Linda getting the volleyball scholarship was not a surprise to anyone who knew her. She was a big girl with big ambitions, so cutting ties and heading to the big city was a natural step. For Nina, she transitioned into full time work and used the extra income to move into an apartment of her own.
When spring rolled around, Nina was only too happy to welcome her back to town and let her crash with her during break. Naturally they'd kept in touch, both over the phone and online.
"How can you miss me if I never go away, right?"
"What are you talking about? It's been months," Nina protested. "You don't think I've missed seeing you every day?"
"Well, then give me a big ass hug!"
Nina wasn't an especially touchy-feely kind of person, but with Linda, she never felt the need to be shy. A rush of joy washed over her as she hugged her dear friend.
"This is going to be so much fun. It's not a problem having me stay with you while I'm on break, right?"
"I told you its fine," Nina reassured her, going into the kitchen to get them booth a drink. "I mean, I'll be stuck working most of the week, but at least we'll have this weekend to hang out."
"We'll find stuff to do during the evenings too, I m sure," Linda said, setting back on the couch. "You don't mind if I kick off my shoes, do you?"
"No, make yourself as comfortable as you want."
"That's good. The bummer about my roommates is that they're really prudish about everything. Can you guess what it's like after a game to not be able to strip down and get comfortable unless you're in the privacy of the bathroom?"
"Different people have different standards, I guess. Even now that I'm on my own, I still don't feel entirely comfortable just walking around nude."
"Oh, I can't wait to live out on my own," Linda sighed, taking a sip of beer. "It'd be nude-a-palooza around my place."
"Well, you're an athlete. You're just more comfortable with your body than other people."
"Is that the reason?" Linda asked, raising an eyebrow.
After a bit of catching up, the two decided to head into the bedroom, since that was where the television was. Nina felt guilty about not having any better plans on a Friday night, but most of the time Nina was too tired to do much of anything after the work week.
"I'm going to change into something more comfortable," Nina explained, going into the bathroom.
"Yeah, good idea. I'm gonna to change too."
Nina stripped out of her day clothes and put on a plain white t-shirt and a pair of cotton pajama bottoms. She put her glasses away and went back into the bedroom to rejoin her friend.
Linda had changed into a plain blue night shirt, sitting on Nina's bed while flicking through the messages on her phone.
"I'm sorry there isn't much room," Nina said, coming to sit beside her. "You're entitled to use the bed, and I'll take the living room sofa."
"There's enough room for two," Linda pointed out. "You aren't afraid of sleeping with me, are you?"
"No, of course not. It'll be fun."
Nina joined Linda, sitting cross legged on the bed beside her. It really wasn't all that late, but she realized she didn't have a whole lot to entertain her friend.
"It kinda sucks to be stuck in, but I don't know exactly what we should do."
"We never had a problem finding stuff to keep us occupied before," Linda reminded her.
"Yeah, but what did we do most of the time?"
"I seem to recall that most of our Friday nights were spent at each other's houses so we could talk about sex."
"Back when we didn't know anything about anything. Pretty funny to think about now."
"Yeah, but we didn't just talk," Linda enthused. "Remember how we used kiss, just to find out what it was like? I think we got to be pretty good at it."
"I remember," Nina admitted, not able to suppress a smile at the memory.
"It was a fun way to spend an evening. I bet you it would still be fun."
"What, for us to make out? We aren't kids anymore. It kinda has a different connotation now."
"Don't be like that. I'm willing to bet it'll be even better now that we've grown up. You sure you don't want to swap some spit with your best friend?"
It was hard to take Linda seriously at times like these, but the girl could be persistent.
"I don't know," Nina demurred, even as Linda pressed closer.
"Come here and kiss me, you fool."
Nina gave Linda an exasperated look, but nevertheless let Linda take her up in her arms and plant her lips on hers. Despite the years that had gone by since they experimented this way, they kissed with the same familiarity as if they were still in Nina's old bedroom. Linda's hand strayed to Nina's breast, and the rising intensity of her passion momentarily overwhelmed Nina that she had to break away.
