Chapter Text
Agatha had a recurring problem during the Christmas season.
She hated crowded malls. Namely, she hated malls in general, but since she worked everyday from eight to seven, there was no way for her to go and pick out gifts during the week. And now, she was stuck in a line with three bags full of gifts for Billy and Tommy.
Wanda made her promise not to go overboard, but she treated those kids as her own nephews, and they were much easier to shop for than adults. She still had to find a white elephant gift for tonight’s party she had been forcefully invited to. She tried to get out of it, but Lilia and Wanda had joined forces and told her she couldn’t or she wasn’t invited to the new years eve party anymore. Unfortunately, she wanted to go to that party - only to not spend another year curled up in her bed watching sad movies while the clock struck midnight, or find a random bar and get drunk alone with other strangers.
No, she wasn’t doing that again.
Apart from the crowds, then there was the Christmas problem of having to interact with her mother during the holidays. She was usually able to avoid Thanksgiving by pretending to be too busy at work, but she couldn’t use the same excuse for Christmas as well.
While standing in line at the toy’s shop, the loud music and smiley faces were starting to bother her as well. People chatted around her and the sales assistant behind the register asked every person if everything was fine while trying to sell them more stuff. And they still fell for it. Which only meant they were taking forever.
Okay, so, Agatha had a lot of problems during the Christmas holidays.
Who could blame her?
The only reason she was spending time with her family is because she was forced to, and her mother victim-blamed her every year into spending time with them. The songs were annoying, she hated the color red unless it was on her lips, people were loud and they all pretended to be interested in one another. Fake niceties were common throughout the year, but during the holidays it was just unbearable for Agatha.
And now she was stuck behind a couple fighting about what to get for his mother, while their two kids were running around the shop.
Agatha was getting a headache.
Which is why, after she spent another fifteen minutes in the shop, paying and waiting impatiently as the cashier wrapped her presents, she left the mall. There was no way she was subjecting herself to another round of… all of that. Fuck white elephant, and fuck the party tonight.
Her phone rang the moment she started her car. The screen in front of her said: Wanda. Reluctantly, she picked it up, ready to drop from the party altogether.
“Hi, Agatha! Hey, listen -” she didn’t even give her time to reply. “I know I told you Tommy wanted new running shoes, but I just noticed the ones he put on his list are waaaay too expensive. He’s going to grow, and then we’re going to have to get a new pair in six months. So, get some shitty ones, okay?”
Agatha looked at the Nike box in the back of the car, already wrapped.
“Well, I can get him new ones in six months, then.”
“That’s not how it works! You can’t -”
“And you said Billy’s a bit smaller so he can use them, in case, no?”
There was silence from the other side, Wanda probably weighing her options.
“Fine.” She snapped, with a sharp breath at the end. Agatha smiled at herself. She loved winning, even if it was the most useless battle ever.
“Are you ready for tonight?” Wanda started talking again, her tone more cheerful. “Vis and I can pick you up at around eight?”
This time, it was Agatha who took a little bit of time before answering. “Wanda, listen -”
“Oh no. No, no, no. You’re not cancelling on me and Lilia the day of the party.”
“I’m really not in the mood, okay? And I don’t have a gift.”
“Get a mug! An ugly sweater! It’s not that hard, Agatha.”
Wanda’s voice was getting more and more exasperated by the second. She could hear it even through the phone, she could imagine the frown on her face while she still talked.
She told her about New Years, she told her it’s not polite to cancel on people at the last minute, she told her it was a small party, just between friends.
And that’s where she interrupted her. “Yeah, your friend.”
“Come on! You know all of them. They’re nice.”
“I’ve met them twice at the maximum -”
“Not true! You met Alice at least five times.”
“ - and they don’t like me.”
She finished the sentence with a deadweight in her voice. No emotion, uncaring. She really couldn’t give a damn about being liked by Wanda’s friends. She moved to New York two years ago, after her divorce was final and she had no ties in Salem anymore. She reconnected with Wanda and Lilia, whom she met at law school years prior. And now, she had her fancy job at one of the most prestigious law firms in the city, which took most of her free time anyway, and then she had her books, and an annoying mother to satisfy. She didn’t have time for fake niceties - not even during Christmas.
“And who’s fault is that?”
Wanda’s right, of course. She was the bitter, angry, woman, who was keeping everyone at a distance, fearful of being hurt again. At least, that was what her therapist told her - multiple times, actually.
“I don’t have a gift.” She repeated, again.
