Sweet & Spicy Lesbian Short Stories (GirlxGirl)

The String Bikini Castaway: Part 2

Elise is as beautiful as ever, and still definitely my type—nerdy, outdoorsy, dog mom, confident and chill. Her dark blond hair pokes out of her hat in a cute, short ponytail.

Why do all of the amazing women in the world dump me? Is there something wrong with me?

She clears her throat and returns to her seat, and I pretend to be occupied with my life jacket.

"Do you need water? A snack? First Aid?" She motions to the clutter around me. There's a lot of stuff in the canoe—bags, a cooler, ropes, floatation devices.

"I'm good, thanks. But solid emergency preparedness."

Elise smiles. A tingle goes through me. Though the tingle might be because there's a dog sniffing the back of my neck.

"Hello, Maggie," I say, rubbing her ear. "I've heard good things about you."

There's a thump thump as the dog's tail hits the side of the canoe.

Elise blushes and rummages in her pile of stuff—maybe remembering how she told me about Maggie on our dates. Before she ghosted me.

I'll never forget the night we went to an indoor go-kart track. It was the best date I've ever been on. The way she looked as she passed me in the little kart, with a dorky helmet on and a playful grin on her lips, made me break down into giggles that didn't stop for the rest of the evening. Her charm turned me to putty in her arms at the end of the night. Before parting ways, we'd made out against my car for several minutes, and the intoxicating feel of her hands running up and down my body kept me up for nights afterward.

"Where'd you start?" she says, snapping me back to reality. She ties a yellow rope to my board so we can tow it behind us—and of course she knows how to do an intricate sailor's knot.

"First beach," I say, tearing my gaze away from her fingers.

"The pier?"

"Yeah..."

"Holy shit. The wind blew you far."

"I know. My arms are dying."

She laughs. "Well, it's not a great day for paddling."

"Don't need to tell me that," I grumble.

There's an awkward pause. I look at Maggie, who stares back. There's a lot of intelligence behind her brown eyes.

Elise tosses me a bungee. "Here, use this to fasten your stuff to the board."

"Thanks." I take it and strap down my paddle and dry bag. I furiously cram my GoPro into the bag, shame licking through me.

"The scenery is beautiful along here," Elise says, motioning to the forested shoreline. "I'm sorry you couldn't enjoy it today."

"It's fine. I wasn't really out here to—" I shut my mouth, heat rising in my face. Wow, I must sound like an idiot. So I wasn't out here to enjoy the scenery and experience, but instead to get bikini pictures?

Ugh, who am I?

"I think karma got me," I say.

Elise raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to go on.

I push my board away so we can get going, avoiding her gaze. "Honestly, I was hoping to get cute photos so I can post them on Instagram and make my ex regret dumping me."

There's a pause, and then Elise lets out a laugh. "An admirable plan. Well, you do look super hot, if that makes you feel better."

"I—thank you—" I say. A flutter swoops through my chest, which I ignore. Yeah, she was forward when we went on our three dates.

I check her out, hoping she can't see what my eyes are doing behind my sunglasses. She's as hot as ever, and I can't help but admire the way her arms flex as she dips her paddle in the water.

"What if your ex doesn't check your Instagram?" she says.

"Who doesn't check their ex's social media?"

"I don't."

"Well, you're—an anomaly." Crap, am I weird for checking on my exes?

No. That's totally normal and lots of people do it. I even tried to creep on Elise way back when, but her profile is private.

"How long ago did you break up?" she says.

"Two weeks." I grab the spare oar from the bottom of the canoe and get in the front seat to help paddle. My back is to her, which is better than if we were in a rowboat and had to stare into each other's eyes the whole way back.

Maggie sits in the middle of the canoe and stares at the water intently, like she's been tasked with keeping an eye out for fish.

"You shouldn't have gone out paddling by yourself," Elise says.

I twist around in the seat to glare at her. "You're canoeing by yourself!"

She motions to the various bags on the bottom of the canoe. "I've got a lot of safety equipment with me."

"I see that. You look like you're on a Scouts adventure."

"And you look like you're on a quest to be a brand ambassador. Hashtag bikini babe. Use the code ROSIE to get ten percent off."

I scowl, but it only lasts a second before I break into laughter. "Touché."

"Anyway, you remember how I am."

"I sure do." I shouldn't be surprised that she's ultra prepared for a little canoe trip. For our second date, she sent me an itinerary for our dinner-movie night, along with a Google Maps link in case I got lost. Her hobby also caught my interest.

"Are you still doing search and rescue with Maggie?" I say.

She hesitates. "No, actually."

"Oh?" I face forward and start paddling. The shoreline looks a lot nicer from the safety of a canoe—thick roots tangling along the earthy shoreline, mossy boulders that would make for good places to stop for a picnic, glimpses of a hiking trail through the trees. I remember why I like paddling.

"It was cool for a time, and I miss it..." Elise says, "but when things get real, you realize it's not all a fun adventure, and people's lives could be lost."

"Is that why you stopped doing it?"

Another pause. "We lost a team member when we were pulling a skier out of an avalanche. That kind of thing sticks with you for a while."

My heart squeezes. "Oh. Shit. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked—"

"It's okay. I've been to therapy and I'm dealing with it."

I paddle some more, searching for the right words. How awful. I can't imagine what that would feel like.

But why is she telling me this? We went on a few dates and had our tongues in each other's mouths, but we're basically strangers.

"Um, I didn't text you back because that was when it happened," she says, a tremor in her voice. "The avalanche thing. I couldn't pull myself together enough to think about dating. I'm... sorry I left you hanging."

Part 3 coming tomorrow! Read the full story right now on "Sweet & Spicy Sapphic Stories" at patreon.com/tianawarner. Plus you'll get early access to next week's story.