Chapter 7

7

“ A nge, ohmygoooooood.” Ruby’s hands flew to her cheeks when Angela emerged from the fitting room at Bella Moda Bridal, the very picture of a blushing princess of a bride. Next to her, Angela’s mother, Concetta, burst into tears, along with Elena and Angela’s college best friend, Kate, who was the maid of honor.

Ruby felt tears welling up in her eyes herself. With the ten-year age gap between herself and Surprise Baby Daniel, she’d basically helped raise him with her mother. Now he was getting married to a young woman Ruby had met when she was still a babyfaced college freshman with braces, who was now standing before her in a full-on sparkling white Cinderella ballgown, strawberry blonde hair gently pinned up under a softly frothy tulle veil. It was all so real now that Angela was getting her final fitting for her gown, and Daniel was up the street at Stein’s Fine Suits having the cuffs of his trousers turned up one last scant quarter inch.

Not to mention her own gown as Daniel’s Best Gal. His three groomsmen were wearing black trousers and suit jackets the deep maroon-ish color of Angela’s favorite roses. Ruby had been offered the suit option, but she just liked dresses better, and both Daniel and Angela were fine with that. So, she and Kate were wearing matching gowns, full maroon satin skirts with a wide black velvet wrap top to coordinate with the men in an inverse way. The three bridesmaids were in the same gown but all maroon. It was all very dramatic and romantic, everyone looked like the rosebuds that would be festooning the church and the reception hall.

Ruby loved it all, the pageantry and elegance and lush romance of everything. They’d been in New York for two days now, and it had been a nonstop whirlwind of love and joy all centered around Angela and Daniel. She truly felt like she was watching a rom com coming to life.

Speaking of rom coms… Ruby glanced over at Sasha, who was standing and fidgeting by the accessories counter. She’d tried to beg out of coming to the final dress fittings, insisting that she’d be fine at the house helping Rose and Cecelia put together the evening meal as she’d done each night since they’d arrived. But Elena had overridden her entirely, insisting that she come see Ruby try on her gown. “You telling me you don’t want to see your girlfriend looking like a princess? C’mon, Sasha. Don’t give me that. Get in the car.”

Sasha had tried to lock eyes with Ruby for help, but Ruby wanted her there, too. She didn’t know Kate at all, Angela was absorbed in making sure her dress was perfect, and The Mothers… well, they were certainly mothering. Ruby wanted someone sane at the dress shop with her, just in case.

She walked over to Sasha now, carefully holding the voluminous skirt up off of the immaculate marble floor of the dress shop. “What do you think?”

Sasha’s cheeks were faintly rosy. “You look great, of course. But how are you managing in heels?”

Ruby stuck one black satin pump-clad foot out from under the frills of black tulle petticoats and maroon satin. “They can barely be classified as heels. Angela knows the whole story about prom night and wants no part of potentially recreating the disaster.”

“No ambulances at my wedding,” Angela called out from the platform in front of the three-way mirror. “Who’s gonna see their feet anyway?”

“I, for one, am grateful ,” Kate chimed in from where she was primping her glorious head of glossy black curls in another mirror. “I’m already nearly six feet tall in my bare damn feet. If Ruby weren’t in the wedding party, I know Angela would have me wedged into five-inch stilettos.”

“I would not! Even though you look great in them… no, on my wedding day I’m fine with you being as close to short as we can get you.” Angela grinned and tossed her veil back over her shoulder. “Why’s my bestie got to be a frickin’ supermodel?”

“I’m just glad we’ll be across the aisle from each other and that I don’t have to stand next to Kate,” Ruby whispered to Sasha. “I mean, I’m 5’4, and with this red hair, I’d look like a fire hydrant.”

“You would never look like a fire hydrant,” Sasha insisted. “No matter how tall the person next to you is.”

They both looked at Kate, who was having to bend nearly double to hug tiny, elfin Angela. “What do you think it’s like, never having to stand on a chair to reach the top shelf?” Ruby asked, tilting her head to regard Kate with amazement. “Or, no, wait, not just the top shelf, but that weird little cabinet over the top of every refrigerator in every home I’ve ever seen. She can put things in there and get them out again .”

