“Yeah?” I cock my head slightly, waiting for him to continue.
“Yup. You two have been doing this weird little dance around each other for years now. Will they? Won’t they? That’s how it’s been watching the two of you. It’s been an exhilarating show, that’s for sure.”
Simon shifts and I slide my gaze to him to see if he’s going to add anything to Dex’s admission.
“Preach it,” he replies, pointing at Dex.
Chuckling, I just shake my head.
“Well, just because we are finally banging doesn’t mean the show needs to end,” I offer. The only responses I get back are laughter and grumbling.
Chapter Seventeen
Ruby
“I’d like a double cheese burger, ketchup only, pickles on the side, an order of fries and a chocolate milkshake,” I tell the server standing next to our table.
“Would you like whipped cream on the shake?” she asks.
I ponder this for a second. I don’t mind the extra sugar, but do I really need it?
“Oh, come on Rubes, it’s not a milkshake without the whipped cream,” Link says seriously. He looks to the server. “She’ll have the whipped cream. And I’ll have what she’s having, but I want my burger with mustard as well. And instead of pickles, I’d like some jalapenos.”
The server takes our menus and disappears into the kitchen.
I’m a little jarred by Link’s response to what I ordered. It’s not a bad thing, not in the slightest, but the last time I was on a date, it didn’t go well.
“What’s with that look?” he asks me.
“What look?”
“You’re looking at me like I have two heads. Did you not want the whipped cream? I can find our server and tell her.” He moves like he’s about to scoot out of the booth.
I reach out and put my hand on his arm. “No, it’s not that.”
“Then what is it, Rubes?”
“It’s just that the last guy I dated wasn’t so positive about my meal choices when we were out.” I can tell by the stormy look that overcomes his face that he is having some very negative thoughts of his own in regard to Mason.
“Well, that’s shit, Ruby. You can eat whatever the hell you want. You know your body better than anyone and you look damn good,” he says darkly.
“Yeah? You don’t mind my curves?” I tease, trying to lift his mood.
“Hell no, I love your curves. Plus, I love the fact that my girlfriend can put down more food than me and still look sexy as fuck.”
I laugh thinking back on all the times we’ve had eating contests to see who could eat the most food. I give him a run for his money every time, especially when it comes to bacon cheese fries.
Since we’ve been back from Comic-Con, things with Link have been great. We’ve seen each other every day. While we normally see each other multiple times a week, now it’s for more couple-like reasons. We’ve had dinner, recorded a Classic Showdown, and just hung out.
Being with Link is so easy.
Which is not what I expected at all. I thought our head butting would intensify, but it hasn’t. We still butt heads, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a lot more kissing involved. Which kind of makes it more fun to keep his ego in check.
We haven’t officially talked about where we are in our relationship yet. Like, I’m not exactly sure he is my boyfriend, but that doesn’t really matter, because I know we are on the same page. I’m sure when the time comes, we will talk about titles but it’s not something I really care about right now.
We have talked about the no sex with other people deal. After Mason, I wanted to get that out of the way on day one. Which was actually several hours too late since we didn’t use a condom that first night in Link’s hotel room. I knew I was clean, since I got tested and received my results the day before I broke up with Mason. Link also said he was clean. Plus, I’m on birth control.
But, to be safe, he still suits up. Not that we’ve had that much sex — we haven’t — but we can’t seem to keep our hands off of each other. Which is something I’m not totally used to … and I love it.
I love the feeling of being wanted.
But, I still keep waiting for him to change his mind. I’m not trying to be all insecure, that’s totally Morgan’s story, but he’s normally such a player, and well, what do I have that other girls don’t? I guess Mason did a number on me and that just pisses me off. I shouldn’t have to change just to make a guy happy. And I don’t think Link would ask or expect me to change, ever, so really, I’m just in my freaking head again.
I just got home from work and I’m thrilled that it’s finally Friday.
