“Jenny, do you think I’m good for you?”

 ”Very,” Jenny winked. Marina laid her hand atop Jenny’s, squeezed it once. Tight. Her face was a mask.

“I’m serious, Jenny,” she said. “I need to know.”

Jenny’s mouth went dry. “Yes.”

Marina released her hand, turned her gaze elsewhere.  *****, she hadn’t meant to ask that.  The question sounded uncertain, unsure.  Marina’s guard was down, she had let that one slip.  God, she was more vulnerable in this moment, with this woman than she’d ever been.  That should have worried her, but it didn’t.  Strangely enough.  Was she at the point where she simply blurted out whatever was on her mind?  The words still sounded strange to her, hanging, floating there like some stupid, wrong thing.

“Where did that come from?” Jenny asked quietly.

“I do not know,” Marina whispered, closing her eyes against the sudden onslaught of emotions.  They were still for several moments, the tension gradually subsiding.  As long as Marina remained calm, Jenny would never know what she really meant to say.  It was a silly theory, she knew.  But it was all she had.

The smaller woman eventually got up, brushed off her thighs with shaky hands.  With a smile, she extended one to Marina, locked their fingers, and tugged them both into the shimmering surf.

 ***

 ”I can’t believe we have to leave already,” Jenny sighed. “It seems like we got here only yesterday.”

“We did.”

Jenny gave Marina her best stink eye.  It faltered when she met her lover’s gaze and then vanished completely when Marina laughed deeply.  She shivered.  Jenny sat on the trunk of her car, her legs bent at the knee.

 ”C’mere,” she sobered, her eyes generous in their approval.  Marina smiled and wrapped her arms around her lover’s waist, pressed herself against Jenny.  And kissed them both into surrender.

Jenny’s shirt gaped at the top, a few buttons casually undone.  Marina’s fingers teased, plucked at them.  Her hand briefly passed over a stiff nub, giving it a hard pinch before withdrawing.

“Ready to leave now?” Marina chuckled over her shoulder, knowing Jenny was scowling at her back.  She waited until Jenny slid into the front seat before she started the engine and backed down the skinny dirt road. 

With one last glance at the house, she accelerated until she reached the highway.  The car roared down the wide lane, its engine loudly revving whenever Marina got into the apex of a curve.  Her lungs swelled as she felt Jenny’s hand cover hers.  Smiling, Marina dipped her foot, pressed the pedal until they flew beneath a suspended metal sign.  She drove fast and hard, confident that her heart’s secrets were safe for one more day.