“She can dust the ceiling fan without having to get one of those special long dusters,” Sasha replied, shaking her head.

“I have to squat in every shower and it’s torture riding in Angela’s stupid little Prius,” Kate called across the bridal salon, sticking her tongue out and grinning.

“Noted!” Ruby called back, laughing.

They were all out of their dresses and climbing back into their street clothes when Elena let out a horrific shriek. “I’ll kill her! I will kill my sister-in-law .”

Ruby ran out of the dressing room, still yanking her black sweater over her head. She pulled her ponytail out of the neck as she skidded to a stop next to her mother, who was jabbing at her mobile phone with a violence not seen since she’d been beaten for Mom of the Year at St. Clair’s School for Girls. “Are you okay? What’d Aunt Cee do?”

“Not Cecelia,” Elena hissed. “ Beth .”

Ruby’s eyes went round. “Oh, damn.”

“Who’s Beth?” Sasha asked, sidling up with curiosity all over her face.

“My Uncle Leo’s second wife.” Ruby looked over her mother’s shoulder to read the messages that had set her off. She let out a low whistle as she realized what had happened. “Did she seriously message you to say she’s invited both of her kids and their families to tag along to dinner tonight?”

“I will kill her,” Elena growled, sending back a short, polite message that utterly belied her fury. “We didn’t plan for ten extra people! Rose and Cee are going to mutiny, they were on the verge as it was this morning when I asked them if they could bake a couple cheesecakes.”

“That was a shocking amount of gall, even for you.” Ruby ducked the swat her mother aimed at the back of her head. “We can get through this, though, right? Maybe pick up something from a restaurant?”

Sasha had a thoughtful look on her face. “We don’t even need to do that. Remind me of the menu tonight?”

“Baked chicken casserole, mashed potatoes, a big salad, and rolls,” Elena rattled off. “And the cheesecakes. Rose and Cee are stretched to the bone as it is making enough of that to feed nearly thirty people. It’s five PM! Dinner’s in two hours, I can’t ask them to make more, as if there was any room in the kitchen to cook anything else.” She sighed and rubbed her head. “I can pick up a couple of rotisserie chickens and a tub of potatoes from a deli, but that witch will know they’re from a deli. I can hear her snide cracks now.”

“You’re not going to do that. You’ve got a grill on the back porch, right? And a blender somewhere?” Sasha had her phone out and was making a list. “Rubes, have Daniel come pick us up, we’ve got some shopping to do. Mama Elena, can you get home and get the grill ready? Angela, is it okay if I kidnap your fiancé?”

Angela was pulling on her Chelsea boots. “No problem. Mama can drive me and Kate to the Fierelli casa . Do you want us to pick up anything on the way?”

“No, I’ve got it.” Sasha shoved her phone in her pocket and grabbed Ruby’s hand. Let’s go, is Daniel coming?”

“ETA two minutes. What are we doing?”

“What I do best on a busy Saturday night at the Lounge.” Sasha winked. “Pull rabbits out of hats and make miracles out of thin air.”

“Can you? With just a propane grill on my parents’ ‘ back porch?” Ruby wondered, scrambling to follow Sasha down the sidewalk to meet Daniel’s approaching car. “I’m not doubting you, I just need help to see the vision.”

“Oh, I’ll show you my vision.” Sasha flashed a grin and a wink that, to Ruby’s surprise, sent a thrill through her. She knew Sasha was never any more confident than when she was doing something kitchen-related, but she hadn’t realized how… appealing that confidence was.

But before she had time to think about it, they were in Daniel’s car embarking on a grocery shopping spree like she’d never been on before.

Two hours later, as she wedged a tureen full of roasted red pepper soup in between her mother’s big salad bowl and a plate heaped high with Sasha’s special Mediterranean grilled lamb amd vegetable skewers, Ruby watched her mother throw her arms around Sasha, who set down her pan of plump foil-wrapped sweet potatoes just in time. “You are a lifesaver, Sasha,” Elena breathed, gratitude shining from her face. “Ruby, my darling, if you don’t keep this one…”

“Sasha’ll be in my life forever,” Ruby promised her mother.