“Oh, hey you’re here,” I say to Gia as I walk into our apartment and drop my bag on the floor just inside the door. I know, I should take it back to my room but … Friday.
I plop down on the couch, opposite her in the recliner. But I don’t stop there, I kick my feet up and stretch out.
“Long day?” she asks, pausing her show.
“Long week. But I took a whole week off, so I expected it to take me a couple of weeks to get back to normal.”
“True, but I feel like you did work a little while we were out in San Diego, so I’m surprised you were still buried this week.”
“Yeah, I did, because I love my job. But I tried not to check email, which meant it ended up taking me four days to finally dig myself out of an email hole of doom.”
“Wow, that bad?”
“Yes. And this week, we had nothing but meetings. Which caused the hole of doom to expand. So, I’m just gonna close my eyes and listen to whatever you are watching. I’m exhausted.”
She chuckles and plays her show.
I don’t know how long it’s been, but I hear soft talking and then feel someone lift my legs and place them on their lap. Based on the hand now rubbing my upper thigh, I’m guessing it’s Link.
I crack one eye open and confirm it. He’s looking at me with a sweet smile on his face. I’ve become more and more used to seeing it now. I still see his sexy-as-sin smile that ignites all kinds of nerve endings in my body. But his sweet smile does something funny to my heart.
“Hey gorgeous,” he says as I lift my hand to rub my eyes.
“Hey yourself. How long have you been here?” I ask through a yawn.
“Just got here. Simon and I came over to see if you guys wanted to go grab dinner.” He twists toward me and starts to massage my foot. I don’t think a guy has ever given me a foot massage. Except for my favorite nail tech when I splurge for pedicures.
“Hmmm. I could eat … when you’re done working your magic.” He chuckles, and I close my eyes again.
It feels like only moments later that he’s gently shaking me awake.
“Rubes, wake up.” His voice is low.
“Hmm?” is all I can muster.
“If you want to go to dinner with Gia and Simon, you need to wake up. Or you can go back to sleep, I’ll order food and we can stay in.”
I blink my eyes open and shake my head.
“No, no, I’m awake. Let’s go eat,” I say groggily and swing my legs off his lap and onto the floor, forcing myself to sit up.
“You feeling okay?” he asks, his voice full of concern.
“Oh, yeah, I’m just super tired. It hit me hard around two this afternoon. Nothing some weekend sleep won’t fix.”
He stands from the couch and puts his hands out in front of him. I reach up and grab onto them and he pulls me up and into him. Now, almost nose to nose, I breathe in his sexy, male, woodsy scent.
“Hey.” He grins and looks from my eyes to my mouth, back to my eyes.
“Hiya,” I say. And I smile then angle my face up leaning in to press a kiss to his lips.
We start to get lost in our hellos when I hear a throat clear from somewhere in the room.
“This is still fucking weird,” grumbles Simon.
I hear the distant sound of a stomach slap, and Gia says, “Shut up.”
Pulling away, I smile up at Link.
“Give me less than five, I want to change and brush my teeth,” I offer as I head back toward my room.
Link starts to follow, and I can’t help but giggle.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! No, man, you’re staying here. I’m hungry, and if I have to wait more than five minutes …” Simon calls out.
“I just want to make sure she doesn’t need any help.” Link lifts his hands in defense.
“Yeah, more like you want to help her change, but dude, for real, she can handle it. What you can’t handle is me getting hangry. I’m gonna turn into Danny DeVito or something and I doubt you’ve got a Snickers bar on you.”
Laughing, I continue to my room, leaving Link to grumble back in the living room with Gia and Simon.
As promised, five minutes later I’m ready to go.
~~~
The next morning, I found myself being dragged out of bed way too early ... by Gia. It was weird since Link was still in my bed when she shook me awake and told me we had an emergency breakfast to get to. She said that Morgan was freaking out and we needed to go right away to meet her and Bernie.