“Well, good thing you just spent a minimum of a thousand hundred dollars on my kids. You can get out of your car and go back to the mall.”
Agatha’s throat made some small, dissenting and short noises. She muttered under her breath, but nothing coherent came up. There was no reason in arguing with Wanda right now.
“Great!” She said after a few seconds, ignoring her protests, and using a cheerful voice. “See you at eight!”
Agatha walked out of the car and back to the gates of hell - aka the mall.
In the end, Agatha got an obscenely heinous mug with a reindeer, accompanied with a necklace of christmas lights and a red nose. Inside, she put some marshmallows and one of those white hot chocolate bars, to at least show that she tried. In reality, she got the first thing she saw and dipped out fifteen minutes later with a very well wrapped present in red and green paper.
She was almost proud of herself when she put it into the pile, observing that it was about the same size as everyone else.
The excitement quickly stopped when Lilia approached her from behind and put a Santa Claus hat on her head, ruining her hair.
Okay, she didn’t do much to them. They were mostly an unruly mass that she quickly brushed before leaving the house.
Nonetheless, she immediately exclaimed, not being able to hide her disgust.
“Whose head was on it before?”
“Nobody. I got it for you knowing you wouldn’t dress up appropriately .”
Agatha turned to the woman with a small pout, not even feigning offence now. She had dressed up, thank you very much. She had a sheath black dress knee-length, hugging her curves, sheer tights and boots on.
“I am perfect.”
“You are perfect for a work dinner, not for a Christmas party. Hence, the hat.” She pointed at it and then looked sternly in her eyes. “Do not take it off.”
“Incredible! I keep being bullied!” She shouted at Lilia, while the woman simply turned around to greet her other guests. “I even brought good wine!”
She added, as if Lilia - and the party - didn’t deserve her generosity at all. And they really didn’t. She was still muttering to herself and trying to fix her hair underneath the cap, when she spun around in the living room and was met with one of Lilia’s friends.
“I know you aren’t cheap, but expensive wine usually doesn’t mean good wine.”
Rio Vidal was standing right in front of her with a wreath that fell perfectly in between her hair. She had cut them since the last time she had seen her, and they were shoulder-length, a mid bob that wouldn’t look good on everyone. It was definitely annoying how great she looked in it, how good the garland was wrapping around her head, while her own christmas hat was starting to itch.
“That’s exactly what it means, Vidal.”
She replied with a scornful face and looked around for Wanda and Vision. They left her immediately, greeting their other friends.
Agatha had already met most of these people already. She met Rio two or three times, usually at birthdays or a Christmas party. The first time they talked was via text for Wanda’s birthday presents, which Agatha hated, and she left the group chat before telling everybody about their terrible taste. The only interactions they had after that were always annoying, snark, remarks.
It didn’t help that Rio was always around with a different date, and Agatha loved to make fun of them. She really picked them stupid.
Which was a shame, because Rio could probably pull off anyone she wanted.
Not that she ever thought about it.
“No, it isn’t. Ever tried Sauvignon Blanc? Rioja wine?” Agatha hated the way she pronounced it in perfect spanish. “Actually, any Spanish red is decently good. And hey, they’re all under ten dollars!”
She tilted her head upward, scoffing a bit at the topic of the conversation. But she didn’t want Rio to have the last word.
“Cheap wine is great to get drunk. Not to enjoy the flavour.”
“What’s the point of wine if not getting drunk?”
Rio smirked in her direction, replying way too fast for her liking. She was ready for her response, knowing exactly what Agatha was going to say even before she did. It bothered her.
It also bothered her that when she moved her eyes to face Rio again, she could see the woman staring at her, waiting for her response with an annoying grin and an eyebrow raised up. As if she was daring her to say something else.
But what really bothered Agatha was the way her brain stopped working for a few seconds, forcing her to emulate a cough to get a few more seconds worth of time to think about an answer.
Mercifully, Rio started talking again.
“So, which one is yours? By the way, you look cute with that.”
She pointed to her hat and to the pile of presents underneath the tree. She ignored the comment. There were around ten people at the party, with a couple of more yet to show up, and she couldn’t help but notice the care Lilia put in the ornaments of the tree. She was clearly too obsessed with Christmas. She made a mental note to remind her.
“Isn’t it supposed to be a secret?”
Rio shrugged her shoulders, as if it didn’t matter. “Sure. But people are usually excited for their friends to get their presents. Maybe I want yours.”