It wasn’t a lie, but as her eyes met Sasha’s over the groaning dining room table, Ruby felt a fog of indefinable questions beginning to stir at the back of her mind. Questions she simply did not have the capacity to face and define right now.

They just had to get through this week. She’d figure out the rest later.

“Incoming!” Dom Junior shouted as he weaved through the dancing crowd surrounding their VIP booth at Crystalline. Sasha reached back over the booth and took the tray of champagne flutes from him, setting it carefully on the table to the sounds of cheers from their party.

The Manhattan nightclub, which specialized in different types of champagne and sparkling wines, seemed to Sasha to be an odd place for a joint bachelor/bachelorette party. It wasn’t warm and inviting—it was a dark, moody cave with icy blue neon lights and fixtures that were carved to look like Art Deco ice sculptures. The music was almost too loud to talk over comfortably and any non-sparkling cocktails they’d ordered had been watery and basic.

Daniel and Angela seemed to be having a politely nice time, but Sasha got the distinct impression they’d have much preferred to have their joint party at something like a bowling alley or Dave & Busters, where everyone could play games and laugh together. The two of them weren’t exactly homebodies, but when they came to LA to visit Ruby, they’d always asked to go to restaurants and bars with warm, friendly vibes. Crystalline had been arranged by Kate weeks ago, as the maid of honor. Ruby, not being in New York to get a feel for the place, hadn’t felt she could object, and Sasha knew Daniel and Angela hadn’t said anything either.

So, it wasn’t the most fun party Sasha had ever been to, but at least the champagne choices were decent. She sipped at her newest flute, something sweetly bubbly, not too dry. It was nice.

Next to her, Ruby leaned her head on Sasha’s shoulder and sighed quietly. “This is kind of a drag,” she whispered.

“No, drag would be an improvement,” Sasha joked back in a whisper, and they both giggled.

“What are you two laughing about over there?” Kate called, a puckish smile on her pretty face. She was perched in the lap of one of Daniel’s groomsmen, swirling her champagne flute around between sips.

“Inside joke,” Ruby quipped, raising her own glass in a salute.

Seated in the slightly elevated place of honor at one end of the oblong booth, Angela shot back her entire glass of champagne and stood up, her satin Bride to Be sash crumpled and plastic rhinestone tiara askew. “Katie-bug, I love you, but this is not doing it for me. Did you have other plans for the night?”

“Sit back down,” Kate commanded. Setting her flute down, she raised one graceful hand and gave an imperious wave. A bartender materialized out of nowhere and waited. “Two rounds of tequila shots, top shelf, please. Put it on the tab for Katherine Lindholm.” She leaned forward, mischief sparkling in her eyes.

Dom Junior, arm wrapped around his wife Arianna, huffed in annoyance. “We could have had someone bringing us drinks this whole time? I didn’t have to fight my way to the bar and defend my tray of drinks on three separate occasions?”

“It’s a perk of being me, I’m afraid,” Kate said with a smile. She wriggled around in the lap of the groomsman—Sasha couldn’t remember his name—who looked equal parts delighted and deeply uncomfortable. With a flourish, she pulled out the tote bag that she’d brought with her, which Sasha had thought an odd choice for a glamorous model on a night out, until she’d handed sashes and crowns to the happy couple. But it seemed her Mary Poppins bag of tricks wasn’t empty yet.

After a quick rummage in the bag, Kate set a pair of boxes down amongst the empty champagne flutes. One was pink and black, the other black and white. Ruby’s sister Rose leaned over to peer at it. “Dares For Bachelors and Bachelorettes,” she read, her brow furrowing. “Oh, come on, Kate. This isn’t inappropriate, is it?”

“Of course it is, Rosie!” Kate beamed. “Don’t worry, I went through it, there’s nothing really gross in there. But you are going to have to get out of your comfort zone.”

Rose, who Sasha thought was very nice but also didn’t seem to have ever been out of her comfort zone in her entire forty years of life on Earth, sat back with a worried look on her face as her husband Jim rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. “It’ll be okay, Rosie. It’s fun, we won’t take it too seriously.”

