Risky Business

Chapter Seven

Everything had changed since the night before. The two women woke up, went out for breakfast, stopped at a nearby CVS for condoms, and went right back to the hotel. They had stayed their until around 3 in the afternoon. Deciding they should go out and do some shopping before they headed back to Miami, they went back out.

Now, they looked into the different stores, their hands interlaced between them. Lauren had bought Camila a few things and Camila had bought Lauren a few things—despite the older woman's protests due to it being Camila's birthday trip.

Lauren was beside herself. It hadn't even been a full day since she had confessed her feelings to Camila and it had already been the best day of her life. She was able to walk around with Camila like she's wanted to—holding her hand and kissing her in the street.

Her smile was quick to fall when Camila dropped her hand. She looked at the younger woman in question, only to find her looking at something in front of them. "Dinah?"

"Camila? Oh, my God!" Lauren watched a tall woman come over and wrap her arms around Camila, picking her up and spinning her. "How are you? What are you doing in Tampa? I thought you and Chris moved to Miami?"

"I'm good. And we did, I'm just here for the weekend. What are you doing here?"

"Vacation. Mani and I wanted to get away. Turns out her period came early, so now I'm running out to get her a heating pad and some tampons," Dinah overshared. Lauren looked at her, confused as to who she was and why she thought they needed the information. Who even was Mani? Dinah seemed to notice Lauren's stare and looked between her and Camila.

"Oh! This is Lauren, Chris' sister." Camila told Dinah. "And Lauren, this is Dinah, one of my friends from before the move."

"Nice to meet you," Lauren smiled at Dinah as she said 'Likewise'. "And who's Mani?"

"Oh, that's my girlfriend, Normani." Dinah's smile grew. "We were friends with Chris and Mila. Double dates and all that cheesy shit."

Lauren bit her lip and nodded, looking away. That was not the image she wanted, her girlfriend—right?—sitting with Chris out to dinner with friends, cuddling in the booth, feeding each other.

"They were our only non-gay friends. Well, the jury is still out on Mila."

"Dinah, I'm pansexual."

"Oh, shit! You move to Miami and come out? Damn, I miss all the fun shit. Now you gotta get yourself some gay friends out there."

"She has one." Lauren added.

"Oh, shit!" Dinah yelled again. "Ya know, I thought so...you have the whole tortured lesbian thing going on."

"Bisexual, but sure." Lauren looked around, trying to escape the conversation.

"Anyway, I should go before Mani hunts me down." Dinah laughed. "It was so good to see you Walz."

She pulled Camila into a hug, Lauren watched her whisper something into Camila's ear. She tensed up, her eyes shooting to Lauren for a second.

When Dinah was gone, Lauren went to reach for Camila's hand. She tried to hide her disappointment when Camila crossed her arms, clearly to avoid Lauren. "We should get back. Before it gets too late."

———

The car ride had been painfully awkward. Camila stayed quiet, her eyes locked on the passing trees.

Lauren tightened her hands on the steering wheel. "So, are we gonna talk about this?"

"About what?" She still didn't look at her.