Agatha looked at the woman again, trying to figure out if she was actually flirting, or simply messing with her. Rio still had the same face, but her brown eyes flickered in between Agatha’s, keeping their focus on her and not minding attention to anything else. Agatha wanted to take that grin off her face. But she also wanted to understand Rio’s game before the night was over.
Agatha switched the rules. She changed the topic - and also, she truly, didn’t care about the White Elephant presents.
“Where’s your date?”
She asked, blunt, looking around.
Rio looked taken aback from the question, scrunching her nose and not hiding her perplexion. “Excuse me?”
“You’re always with someone. I’m just wondering where the bimbo of the year is.”
Rio finally seemed to understand what was happening. Actually, she seemed to understand a little too well. Her face immediately switched to amused, and Agatha realised she might have used a bit too much spite in her words.
“Why? Jealous?”
“Please.” Her cheeks reddened anyway, and she spun, looking at the door, pretending the noise of the ringbell distracted her.
Before she did anything else, she felt Rio’s presence behind her, leaning forward. She wasn’t touching her, but her figure was still ghosting behind her back, her warmth enveloping her in a way that made her knees buckle slightly. She didn’t move. She knew she was standing right behind her, she knew if she moved they would be too close for a simple conversation.
“No date tonight, sweetheart.” She whispered, closer to her ear.
It sent shivers down Agatha’s spine and hated the way her body reacted, how she tensed up, but she was refusing to accept defeat in this way, not when she started the provocation. So, she turned.
But Rio was already gone, she quickly moved to the other side of the room, with a glass of wine already in her hand, which she slowly raised in her direction, before joining somebody else’s conversation.
The dinner passed without any further mishaps.
Agatha still hated the entire dinner party, but she couldn’t deny that sitting next to Carol and Maria while they were talking about their adventures in the AirForce, and Carol explaining NASA could recruit them soon was actually kind of interesting.
It also helped when they started talking about their kid, and started to show her pictures of Monica. It meant Agatha could just listen to the conversation, instead of coming up with answers and other questions to ask about stuff she wasn’t interested in.
The people around her were all talking to each other, and luckily she wasn’t the only one who didn’t know everybody. It was nice to not be the only one odd out, despite the fact she had met everyone already once.
Wanda was right, of course. She had been the one to refuse company for the last two years, except strangers, which simply resulted in one night stands. Her colleagues at work had tried to be nice, but they were all scared of her. Wonder why.
Plus, having Wanda and Lilia as her two only friends was already enough work. She didn’t need more headaches.
Which was why, when they moved to the living room again for the fucking White Elephant, she already had four glasses of wine and two apple martinis. She was positively buzzed, relishing the way the alcohol made her feel a bit less irritated by the people around her. And she needed alcohol to participate in this game.
She was standing up, preferring to not sit next to anybody - or, even worse, the floor -, her arms crossed, while Wanda took center stage, smiling brightly at everyone.
“Okay, so, for those who don’t know the rules of White Elephant -”
“Everybody knows the rules, let’s start Wanda. Let’s open the presents.”
Agatha rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
“Are you twelve, Jen? Can’t you wait?”
She heard a quiet and low chuckle from her right, and she turned to find Rio splayed on one of the armrest of the couch, looking intensively at her and not hiding the amusement at her joke. Agatha couldn’t help but notice that during the dinner she had taken off her jacket, revealing a see-through black shirt, and her red lipstick was smeared because of the food and drinks, but it was still strong enough to create contrast with her skin.
Why on Earth was she focusing on these details?
She almost missed Jen’s response, “Sorry, you’re right. Agatha needs the rules because she isn’t used to having friends gifting her presents.”
She didn’t care enough about Jen to be hurt by her comment. However, before she could reply, Wanda intervened.
“That’s enough! Come on, be nice. It’s the Christmas spirit.”
“I can tell you what I’d do to the Christmas spirit -” She mumbled, but at the end, it didn’t.
Not knowing why, her face turned slightly toward Rio, who was simply listening to Wanda. Until she stole a glance in her direction, trying to mask the surprise when she realised Agatha was looking at her as well. She regained her composure well, but she still saw the underlying glimmer in her eyes.
This time, Rio was the first one to interrupt the look, leaning toward Alice on the couch and letting her arm rest on the girl’s shoulder.
Agatha took it as a win, and kept her gaze fixed on her a bit more, hoping she could catch under guard again. But she didn’t, she only listened to Wanda.
“Anybody can steal your present, and you have to take what they have. You take one gift from the pile, you open it and then people can either steal it or open the next one. Then we do another round and people can decide if they want to keep what they have or steal it.”