“Exactly.” Kate grinned and opened up the boxes. “Now, I’ll kick things off to break the ice, then we’ll go around the table. You’ll each draw a card from the appropriate box and you have to do what it says!” She took a shot of tequila and then reached into the pink box and grabbed the stack of cards, giving them a good shuffle. Then she peeled the top one off and waved it around, giggling. Before she could read it aloud to the party, however, the groomsman in whose lap she was sitting snatched it out of her hand. “Philip!”

“Let’s see what we’ve got here,” Philip chuckled, dodging Kate’s efforts to grab the card back from him. “Convenient! It says you have to kiss a bald man.”

Kate laughed and rubbed Philip’s smooth, shiny head. “I think I’m supposed to go find a bald stranger, but I guess we can make do.” She lost no time twisting around in his lap, straddling him until her little black minidress rode up her slender thighs. Sasha looked away, her face burning. Ruby was giggling again, her head buried in Sasha’s shoulder.

“I hope I get a boring card, something like, you have to go take a selfie in the men’s room , I don’t think I can kiss a stranger,” she whispered into Sasha’s ear.

“I hope your sister gets a funny one, like, simple but funny like, wear your bra on the outside of your clothes or something like that,” Sasha whispered back. “I like her, but I feel like that would be hilarious.”

“I don’t know if she could do it! Maybe twenty years ago… like, she definitely had fun at Coyote Ugly back in her day, the stories are legendary,” Ruby said. “But now? She’s really turned into a PTA mom, God bless her. But hey, she came out for this party, and she’s drinking, so who knows.”

Kate broke off her steamy makeout session with Philip and tossed her mane of black curls over her shoulder. “Next up,” she called, pulling her skirt down as she twisted back around to sit next to her blushing dare partner.

Dante leaned forward and pulled his card, which resulted in him standing up and belting out a rendition of Jessie J’s Price Tag that had everyone who’d been dancing around their booth cheering.

Daniel’s other groomsman, Stephen—who was a thoroughly Midwestern boy from Eau Claire, Wisconsin—had to affect a French accent and convince a pair of Jersey girls at the bar that he was actually French. He half-won the dare.

Rose drew a card that instructed her to drink a blowjob shot like she was actually giving one, and to the shock of everyone but Ruby, who muttered, “Coyote Ugly,” under her breath, she actually did it. Loudly. And in such a skillful way that there wasn’t a drop of whipped cream in her long black hair.

Her husband Jim posed like a Charlie’s Angel with two frat guys he found on the dance floor.

A bridesmaid, Lisa, was instructed to swap clothes with someone. She chose Philip, who looked fetching in his new tan bandage dress. Lisa was just delighted that the green-striped button down and chinos she got in return didn’t smell like Axe body spray but rather Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille.

Sasha was impressed with how the evening had turned around. They were having genuine fun now, not just sitting around drinking and making stilted conversation. And all of the dares had been largely just silly stunts. She relaxed into the cushions of the booth, ready for her turn to arrive.

She let down her guard too soon.

A soft gasp escaped Ruby’s mouth as she drew her card and read it. Her eyes were wide, and though the icy blue lighting of Crystalline made it difficult to tell for sure, Sasha thought she might be blushing. She frowned. What ridiculous task could have gotten Ruby this flustered? Sasha leaned over to read the pink card.

Make out with someone in front of everyone like no one is watching.

A cold river of dread ran through Sasha. There was no way Ruby was going to make out with ‘someone.’ It would be Sasha, it could only be Sasha, because they were supposed to be dating. And this wasn’t something that had been part of any of their PDA practice. The hugs, the cheek kisses, the comfortable side by side snuggles on couches, they were getting better at that. But making out? That hadn’t even been on the table . Sasha’s mouth went dry.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ruby swallow hard and lean forward to grab two tequila shots out of the tray. Neither of them liked tequila at all, but Sasha was not about to turn a shot of it down, not with what was written on that little card. To her surprise, however, instead of handing her one of the glasses, Ruby downed both shots, one after another, as the whole party gaped at her.

Kate raised one perfect eyebrow. “ Two shots? Just what does that little card say, Best Gal?” She leaned over and snatched the card out of Ruby’s hand, scanning it quickly. “Ooh! Spicy. At least you’ve got a built-in dare partner right here with you, though!” She flashed a big smile at Sasha and handed her a tequila shot. “Bottoms up.”

