Chapter 8

Rachel huffed and kicked the machine when the teddy bear fell off the hook, she cussed at the machine and glared at people that were staring at her while Nova giggled. Rachel had been aiming at a proper date that involved restaurants and fancy clothes when the other woman shocked her by taking them to street carnivals, ice skating and now arcade games. She knew something was up her sleeves when she asked Nova on a date and the woman insisted on choosing were they have the date and now the blasted woman demanded for a damn stuffed tiger toy, and the machine had blatantly refused to cooperate with her and here she was thinking she was the most coordinated person she knew. Not to mention, the woman had the guts to drag her into a clothes shop to get her some joggers, hoodie and sneakers when she showed up at her house in her usual dress shirt, pants and leather shoes and what baffled her most was how she allowed the woman to do this things with only little protests here and there.

"That tiger looks so scared under those lasers", Nova chuckled.

"This is your fault, what do you need with a child's toy?", Rachel grumbled and Nova shrugged.

"I want it and oh, that's a corn dog spot. Can you be fast about the toy please?", Nova bounced on her feet and Rachel had to stop for a second to really observe this childlike woman before turning back to the machine when she was almost caught staring.

"Gotcha", Rachel grinned and put her tongue between her lips as she concentrated to get it out and it was a success.

"Yes!", She did a fist pump and grabbed the toy and held it out for Nova.

"Here", she gave it to a squealing Nova who made grabby hands and snatched it from her while shouting more than ten thank yous.

"C'mon let's get some corn dogs", she dragged her towards the spot she noticed earlier and Rachel let her, a ghost of a smile on her face, she was really enjoying the date and wanted more of them goofing around.

~

"One interesting thing about you", Rachel asked, staring at Nova who had managed to wolf down three corn dogs, some chips and a large Sprite and they were seated in the trunk of Rachel's Audi that was parked close to a cliff, Nova in crisscross style while Rachel dangled her legs. They were playing twenty questions though Rachel found it silly initially, she was learning some things about the dark haired woman. While she would like to share somethings about herself, things that weren't deep, she couldn't find anything about herself that was not deep so she threw back every question thrown at her and while Nova knew what the blonde was doing, she chose to ignore her knowing that the woman was mysterious.

"I became a grandmaster at twelve" , Nova grinned cheekily while the woman tilted her head.

"Interesting? How is that interesting though?", She decided to tease Nova who sported a pout immediately. Cute. Rachel shook her head to clear the thoughts in there.

"Really you are going to rain on my parade? Do you know how hard it is to find grandmasters of that age?! Don't be ridiculous, you can't even beat that!", Nova squealed at a smiling Rachel who found it cute that the woman was about to throw a tantrum over the argument.

"I play every musical instrument there is", she blurted out and mentally face palmed. She had no control sometimes with Nova around. Nobody should know that one thing about her, it will be interesting to know that she played the piano or guitar or the band or even all three, but all the musical instruments on the face of the earth, that feat had a backstory and she wasn't ready to tell. Though she was not an expert in all but some, she knew her ways around each of them.

Nova's eyes bulged out of their sockets,

"Isn't that supposed to be impossible?", She whispered but Rachel shrugged and sipped her Cherry Coke, wanting the topic to change but she brought it on herself.

"That's beautiful", it was quiet but Rachel heard it and looked at the woman who looked at her with adoration in her eyes, no one ever adored her, ever.

"Body count?", She blurted again, not wanting to dwell on the moment but was disappointed in herself for it, she wanted that woman to give her her whole attention.

"Way to go Sanchez", Nova sassed and rolled her eyes.

"Two, you?", She mumbled ashamedly while she hid her face, remembering the times Elijah would call her boring and dumb for her inexperience. He was her first and never stopped getting her to do things she didn't want to do in bed and when she would freak out, he snapped at her for being too inexperienced and stupid, he started cheating on her and didn't fail to tell his friends how stupid his girlfriend was. The second one was a drunk sex she had after encountering his mother who didn't fail to belittle her and when she checked him up on Facebook, he had a new girlfriend he couldn't shut up about so she handed Jasmine to her parents, went clubbing, got drunk and ended up in a stranger's bed. She didn't remember the previous night but she remembered feeling disgusted that morning.

