A Ticklish Crush

Tessa stood up. "Well," she said, "I'd better run along. I'll see you two later." She headed out, leaving me alone with my crush.

All right, not totally alone. We were finishing a late lunch at an almost-downtown restaurant, and several other people were out on the patio. But they didn't matter. It felt like just Sophie and me were there. My heart was already beating faster.

I'd had a huge crush on her for months, with hardly any one-on-one time. Since we shared a lot of the same friends, we'd hung out in groups a lot. This was...my big chance? My chance to do what?

Trying to confess my feelings had always been a terrible problem. Nothing was better at making me feel like a shy and awkward kid again. If only I'd gotten some sign, one way or the other. But Sophie was so hard to read!

She kicked off her sandals and propped her feet up on a chair next to mine. My heart skipped a beat. She had such beautiful feet, and they were close enough to reach out and touch. What I really wanted to do was tickle them, of course. I wanted to make her laugh with reckless abandon, like she'd never laughed before. My hand actually twitched in that direction, like it had a mind of its own. I had to pull it back.

Oh shit, things were getting awkward. I had to say something, and fast. "Nice weather, isn't it?"

"Beautiful," she said. Her feet were hard to look away from. She kept wiggling her toes, so very slowly, like it was a luxury to get lost in. Stop staring, I told myself desperately. Stop staring before she catches you.

"It's too bad about Tessa," I said. My brain was on random mode, which at least was better than awkward-silence mode.

"She'll be all right," said Sophie. "Give her time."

"I never did understand why she and Carly broke up."

"You know how it goes, Maya. They had issues."

"Like what?"

"They were...well, for one thing, they were physically incompatible."

My expression must have given away that I wanted to know more, but wasn't sure whether to ask. Sophie said, "It's not like I know all the details. Tessa complained there were a lot of little boundary violations."

"What do you mean?"

Sophie pursed her lips and looked up at the awning over our table. "Just the sort of little things that add up. Like Carly kept tickling her after she'd asked her not to."

My heart skipped a beat. I mean, literally, I think it did. Had I somehow given away my kink to her? How much of a coincidence was it she was suddenly talking about tickling, right after I'd been thinking about it?

Well, maybe it wasn't that much of a coincidence. For me to be thinking about tickling was a pretty common event.

"That can be a pretty big deal for some people," I said.

She arched an eyebrow. "What, being tickled?"

"Some people are really ticklish," I said. Hopefully she didn't notice my slight hesitation in saying the t-word. "You have to get consent."

"I'm sure you do. Just like for anything else."

"Yes. What I'm saying is, some people don't realize how intense it can get."

"Maya," she said, "do you have a bit of a tickling kink?"

I'd said too much. My body froze, and my face got warm. She could see it, and of course she knew what it meant.

"It's all right," she said. "Kinks are nothing to be ashamed of."

My face got even warmer. What was there I could possibly say?