Numbly, Sasha shot back the tequila, grimacing at the grassy taste of it. She looked over at Ruby, who was smiling nervously at her. “Rubes, we don’t?—”

“Kiss, kiss, kiss,” Dante began to chant, an excess of champagne having made him seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was cheering on his little sister to make out with another woman in front of him. Sasha closed her eyes.

Kissing Ruby was something she’d dreamed about for so long. But this scenario had never come to mind. She’d imagined something private and intimate, sweet and romantic. She had thought about how Ruby’s lips would feel, how her mouth would taste. Now, their first kiss would be in front of Ruby’s siblings and a bunch of strangers, in the middle of a too-trendy nightclub neither of them had chosen or particularly liked, and it would taste like grass and vegetables and alcohol.

A soft weight settled in her lap, arms encircled her neck, and Sasha’s eyes flew open. Ruby’s big blue eyes, for once unsheltered by her thick-rimmed glasses, were wide and apprehensive, and she was biting her lip. “OK?”

Sasha licked her lips, wishing she’d had a moment to put on lip balm, chew a mint, something. But it was too late for any of that. “OK.”

Her world narrowed to Ruby’s face getting close to hers, her eyelids fluttering shut, mascara-black lashes fanning out over her cheeks. Their noses touched, slipped past each other, and then Ruby’s lips met Sasha’s just as Sasha closed her eyes.

Fireworks.

On the back of Sasha’s eyelids, golden sparkles and red explosions were going off as Ruby’s soft, warm lips parted, her tongue flicking out to trace along Sasha’s bottom lip. Sasha let her mouth fall open, let Ruby’s tongue in to explore. She felt Ruby’s hands move to slip up the back of her neck, into the short bristle of her hair, cupping the back of her head.

Sasha’s hands were at Ruby’s waist, and she twisted her fingers into the fabric there, soft stretch cotton winding around her fingertips as she pulled. She pulled a harsh breath in through her nose as Ruby’s kiss deepened, becoming more demanding. All of the noise of the club around them melted away into a gentle fog of static, Sasha could only really hear Ruby’s soft little whimpers and hitching breaths, the tiny ticking sounds of the hot, wet kisses. Ruby’s hands on the back of her head were strong and confident, and the thick curtain of her long red hair fell all around them, tickling Sasha’s arms.

She was utterly lost and absorbed in the kiss, and didn’t think twice about letting her hand slide up under Ruby’s top, to glide along the soft warmth of the skin there?—

Ruby jerked back then, breaking the kiss off and staring at Sasha with an unreadable expression.

“Well,” Kate said, clearing her throat. “Thank you for the show, ladies.”

Without a word or smile or anything to give Sasha any idea of what she was thinking, Ruby slipped out of her lap and back into her seat in the booth, her face almost a mask. Only a smudge of lipstick at the corner of her mouth reflected anything of what had just gone on. Sasha touched her own lips, wondering if they were tinted with remnants of Ruby’s crimson lip paint.

Around them, everyone was joking a little uncomfortably, and nobody seemed inclined to pick a card and resume the game. The night, possibly, was drawing to a close after their little show. Sasha squirmed in her seat, unsure if that’s what she wanted or not. Because going back to the Fierelli house and sharing that bed with Ruby, even with the bolster between them, that was just not going to be the same anymore, not like it had been the last few nights.

Something… everything had just changed. She knew it had. And she had no idea where things would or could possibly go from here, but she had a sinking feeling she might have just let herself in for a world of hurt.

Ruby had let her mouth and brain function on autopilot for the last hour or so of the party. She was focused on that kiss, absolutely lost in the intoxicating memory of it.

Never, not even during her very first kiss, had any kiss ever felt like that. Sparks, crackles and fireworks had shot through her at the first touch of her lips to Sasha’s, and it had taken everything she had to not absolutely melt into the kiss and let it take her wherever it went. Only knowing that all of her siblings were there and watching— ew—had kept her tethered to the world around her.