Rachel took note of her mood change and realized that she must be ashamed of herself. Unlike herself who was a dignified hoe, Nova was very pure and that thought made her happy actually. She placed her hand on her chin, lifting her face and ignoring the tingling feeling in her fingers.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with being with only two people. At least one of us is not a whore", Rachel joked, earning a small smile from her. A beautiful smile. As if on instinct, she tucked a strand of hair behind Nova's ear, eyes lingering on hers and enjoying her warmth. It lasted for a moment before Rachel retracted her hand, feeling empty immediately.

"I take it Elijah was one of them", she asked instead.

"Yeah. He was my first", Nova sighed and tried not to think about him.

"Lucky bastard never deserved you", Rachel commented bitterly and Nova chuckled at the woman's bluntness.

"So I've learnt. We don't always get what we deserve", Nova stared at Rachel, knowing she was speaking to her on another level but the blonde only sighed and drowned her Cherry Coke before snagging a flask of alcohol she had in the trunk and gulping half of the bottle. How the woman drank that much and didn't ever get drunk was beyond Nova but she decided not to call her out on it.

They hung out a bit and talked about everything and nothing and Nova was able to get more than silence from Rachel and as much as Rachel wanted to deny it, she had a good time and there she was thinking that a good time was all about sex.

"Today was great", Rachel mumbled and stuffed her hand in her joggers pocket. She had droven Nova back to the inn and was walking her to the door.

"What's that?", Nova asked and Rachel glared at her, only to find pure mischief in her eyes.

"Today was okay", she huffed and Nova shook her head, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"I don't think that's what you said earlier", she chirped.

"Whatever", Rachel rolled her eyes and stopped at her door, waiting for her to go in.

"Go on", she gestured with her head and Nova nodded but stayed rooted to the ground. Rachel stared at her, mesmerized at the raw beauty that she was. She kept glancing at Nova's lips and eyes, wondering if she should just go for it or forget it but the way the other woman stare at her's egged her on. She leaned in, their breaths fanning each other's face,

"Can I kiss you?", Rachel asked for permission, feeling the need to get consent and Nova could only manage a nod before Rachel closed the distance. Their lips met in a soft kiss, surprising Rachel with the warmth in it. They stayed motionless for a moment before they started to move gently, their lips in sync and fitting perfectly, they marvelled in their tastes. Rachel gently snaked her armed around Nova's waist and pulled her closer, sucking on her bottom lip and eliciting a soft sigh from Nova who cupped her face. It was all new to Rachel, the gentleness, the raw feelings. She wanted more.

"Wow, one date and y'all are eating faces, adults".

They jumped apart at the interruption and turned their attention to Jasmine who had opened the door and stood with her arms and ankles crossed with a funny expression on her face.

"Hello barrister, good of you to return my mother in one piece though I don't appreciate you sneaking behind my back and eating her face. Now be gone", Jasmine spoke sternly, earning herself some respect from the chuckling blonde and a gasp from Nova.

"Take care", Rachel mumbled to Nova, giving her waist a squeeze before making a mock salute to Jasmine and sauntering to her car, a shit eating grin on her face and her lips tingled. She drove off into the night, for once being at total peace.

Back at the inn Nova was glaring at her nonchalant daughter.

"What! It's not my fault that I was waiting up for you only to open the door and find Goldilocks eating your face", Jasmine defended and sat on Nova's bed while the woman was taking her vans off and glaring at her at the same time, she sure could multitask.

"It's after eleven Jam, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Mmm, but my mother was on a date for the first time in my whole life and that's a lot. I wanted to see you before bed and intimidate your girlfriend", Jasmine grinned cheekily as Nova grinned, the girl was nine going on thirty.

"She's not my girlfriend", she muttered.

"Yet", Jasmine was fast with her retort and Nova actually felt like she wanted more from the blonde.

"You don't know it"

"I've never seen anyone look at you like that and vice versa. Y'all will surely be girlfriends. Anyway I had a busy day today and would like to retire now"

Nova chuckled at the thought of Jasmine having a busy day but didn't make comment on it.

"Night Jam Jam", she kissed Jasmine on the head who had come closer to her to hug her and the kids groaned at the name her mother called her to get to her.

"Night Mama", she yawned loudly and started for the door,

"Please wipe that smile off your face. I'm already scarred as it is, don't need you reminding me", Jasmine called before closing the door leaving a giggling Nova. Jasmine took every opportunity to tease the hell out of her mother but that didn't stop the ecstatic feeling growing in Nova's whole being and the fact that the blonde texted her throughout the week was a bonus.