Page 16 of Loving Her

“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 overcomfortably 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 baldstranger,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 clothesor something like that,” Sasha whispered back. “I like her, but I feel like that would be hilarious.”

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