Everybody nodded and the game started.
“Oh, and only one steal per player!”
Wanda added, and Agatha only rolled her eyes. It was a game and they were all adults - the rules weren’t that difficult.
She observed people going through gifts, from someone getting a disposable camera, someone else a red scarf, and someone a coloring book with some markers.
Agatha didn’t want to steal anybody’s gift, and she also wanted this thing to end as soon as possible, so she could go back drinking, so she picked up a gift from the pile. She didn’t care much about the wrapping paper, which she only ripped apart to reveal a bunch of skincare products from… Jen Cosmetics.
“Did you seriously give as a gift your own shit?”
She looked annoyingly innocent. “I don’t know what you mean, it could be from anyone’s.”
“Yeah, sure.”
The bag was kind of cute, but the products looked way too complicated for her very lazy skincare routine which only included a cleanser and a moisturiser.
“Maybe you need it Agatha, you know you aren’t getting any younger…”
“Move along!”
Lilia intervened, shoving a present in the next person’s hands.
When it was Rio’s turn, she pretended to think about her move, as if she was playing chess.
“It isn’t that serious, Vidal.”
Wanda shot her another look, but the game was already dragging too much for her taste.
Rio was the last one, so there was only one gift left in the pile. She looked around the room, before standing up from the armrest and walking toward Agatha, opening up her palm in front of her.
“Your gift.”
It was the first steal of the night. Usually, everybody waited for the second turn before stealing somebody else’s. She simply demanded it, pointing to the gift left in the pile.
Agatha still handed it to her without looking at her satisfied smirk, as if she had something in mind, and went to open the last gift. It was a box, but when she ripped the paper, it was from a brand she never heard.
Some people snickered in the background, while she turned the box around to see a picture and the marketing names “Clitorally mindblowing” and “Dripping wet” and Agatha had to refrain herself from saying anything.
She was a woman and she enjoyed sex. A lot. Maybe in a different circumstance she would’ve loved to receive a vibrator as a gift - but not in front of almost totally strangers.
“Well, I mean… that’s a great gift.”
Wanda tried, and Agatha only smacked her lips together, holding out to the box without seemingly being interested in its content. She only needed to quickly look at Rio’s to figure out this was all part of her plan.
She knew what was inside the last gift, and she was just trying to embarrass her.
She was not planning to play her game.
“It is.” She replied to Wanda, forcing a smile. “Let’s see who ends up with it.”
Because, the point of the game was its unpredictability. You couldn’t really control it, and Rio should’ve not used her one steal on trying to screw her over. The game was still open, and Agatha had every intention of changing the vibrator with the disposable camera, thank you very much.
She saw Rio’s eye twitching at her words and she knew she hit the right point.
Once everyone started to steal and swap gifts, Agatha did exactly what she wanted and changed the disposable camera with Carol. Maria looked vaguely interested at the vibrator, and made a couple of not-so-secret innuendo at her wife, and everyone else was jokingly seeing who was going to end up with the sex toy.
Maria stole the disposable camera anyway. Agatha ended up with an ugly sweater. And then some chocolate.
The vibrator simply passed from one person to the other, before falling to Jen’s. It was the last turn, the only person who hadn’t stolen anything and had been fine with her gift until Natasha stole it from her, at the last minute.
In that moment, before Jen could steal her gift back, Rio leaned forward to whisper something in her ear.
Everybody was simply too done with the game to notice. Somebody was already drinking, other people had cake on their plates, and Vision was struggling to connect the speaker to his phone again. Agatha noticed it though. She also noticed the annoyed face Jen sent to Rio, who only pouted a bit in a way that was very similar to asking for something.
“I steal Agatha’s. Here. Enjoy it.”
She didn’t seem happy about the trade, but she still snatched the fancy chocolate from her hands and gave her back the toy.
“Oh, that’s the last! Thanks everyone for participating, I hope you ended up with something you like -”
Rio was on her a few seconds later, while Lilia was still talking.
“It should help you relax, you know. You seem like you awfully need it.”
“You -” Agatha wanted to strangle her. She leaned forward, gripping the box with both her hands until her fingers became white. And yet she could feel her face reddening at Rio’s implication and Rio’s wide smirk. It was anger, she repeated to herself. For being ridiculed in front of all these people, not only with the gift, but with her words - just now. She said them loud enough for everybody next to them to hear them. “You.”
“Me?”
Rio’s index fingers pointed to her chest, an innocent expression on her face.
“You did this.” She was able to spit out, after a few seconds.
