dramatic and throw them across the damn room.”
“So you wouldn’t get up. Or so you would and I’d get a show. Either way, I win,” Sonnett smirks. “And you’re gonna FaceTime Charlie from right here tomorrow morning while I cook breakfast, and you’re gonna tell Alex that you couldn’t resist my charm any longer and you’re falling head over heels for me.”
“I’m not head over heels for you,” Kelley insists.
“Oh, baby,” Sonnett smiles softly, eyes slowly moving across Kelley’s face. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
“This. This is why I hate you.”
“K.” Sonnett whispers, tipping Kelley’s chin up and leaving a lingering kiss on her lips. “Just lay here under the blanket and hate me, and then you can lay here in front of the fire and hate me, and then we can fall asleep and you can still hate me all you want.”
“You tripped me,” Kelley mumbles, a few minutes later, refusing to let it go. “I don’t fall.”
“Except for that one game during CONCACAF qualifying, so, I mean-”
“Shut up, Sonnett!" Kelley rolls on top of her, making yet another mistake because now she's mere inches from those same eyes that drew her in in the first place. "Did you.... um... order lightbulbs?” she asks, needing to fill the silence.
“And ruin this ambiance? Never. Also, I forgot.”