The kiss was everything she had ever written about, read about, or seen in movies. The quicksilver thrill, the warmth radiating from her heart with each beat, the butterflies taking flight—oh, she’d felt it all in that single heavenly minute.

And all she could think about for the rest of the night, in the club, on the train and Uber rides home, sitting next to Sasha the whole time, oh, all she could think about was chasing that delicious high again. Just like she had that afternoon on the motorcycle.

Without words, she’d indicated she wanted to get ready for bed first, and Sasha had nodded. Ruby rushed through her nighttime routine, washing off all of her makeup, brushing her teeth and using mouthwash—to hell with flossing, though—moisturizing, braiding her hair out of the way. After a moment of thought, however, she took the braid down.

With what she had in mind, she wanted her hair down.

Now she was tucked up in her teenage bed, wearing loose cotton capri pants and a skimpy tank top, hair falling around her shoulders, and she was plotting .

Was this what it was like to be the lead in a romance novel? There was desire, and fizzing excitement, and something that Ruby was very, very tempted to describe as yearning.

For Sasha . Her best friend. In all the years they’d known each other, she’d never felt like this about Sasha. Or was it that she’d never allowed herself to?

Ruby had written thousands of words about love and romance and relationships. A few days ago, she would have gleefully proclaimed herself an expert on the topic. Bullshit , she thought now. An actual expert might have a fillip of self-awareness, whereas Ruby? Ruby clearly knew nothing , not of love, not of herself, not a thing.

She did know that she wanted more of whatever this was.

The bedroom door creaked open and Sasha slipped through, closing it behind her. She was in her battered old Melissa Etheridge tour t-shirt and a pair of baggy boxer shorts, just as she’d been all week. There was a new uncertainty in her eyes, though, as she lifted her head to look at Ruby.

Ruby patted the pink bolster. “C’mere, Sash.”

Warily, Sasha stepped over to the bed and climbed in under the layers of warm, cozy blankets. They both slid down to face each other across the bolster. “So,” Sasha began, but Ruby reached over and placed a finger over her lips.

“No talking,” she whispered, and then she turned off the bedside lamp that was the only illumination in the little room.

Ruby groped in the dark across the bolster—she didn’t want to remove it from between them, that felt like a line she wasn’t ready to cross—and slid an arm around Sasha’s waist, pulling her in as close as possible, given the pillow. Lifting herself up slightly, she leaned over and went in for a kiss.

A tiny noise of surprise erupted from Sasha’s mouth, quickly muffled by Ruby’s. Her hair tumbled down around them and she hoped beyond hope that…

Sasha’s hands slid up into her hair and gripped two handfuls at the nape of Ruby’s neck. Ruby broke the kiss off to allow a guttural fuck to escape.

Goddamn, but she had always loved having her hair pulled.

Sasha kept one hand firmly in Ruby’s hair, and the other began to drift southward as Ruby dove back in for an ever- deepening kiss. Gasps and hitching breaths were traded between them, and when Sasha’s hand crept up under Ruby’s tank top, this time, Ruby didn’t pull away.

She wanted to see, to feel, what would happen. And she couldn’t before, not surrounded by so many people, not so public, but now? Now it was just the two of them and a pillow Ruby was finding it harder to resist the urge to hurl away.

Sasha’s fingers crawled up the sensitive skin of Ruby’s side, the edges of her short nails lightly grazing and scratching, leaving goosebumps and little burning lines in their wake. Achingly slowly, Sasha’s hand slid up, up, up until it was cradling Ruby’s breast.

Neither of them breathed as Sasha gently rubbed her thumb across Ruby’s nipple, which instantly went tight and pebble-hard. A dull electric shock went through her from nipple to her clit, making her clench her thighs tight together, clench and relax, over and over, her hips moving involuntarily as Sasha’s thumb kept stroking and stroking and stroking…

Sasha pulled away. Bereft, Ruby groaned in frustration.

“Sorry,” Sasha whispered. “Sorry, Rubes. I had to stop before I couldn’t stop. We need to talk. Tomorrow,” she added hastily as Ruby took in a deep breath in preparation.

“In the morning,” Ruby agreed after a moment. Then, wound up and confused and frustrated and full of desire, she turned over to face the wall and prayed for sleep to claim her quickly.