She wasn’t a moron; she understood thatthisJuliet wasn’t the real Juliet. She got that – for whatever reason – Juliet was playing a part. She knew very well that Juliet was a lesbian and that Robbie was gay and that their physical affection here meant nothing behind the scenes.
But now, mixing with that anxiety that was ringing through her entire body, she was hurt. In that bone-deep, gnawing kind of way that she knew she’d be feeling all night.
Darcy reachedup and rubbed her temples firmly as she used her key card to unlock her hotel room door.
The album had officially launched. The party downstairs had dwindled, splitting from the very suitable party by the label intomultiple after-parties. Several of which were going to be right here in this hotel.
As soon as she slipped into her room, she felt herself being pressed back against the door. Even before she could switch on the lights, she felt Juliet’s lips on hers.
Her kiss was warm and wanting, her hands sliding down to grip at Darcy’s hips. She both heard and felt Juliet’s long, low hum into her mouth, and it vibrated throughout Darcy’s entire body.
Her first reaction, her initial instinct, was to give herself over to it. It was so easy to do that with Juliet. It was what theydid.
Or… it was what they had done?
It wasn’t like there was a single moment Darcy could pinpoint, not like there was a hookup that came to her mind where things had dramatically shifted. Because it hadn’t, not necessarily.
Even when they’d first had sex, they’d been aligned. They might not have been emotionally close, but they were totally in agreement with what they’d been doing. What they’d been seeking in one another.
Right now, Juliet’s tongue toyed with hers and the sensation made her shudder, and the feeling of Juliet’s fingers sliding back to grip at her ass had Darcy’s hips rocking against her.
She could try to give herself over to that, to the purely physical response Juliet could elicit from her.
But for the first time since they’d started doing this, she didn’t want to. For the first time, she felt somisaligned with Juliet, it made her ache.
Darcy shook her head, breaking from their kiss, as she brought her own hands up and firmly pressed against Juliet’s waist –where Robbie had been touching all night, atDarcy’salbum release party, the supremely unhelpful, weird littlegoblin voice she’d never really heard before in the back of her mind supplied – and pushed her back a step.
Needing to get a physical separation, needing to be able to take a breath without inhaling Juliet’s scent.
She steeled herself against the wanting, disapproving whine that Juliet let out, because those sounds – where Juliet was so expressive about needing Darcy – were one of her weaknesses.
“What was that about?” She asked, getting right into it. Better to rip off the Band-Aid.
She blindly reached out and flicked at the lights, squinting when they turned on at full brightness.
Juliet blinked her eyes open as well, her lips a little kiss-swollen already, moving into a frown. “What waswhatabout?”
Darcy’s mouth fell open, offense cutting right through the desire Juliet had been able to so easily work up. “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe whatever the hell happened downstairs earlier?”
In an instant, Juliet’s eyes flashed in understanding, and she pursed her lips. “You came up to me in public, while I was here with Robbie,” Juliet settled on, even though it seemed for a moment like there was something else she wanted to say. “What did you want from me? I was being – I was perfectly polite to you.”
Unable to stay there, still against the door, Darcy surged up, pushing past Juliet and walking farther into her room as she pointed out, “It’s not like I walked up and kissed you; I was saying hi. Makingbasicconversation. And what I’d expected was for you to treat me like a real person. Not a person you’re having sex with all of the time, but a person you at leastknow. Everyone here knows that we’re friendly, Juliet,” she pointed out, baffled.
Not only given “Porchlight” and the big push from both of their PR teams, but Darcy had been very publicly seen at her tour!
She felt that sharp sting inside her chest coming right back to life when she pictured the way Juliet had looked at her. Like she was a fucking stranger. Like, even at her own party, she wasn’t worth Juliet’s time.
She’d put in so much work over the last several years, trying to build herself up. Trying to work beyond her past. To work through feeling like a failure who wasn’t worth anyone’s time in school. Working to get past her mom leaving. But… it stung so much worse than she could have imagined, feeling like she wasn’t even worthJuliet’sattention, tonight, at her own album release party.
Juliet’s jaw was clenched so tightly, Darcy could see the muscle jumping. “There were a lot of people here tonight, Darcy. People who need to believe a certain image when it comes to us.”
What did that evenmean?
“Again, it’s not like I was coming onto you,” she shot back, tossing her hands up into the air as if it could help her expel her agitated confusion. “The only thing almost anyone in the room could see was us having a normal conversation. Which I did with almost everyone else there tonight. How could someone get the wrong impression of us when you were glued to Robbie’s side all night? What, are you going to tell me thathedoesn’t know about us?”
Becauseshe knewhe did! She knew Juliet and Robbie had an agreement of transparency between them when they slept with people, so neither of them could ever be blindsided.
“It’s not about Robbie,” Juliet gritted back between obviously clenched teeth.
