Distractions Read Online Free Page A

her words might hurt her friend.
    Emma could only laugh. ‘They didn’t hear you, sweetie.’ And she sat with a bump on the sand.
    ‘I WANT A MAN!’ Sally shouted again.
    ‘You do have a husband, baby. Shall I go call him?’
    ‘I know. I know.’ Sally flopped onto her stomach in the shallow water. Then started to crawl towards Emma. ‘I love him. I do. But … I want someone else. I want someone new.’ She collapsed on the wet sand and raised herself on her elbows, resting her chin in her hands. ‘Sometimes I just want more than I’m allowed to have. Like we used to, Emma. We always had more than our fair share.’
    ‘There’s no reason we can’t do it all again.’
    ‘There are a million reasons why we can’t.’
    ‘Are there?’ asked Emma. ‘Name one.’
    Sally smiled. She felt like saying, because he’s your husband. But she didn’t.
    ‘You make being good so difficult, Em.’

    Sally stood up and strode back into the deeper water and dived under wave after wave until she was out past the breakers.

    When Sally finally emerged from the surf it was getting dark. Emma was frozen through. She had wandered down the beach to find the remnants of Sally’s clothes, and had wrapped Sally’s sarong around her shoulders. But the material was too flimsy to do more than lessen slightly the effect of the breeze.
    Now Sally stood shivering in the shallows. ‘I’ll race you back,’ she shouted to Emma.
    ‘You go, I’ll follow,’ Emma replied, handing over the sarong. She was stiff from sitting in the cold.
    Sally dashed off through the shallow water. She looked funny to Emma, like a streaker running across a stadium. Emma made her way back so slowly Sally was showered, dressed and already in the kitchen by the time Emma entered the house.
    They flopped in front of the TV for a few hours. Sally laid her head on Emma’s lap, then they headed for bed.
    Emma fell asleep almost immediately. But Sallywas wide awake. She switched on the bedside lamp and started to read a magazine, but this was no help. Since arriving at the beach house she’d been feeling very unsatisfied. There was something profoundly wrong with her marriage.
    Frustrated as she was, sleeping next to Emma had been an unexpected joy. A silent one. Though it was completely innocent, they behaved like old lovers who had tired of the physical. Her love for Emma was intense at times. She wanted to look after her. To care for her. She wouldn’t let Emma do a thing. And all she required in return was to be held so that she may sleep. But Emma lay so quietly beside her. Her breathing was regular and deep – her repose complete. Emma seemed to hum with satisfaction, and Sally couldn’t bring herself to disturb her.
    She wrongly attributed the hum to David’s prowess and had become fixated on him. He now disturbed her thoughts and kept her from sleep.
    How can one woman be calm around another woman who emits a satisfied hum?

FIVE
    Emma was awakened by a noise. She lay still for a moment then she heard it again. There it was – a sharp intake of air. The bed she shared seemed to be shaking slightly. Emma opened her eyes. It was still dark but she could make out the shape of Sally in the bed beside her. She listened to Sally’s breathing. It was irregular. There was movement too. Emma suddenly realised what Sally was doing. She smiled in the darkness.
    Sally was lying on her back and Emma could see that both of her hands were busy. The more she watched the more excited she grew. Sally wasbeing very quiet. Emma wondered how often she had done this while her husband slept. She wanted to reach out but feared her friend’s reaction. Would she be embarrassed?
    Emma started to touch herself. She couldn’t help it. Sally’s breathing turned her on. And her sudden shudders, and her raised nightie, her bare stomach, her wrists and that one knee slightly lifted. She was so close to Sally, too. She wanted to lift her nightie up further and take a nipple in