The Morning After

Dakota was still floating when the last tremor rolled through her.

She let her head tip back against the edge of the tub, eyes half-closed, one hand resting low on her stomach. The water had gone lukewarm, but she didn't care. She'd needed this. Needed the quiet. Needed to finish what she'd started last night before Lauren's text had ruined it.

For a few seconds, her mind stayed blissfully blank. Then the relief shifted into something softer. Something that felt dangerously close to hope. She could still feel the ghost of Callie's body pressed against hers in the car — the warmth, the weight, the way Callie had leaned across her without hesitation. Dakota's throat tightened unexpectedly.

She swallowed and sat up, reaching for her razor with hands that felt slightly unsteady.

It was just an orgasm, she told herself. Just tension leaving her body. That was all.

But even as she thought it, she knew she was lying.

She took her time with her legs, moving the razor in slow, careful strokes. Her phone sat on the edge of the tub, screen still lit from where she'd been reading earlier. She'd picked up Forces of Nature again after getting home last night, telling herself it was just to be prepared for work. She'd made it another two chapters before her hand had drifted lower and the book had been forgotten.

She glanced at it now, then looked away.

When she was done shaving, she pulled the plug and stood up, water sluicing off her skin. She grabbed a towel, dried off, and wrapped it around herself before stepping out into the hallway. The apartment was still empty. Jess and Taylor were at work. Priya was probably already gone too. For once, she had the place to herself.

She stood in the middle of the living room for a second, listening to the silence, then smiled to herself and dropped the towel right there on the floor.

It felt ridiculous. And kind of great.

She wandered into the kitchen naked, opened the fridge, and poured herself a cup of cold coffee from the pitcher Jess always kept in there. She leaned back against the counter, mug in one hand, and reached for her phone with the other. She opened the book again and read a few pages while she sipped her coffee, bare feet on the cool tile. The story hadn't gotten any less ridiculous, but she kept reading anyway.

Eventually she set the mug and phone down, grabbed the towel off the floor, and headed back to her room. She dropped the towel over the back of her chair and opened her closet. Her eyes skipped over her usual jeans and landed on the navy athletic-style dress she'd hung up the night before. She pulled it on, smoothing the fabric down over her hips. It was short, but not too short. Comfortable. The kind of thing she could move in. She tugged the straps into place and checked herself in the mirror.

She looked good.

Not "trying too hard" good. Just… cute. Confident. A little hot, even. The dress hugged her in the right places without clinging, and the color made her skin look warmer than usual. She turned slightly, checking the back, then faced forward again.

For the first time in a while, she didn't feel like she was just throwing on whatever was clean. She'd picked this on purpose. She wasn't dressing for work. She was dressing because she felt like it.

Dakota smiled at her reflection, small but real.

Yeah. She could work with this.

She grabbed her bag, slipped on her sneakers, and headed out to pick up her paycheck.