So here I am with a to-go cup of coffee in my hand, dirty hair piled on top of my head, and my sunglasses on, in the back of a taxi with Gia. It’s overcast, but with my shades on, you can’t tell I'm still sleeping. She nudges me right as the cab comes to a stop next to the curb.
“Come on, sleepyhead, Mo and Bern already have a table,” she says, climbing out before me.
We spot them at a booth for four and I slide in next to Bernie. Morgan has her I’m-moments-away-from-freaking-out face on while Bernie looks cool as a cucumber.
I grumble my hellos, I’m normally a morning person, but I’m so freaking tired. Plus, had I known I would be dragged out of my slumber so early on a Saturday, I would have gone to bed earlier.
“Okay, we’re here, tell us what’s going on Mo,” Gia demands.
“She’s having a wedding emergency,” Bernie tells us.
With the wedding still nine months away, we haven’t really done a lot in regard to Morgan’s wedding. Besides dress shopping once after her engagement party, there isn’t a lot going on yet. Her wedding planner, Mindy, has been handling most of the tasks. Morgan didn’t want to hire one at first, but after two days of research she decided planning a wedding was not something she could do, or wanted to do, on her own. She wanted as little stress as possible. Traditionally, the bride’s parents pay for the wedding, but since Morgan wanted to have her wedding in Chicago instead of one of their home towns, they knew it would be a lot more expensive. Dex is paying for the wedding since he’s a video-game-playing master. So, Morgan’s dad hired her a wedding planner.
“Okay, you know we booked the wedding at Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum for next April, right? Well, Mindy, called me bright and early this morning,” she starts. “Turns out, they overbooked on our date and they are booked solid through November of next year. Mindy spent all day yesterday calling around to other venues to get us booked. Apparently getting married in Chicago in April and May is really popular.”
This wakes me up. This truly is a wedding emergency. Not that it wasn’t legit before, but if any one of us is going to turn into a bridezilla, it’s probably Morgan. Just saying.
I gasp at the same time as Gia’s “shit” tumbles out of her mouth. Morgan has had this venue booked for two months now, it was the first thing done, heck, it’s what finalized the date.
“Wait for it,” Bernie mumbles.
“This morning, right after Mindy called to fill us in, the event planner from Adler called and said they just had a cancellation and would give us first dibs on it, plus give us the off-season rates to apologize for the mistake.”
“That’s great news, Morgan!” I offer.
“No, no it’s isn’t.” Her voice is starting to rise. “The new available date is this November! As in four months away.”
“Oh, snap.”
“I can’t plan a wedding in four months!” She’s in full-on freak out mode now.
“Yes, you can. That’s what Mindy is for, right?” Gia asks, putting her arm around Morgan in an attempt to calm her down.
“Maybe, but everything is going to be set to super speed and, until now, we’ve just been leisurely marking things off the list.” I’m honestly surprised she isn’t crying right now.
“Does Mindy think she can plan this wedding in four months?” I ask.
“She does, and she’s convinced she can get us some more deals on catering and other things the venue will charge for, since they’ve limited us as far as who’s available on short notice.”
“See, that’s good,” Gia tells her.
“But I had planned on a spring wedding. Not a winter wedding. I’m going to have to change everything. Colors, flowers, your dresses. I mean, I know we haven’t gotten them, but they can’t be short and fun, they have to be long and elegant. Dex and I are not elegant. And we have to rush to plan a bridal shower, and bachelor and bachelorette parties. Oh my god.” She’s starting to hyperventilate.
“Gia, you got a Valium in your purse? I think our girl here needs one,” I laugh. Gia rolls her eyes, but I get a chuckle from Morgan.
“What does Dex think about all of this?” Bernie asks.
“He says it's up to me. That we can go to the courthouse tomorrow if that’s what I want. And I love him for it, but I want a wedding. I’ve always wanted a real wedding,” she sniffs.