Agatha expected her to deny it. She expected her to continue playing the victim, to pretend she had nothing to do with it, to pretend she didn’t purposefully cheat to embarrass Agatha. Instead, she stared directly into her eyes, and Agatha noticed them darkening, the smirk leaving her mouth, using a serious tone when she spoke.
“And what if I did?”
Rio leaned forward.
“What if I wanted you to get it?”
Nobody else existed inside that room right now. She ignored everyone else, she couldn’t avoid it. Now that Rio was getting closer and closer, inching into her space, and Agatha could smell her perfume - vanilla and something pungent, like a tree. Like pine. Rio had her entire attention when she raised her hand, slowly trailing Agatha’s cheek without touching her and she found herself closing her eyes, wanting to feel that stroke. Her breath was shallow, and she leaned closer, only enough for Rio to move her fingers toward a stray lock of her hair, gently pulling it behind her ear, underneath the hat.
“What if it was always intended for you, Agatha?”
The way her name brushed from Rio’s lips, a mix between a worship and a promise. The way she rolled the vocals in her tongue, punctuating each one. It should’ve not had the effect it did. Agatha thought about closing that distance, about slamming the woman away and close to her, both at the same time. It scared her the effect of this confidence had on her.
Agatha turned around and left the room, the vibrator box still in her hand.
Rio found her ten minutes later, fighting with the zip of her coat while standing outside. It snowed, which meant she was freezing. She had run to get her stuff and only thanked Lilia for the hospitality, not giving her - or Wanda - a chance to explain what had happened.
She realised she was still holding the box when she was struggling to close her coat, since she put it on too quickly.
She also realised she came with Wanda and Vision, and now she had to call an Uber. And she couldn’t go back and wait inside, not after she made a show of storming out of the party.
And she didn’t have any scarf, gloves, or hat. Except that stupid Santa Claus’ hat was still itching against her scalp.
“Ugh -”
“Need any help?”
She nearly jumped down the small step in front of Lilia’s driveaway.
“No. No. Go away.”
“Come on, Agatha. I didn’t want to make you leave, I was just -”
The way she said her name. Even now. Even without flirting. Why did she want to hear it again and again? Preferably with Rio between her legs. But still, this time it didn’t stop her from shaking her head..
"Embarrassing me? Bothering me? Wanting to get a reaction out of the sad, lonely, Agatha Harkness?”
She sneered and when Rio moved forward, gripping her arm, she didn’t move away. She was too shocked, and angry, to understand what the woman was doing. Rio looked surprised as well.
“I was just teasing you. Isn't that what we always do?”
“What?”
“I don’t know… flirting. Teasing. Getting on each other’s nerves? Maybe I went too far, but I like you and I didn’t think it truly bothered you. I really didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
The grip on her arm relented, leaving her enough space to move away from her.
Agatha didn’t.
Rio looked genuinely sorry for what had happened, a bit concerned as well. She was chewing her lower lip in a subtle way, and her eyes were shifting from one side to the other, unable to keep them on Agatha and her anger. She found it cute, almost. It was a very childish way to mask her own feelings, even though she just spilled them out in the open.
“You… like me?”
“Wasn’t that obvious?”
Rio let out a chuckle, gaining a bit of her confidence back while she straightened her back.
“The fuck it was. The only times I’ve seen you was always with some other girls.”
And she truly meant it. While she liked looking at Rio, it seemed the woman never had eyes for her.
“Yeah, okay, but I was always around you anyway.”
Agatha tried to remember the instances when they met. It always seemed like she was just busy getting on her nerves in every possible way. She fought with her about Wanda’s birthday presents, or she snickered when Jen had snide remarks about her. Okay, maybe Agatha also remembered how Rio always knew what drink she liked, or asked her which songs she wanted to play when she was controlling the speaker, or she complimented her every time she saw her. Even today, she said she looked cute with the Santa Claus hat.
Agatha had always thought she was just messing with her.
“You’re trying to make fun of me again, aren’t you?”
“No!” There was more urgency in her voice now, stepping forward. “I swear, I’m not - not everyone is out to get you, Agatha.”
“God, just stop saying my name.”
She groaned. Shit. What? Did she say it out loud?
“What?”
“N - nothing. Just, just go back to the party.” She relented, passing a hand on her forehead. “It’s fine. Nothing happened.”
“Agatha.”
Rio didn’t hesitate. Not even when Agatha breathed heavily, not even when she shook her head. Rio’s hands crawled up on her bare neck and she tilted her chin upward, forcing Agatha to look at her. Another shiver passed on Agatha’s spine, Rio’s hands suddenly warm against the cold all around them.
