“I love the bubbles and the citrus, but I feel like if you gave it a little something extra, it might really sparkle.”
“Hmm,” Josie said, pressing a finger against her lips. “I might know just the thing. Another round?”
“Sure,” Sophie said as Jules nodded eagerly.
“Coming right up.” Josie took their empty glasses and headed back to the bar, pink-tipped hair bouncing over her shoulders.
Jules tucked a lock of hair behind her ears. “My sexuality feels a lot more real to me now, after today.”
“In a good way?” Sophie asked.
Jules nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “I think so.”
“Good.”
“Were your parents supportive?” Jules asked.
“Yeah. They’ve been great. My whole family has been super supportive.”
“I’m glad,” Jules said.
“How do you think yours would react?”
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” Jules’s smile wilted slightly. “I want to say my mom would be cool about it. She’s always been my biggest supporter and my best friend, and she’s a lot more progressive than, say…my grandma. But we’re Cuban, and my whole family is super Catholic, and the reality is, they mightnotbe cool about it.”
“I’m sorry,” Sophie told her. She’d been so envious of Jules when they first met, thinking she had this perfect, charmed life, but really, who did?
Josie arrived with their new drinks, and she and Jules sipped in silence for a few minutes.
“I don’t know what she added, but this one is the winner,” Sophie said thoughtfully. There was something vaguely spicy about the drink now, a hint of extra flavor that really made it pop.
“Yep,” Jules agreed.
“I hope your family pleasantly surprises you,” Sophie said.
Jules blanched, shaking her head. “I’m nowhere near ready to think about telling them yet.”
And that was the dash of reality Sophie needed to keep her hormones in check. “Hungry?” she asked instead.
“Starving, actually,” Jules said. “This alcohol is going straight to my head.”
“Want to finish these and go find something to eat?”
“Josie has menus at the bar,” Jules told her. “We could order takeout and eat it here.”
“Really? Yes, let’s do that.”
So, they perused the menus at the bar and placed an order from a Thai restaurant down the street. They gave Josie their thumbs-up on the new drink and returned to their table. Two hours—and a third round of drinks—later, they stepped outside into the chilly November night. Sophie was feeling pretty tipsy, and based on the relaxed grin on Jules’s face, so was she.
They chatted comfortably as they walked, talking mostly about rehearsals, until they reached the corner where they would part ways. Jules hesitated for a moment, tongue darting out to wet her lips, and all Sophie could think about was kissing her again, a real kiss not in any way inspired by their roles in the show.
She cleared her throat. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
Jules nodded, touching Sophie’s coat-clad arm before she turned to cross the street. “Bye, Sophie. And thanks again for everything today.”
7
Pleasure.Jules was swamped in it. Sophie’s soft lips met hers as their bodies moved together, skin sliding over skin. Delicate fingers trailed down her stomach and dipped between her legs, lighting her on fire. Jules whimpered, lost in Sophie’s brown eyes and the hot press of their bodies, rocking, arching, climbing. Harder. Faster. She was so close,soclose…