“Then that is what you will have, darling,” I say in my most stuffy, old lady voice. “We can do this. You’ve got a great wedding planner on your side. A great fiancé and a kickass bridal party at your beck and call.”
“Really? It’s not too much to ask of you guys?” she asks, starting to come down from her freak out.
“No way,” Bernie says.
“You let Mindy take care of everything wedding related and let us handle showers and parties and dress shopping. I mean, Bern here,” I point my thumb toward my booth mate, “is a walking Day Planner, she’ll keep us on task and on time.”
“Yup, yup, yup,” Bernie replies.
“See, crisis adverted. Call Mindy right now and confirm that we’re getting married in November,” I tell her.
She laughs, nodding her head as she digs her phone out of her purse.
“Okay, can we order breakfast now? I could eat a cow,” Bernie says, staring down at her menu.
“I need coffee, someone stole my to-go cup right out of my hands this morning.” Gia glares at me.
I shrug, staring down at my own menu. Suddenly, I have this craving for a big plate of eggs, sausage, and bacon. Normally, I go for the cinni-rolls or pancakes, but right now I want meat. And a big glass of orange juice. Lack of sleep and fixing a wedding crisis works up an appetite, it seems.
Chapter Eighteen
Ruby
“What do you think of those bridesmaid dresses Morgan added to the Pinterest board this morning?” I ask Bernie as we leave Skyline Comics. I love that she is now a regular and has even started her own pull folder. I never go alone on my weekly trips to the comic book store anymore.
“I like them all, but I have to say, I really liked the dress with the capped sleeves,” she replies.
“Oh, yes, that’s my favorite one. It’s elegant but simple and even though it’s long, it still feels a little like spring.”
“True, and since the wedding is inside a heated building, we won’t be cold,” she adds.
“Good point.” Ever since the morning five days ago where she had her little freak out at breakfast, Morgan has been handling the new timeline like a champ. We are going dress shopping this weekend, and Mindy, true to her word, is using the venue’s mistake to get better pricing on a shit-ton of services and extras.
“You know, I’ve never been in a wedding before,” Bernie says.
“Really? I was in one a few years ago, my bestie from college got married our senior year to her college sweetheart
. Being in weddings is fun, as long as you don’t have a Bridezilla to deal with,” I tell her.
“Oh, I bet. I watch Say Yes to the Dress all the time, so I can totally get that.” She chuckles. “I’m just glad Aunt Flow will be out of here before we go dress shopping this weekend. I bloat up like a sponge when she’s around and the last thing I want is to try on pretty dresses all bloated,” she muses then blows a bubble. “I swear, I weigh like five extra pounds the week of my period.”
I laugh, because yeah, any kind of dress shopping on your period sucks donkey balls. Good thing I’m not due for mine.
Wait.
I slide my phone out of my pocket and pull open my period calendar. That trip to San Diego really messed with my internal clock because I’m normally better about knowing when my next period is. And dang it, I really don’t want to be bloated this weekend.
As the app loads a big, fat notification pops up telling me I’m three days late.
What good does a “you’re late” message do when you don’t see it until you log in because you just realized you’re late?
Normally, if I were any other girl, I’d start to panic right now, but I’m not and that’s because I’ve been late before. Plus, I’ve only been on this new pill for about three months, so my period has been slightly wonky to get started. No biggie.
I mean, how much would life suck right now if I were pregnant? Considering that over the past month I broke up with one guy and started dating another … ooh …
I let out a strangled laugh and hastily shove my phone back into my pocket.
“What’s funny?” Bernie asks.
“What? Oh, nothing,” I tell her.
Shit.
Double shit.
I’m not panicking.
“Ruby, you look … panicked. What’s wrong?” Bernie asks, stopping on the sidewalk.
“Oh, I’m fine.” I start to cough. “I swallowed a bug.”
I what?
Her eyebrow shoots up and her face turns skeptical.
Under her gaze I cough in truth this time.
Game All Night Page 13