“I like you. I’ve liked you since you told me the present for Wanda was shit she deserved better friends.”
Rio chuckled slightly at the memory, and Agatha’s mind couldn’t help but remember Rio hadn’t even seen her face at the time. They had only talked through texts.
“Yes, I was a bit out of line tonight. And maybe I shouldn’t - I mean, it’s a great gift, okay. It will help you. I do think you’re a bit tensed up and -”
“Oh, shut up.”
Agatha’s cheeks blushed against her words, and before she could overthink about this decision, her hands found Rio’s back and she pressed her body towards her. Rio met her halfway, their lips crashing together in the same instance.
Rio’s fingers were still around her neck and jaw, and she kept her still through them, while Agatha’s hands crawled upward, pulling slightly at Rio’s hair, the wreath still on her head.
Agatha pushed in, tongue sliding against each other, before she savoured Rio’s against hers. The kiss immediately grew more passionate, more fervent. It was all tongues, and teeth, and hands pulling and grabbing at each other.
Rio’s warmth envelops her, forgetting about her open coat, the fact that was freezing until a few seconds ago.
It was only Rio’s mouth against her, and when Rio fought for dominance, Agatha opened her mouth and let out a not-so-subtle moan in it. Rio only gripped her arms harder, sliding her tongue in again, sliding against the back of her teeth while pressing slightly under Agatha’s jawline, thumb caressing her cheek at the same time.
She moaned again, suddenly wanting to feel Rio’s lips everywhere. A burning, hot, sensation sent down to her clit while they were still kissing. It was hungry, it was raw, as if both of them had held each other back for too long.
And maybe Agatha had. Maybe she had suppressed whatever she liked about Rio because, in the end, she didn’t want to get involved with any of Wanda and Lilia’s friends. She didn’t want to complicate things.
But now it didn’t matter.
It only mattered what she felt when Rio’s lips trailed downward, moving against her neck. She instantly tilted her head up, allowing her more access, while she scraped her nails against Rio’s scalp, pushing her head more toward where she wanted.
Rio let out a moan, which vibrated right behind her ear and right through her core.
Agatha’s breaths were ragged, and it was starting to be difficult to stay upward, her legs and her body melting with every new touch from Rio.
She grazed her pulse point with her teeth, biting, and then sucking. She did it again and again and again while Agatha only grabbed onto her, and she finally dragged her back up, forcing her lips on her again and sliding her tongue inside of Rio’s mouth, earning a moan from the woman and then sucking her bottom lip, smiling proudly when she felt Rio stutter against her, trying to get impossibly closer.
They had to stop. She needed to stop. She needed to breathe.
When she looked at Rio, she looked thoroughly kissed. Swollen lips, half-lidded eyes, lipstick smeared all over her face. She looked beautiful.
Agatha entangled herself from the woman, only slightly, only enough to realise some of the wreath’s leaves were trapped between her fingers. When Rio noticed, she didn’t suppress a laugh.
“I also left lipstick.”
She said, pretending to sound guilty, while her fingertips grazed against Agatha’s neck, which she couldn’t see, but she understood was now covered in red.
“I don’t mind.”
Agatha admitted, the heat of the kiss still warming her up. She noticed only at that moment that Rio came out without a jacket.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Agatha, you need to give yourself more credit. You know how to warm a girl up.”
She was still flirting, and joking, but Agatha noticed the slight shiver in her shoulder. Her shirt was basically see-through and the fabric was non-existent.
“Come home with me.”
She said, urgently, and without thinking. Her Uber was probably going to be there in a few seconds anyway.
“I have a coat inside, you know? I don’t need to -”
“Then go grab your coat and come home with me.”
Rio hesitated. Her hands settled on Agatha’s waist, underneath the coat, and even though the fabric of her dress was heavy, Agatha still could feel the searing touch on her skin.
“Are you sure?”
Was she? She really, really, liked kissing Rio’s. And yes, she hadn’t had someone over in a very long time. Someone who wasn’t a random girl picked up in a bar only to satisfy her needs.
The implication was clear: Rio wasn’t nobody. She couldn’t. They had friends in common, they saw each other often enough to not want any drama.
And Rio was giving her an out. A way to let it all go and stop there.
Except Agatha didn’t want to.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“And I need you to show me how to use your gift, after all.”
Rio’s smirk returned, growing wider and abandoning the serious tone. “Oh, you finally got the point.”