and let herself in. Her suit smelled of smoke and burnt kevlar. She’d have to ask Nic to look at it. Ava wondered if her best friend had made it home safely. She suddenly realised that Nic and Soo-Mi would have left immediately after. So much for game night. It was sort of fun while it lasted. She sighed and supposed it was an inevitable end to a night no one except Ava really wanted anyway. Whatever. She was tired and ready for a bath and a long, long sleep.
The sound of laughter and the clink of a glass made Ava stop and listen. Was the TV still on? But then a familiar voice said, “And that thing she does with her socks. Like, oh my God. Balled up socks in the weirdest places!”
More laughter. Definitely Gwen’s laughter.
Ava turned the corner to the living room and stopped dead, blinking as she tried to get her brain to catch up to what her eyes were seeing. Nic and Gwen were on the lounge floor, kneeling on opposite sides of the coffee table, with a tower of small tiles between them. Also on the table was an empty bottle of gin, a half empty bottle of vermouth, and a recently opened bottle of the fancy champagne that Gwen had told Ava she never planned on opening.
“Uh…” Ava stepped into the light, and two pairs of eyes turned their blurred visions towards her. “What’s uh… what’s happening?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Gwen asked, using her champagne glass to motion towards the table. “We’re playing Jenga.”
“Jenga!” Nic yelled, pulling at a tile and causing the rest of the tower to collapse around them. Both women broke into silly giggles, and Ava wondered if that Keela had given her a concussion.
“You wanna play?” Nic slurred a little as Gwen collected the tiles.
“I…” She laughed incredulously and shook her head. “I think I’m good.”
They were still stacking tiles when Ava left to go find a strawberry cupcake. Game night, she decided, had been a rousing success.
If you enjoyed this short story, check out Chasing Stars by Alex K. Thorne, the novel in which Gwen and Ava met and fell in love.
Two Hearts—One Mind
by RJ Nolan
“Hey, McKenna.”
Sam’s fingers froze on her uniform shirt buttons. She stepped to the end of the row of lockers and peered toward the door.
Kowalski, a fellow officer, stood with the locker room door propped open with his foot. He motioned Sam over.
Buttoning her shirt as she went, Sam made her way to the door. “What’s up? I already signed out.”
Kowalski smirked. “You’re a sly dog, McKenna. You better hope Christy never finds out.”
Sam scowled. Just the mention of her girlfriend was enough to sour Sam’s good mood. She waved Kowalski out into the hallway and followed him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
A smile that could only be termed lecherous covered Kowalski’s face. “There’s a smoking-hot blonde asking for you at the front desk.”
Sam wasn’t expecting any visitors. “What does she look like?”
“She’s got a killer body.” He brought his hands up and mimed the woman’s breast size. “Hot damn.”
Sam smacked him on the back of the head. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Kill joy,” Kowalski muttered. “Fine. About five-nine. Shoulder-length curly blond hair. Blue eyes.” He waggled his eyebrows. “And like I said, she’s smoking-hot.”
She knew one woman who fit that description perfectly. Kim. “Did you leave her in the lobby?”
“Yeah. I—”
Sam waved him off. “Thanks.” She headed for the front desk at a fast walk. What’s Kim doing here in the middle of the week? Fear shot through Sam. Has something happened to Jess? Even as the thought crossed her mind, Sam discounted it. There was no way Kim would be anywhere but at Jess’s side if that were the case.
She shoved open the door to the lobby and scanned the packed room. Every chair was filled, and people were lined up in front of the main desk. Kim was sitting in a chair against the far wall. A poster on domestic violence hung on the wall above her head. The woman sitting to Kim’s right was leaning way too far into Kim’s personal space for Sam’s comfort.
Sam quickened her pace. “Hey, Kim,” she said as soon as she got close enough to be heard.
The woman next to Kim jerked back. Her gaze bounced between Sam and Kim.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Sam gave the woman a stern look.
With one last glance at Kim, the woman got up and scurried away.