Over the next hour, I got settled into my room. The stupid fucking high feeling still hadn't left, but at least I was able to somewhat enjoy it. After I got done getting my shit situated, I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling for probably 15 minutes. Only reason I didn't pass the fuck out was because my phone vibrated, scaring the hell out of me. I looked at the screen and saw Ruby calling, so I sat up and answered.
"Yeah?" I said, a bit more rude than I meant.
"Yo, you ain't naked or nothin', right? I can come over?" Very strange, but he got points for being respectful and asking before knocking on my door as I'm naked and giving me a heart attack. Not like that's happened before, nope. Not at all.
"Uh, you're... good. You don't have to come over if you don't want, I answered the phone so you know I'm not dead."
"Oh, I see. I thought we was cool, but I guess you don' wanna spend no time wit' me. I get it, nah, I get it."
I stayed silent for a minute. What? "Bro just get over here, damn. Fuck you being dramatic for?"
"Aight, if you insist," he laughed. Why was he being such a smartass? Probably to confuse me or something, since I was still high. But that's mean. What a meanie.
"Whatever, see you in a minute," I said, and hung up. The fact that he wanted to spend time with me even though he knew I was okay did give me that fluttery-heart, tingly hands feeling. So I wasn't that mad at him for being a little bit of a smartass today.
Barely one minute passed and then I heard a knock at my door. Forcing my legs to move, I got up and opened the door for my mullet-wearing friend. He beamed down at me and threw a little bag of Flamin' Hot Limon Doritos at me. My absolute favorite chip of all time, I smiled all crazy and admired the lime green packaging. Definitely still high to be this fuckin' excited over food, I thought, and looked up at Ruby as he closed the door behind him.
"That make up for everything I put ya through this week?" he asked, making himself right at home and collapsing onto my bed. "Also, the guys wanna go out for dinner tonight. Real touristy place, though. You down?"
"Yeah, sure. To both, as long as you take your shoes off before you get the BED ALL DIRTY," I tossed the bag of chips onto the nightstand and moved closer to the bed, nearly jumping on it. Ruby sat up and put his hands up, as if he were about to get shot, and kicked off his Nikes.
"Damn, didn't know you was a lil' mom," he laughed. I shook my head and laid on the bed next to him, in the classic 'french girls' pose.
"You know damn fucking well I am not and never will be no fucking mom," I raised my brows and Ruby scrunched his nose at me, keeping his cute little smile on his face.
We stared at each other for one, two, three... too many seconds lingering in each other's gaze. Maybe it was me, and my seemingly never-ending high taking its dear, sweet time fizzling out of all 93 pounds of me. But maybe, I thought for a second, it was him as well holding my view hostage.
"Did you eat one of those dumbass edibles, too?" I sighed, looking now at his lips. Ruby let out a small chuckle before moving just the tiniest bit closer.
"Couldn't help myself," he replied. Of course he couldn't help himself, the man was probably made of weed at this point. I relaxed my arm, falling onto my back as I lost my elbow's support.
"Not surprised."
"I shoulda hid them things from you if I knew yo' lil' gluttonous ass woulda been left alone in the bus."
My mouth opened wide in offense. "I am not gluttonous. When have you ever seen me eat something and not leave leftovers? Can't do it, my boy, for real."
The bed started shaking as he silently laughed. Jesus, how can you make no sound, yet make so much movement? I tried telling him to calm down, asking what the fuck was so funny he had to laugh so damn hard, but he just kept on with the bullshit until he began full-on cackling.
"So-sorry, PPPFT-HA, sorry, fu-huck, damn. Shit," he babbled as he wiped both of his eyes with one hand. Sexy as hell, damn. "Why do you say 'for real' like that? Fa-rih-yo..." and then he wheezed so bad I thought his face was gonna turn blue.
I turned my head away from him and felt as he, too, flopped onto his back. "Don't start this bruh. For real." Trying to get him to stop making fun of my "accent", I put on a nerdy, nasally voice and pronounced the two words with annoyingly accurate diction. That only made him laugh harder.
Fed up, I flipped over and got up onto my hands and knees, moving closer to him and hitting him in the chest to make him stop laughing at me. See? He thinks I'm stupid and my accent is ugly and I'm pretty much disgusting. I ignored my thoughts and just kept playfully smacking his chest and stomach. Ruby did not falter, though, and laughed through my entire annoyed abuse fest. I figured that if he was high, and I was high, then it'd be okay for me to climb on top of him and shake him to get him to stop fucking laughing. That'd work, that'd be appropriate. So that's exactly what I did.
"Aye, aye, aye, aye," he said in between shakes, then grabbed my arms with his large, calloused hands and gripped hard. "Chill, you'll give me shaken baby syndrome." Still chuckling, he held onto his grip as I tried to break free.
"You can't get shaken baby syndrome when you're ten billion months old," I huffed, using the small amount of force I was able to to try and shake him even more, and shake myself out of his grip before he got a wet spot on his shirt.
A warm yet devious smile formed on his face, and he quickly moved his hands and pulled me down onto him so that we were pressed together. Keeping me in place, he held me by crossing his arms behind my back. This big, sweaty heathen is boutta see how big a mistake he's making in a minute... I didn't even move or make a sound, but my heart sped up and pounded. He definitely could feel it.
"If I'm ten billion months old then you're ten million months old. Let's see if that's low enough to get shaken baby syndrome," he said, trying to keep his laughter under control. Then, before I could even process what he said - or even what he did just seconds prior - he rocked back and forth and made all sorts of violent movements with his entire body.
"AAAAAH, STOP! STOOOOOP, NO, NO, I'LL PUKE ON YOUUUUU!! I WILL, I'LL PUKE ON YOU I SWEAR!" I kicked and squirmed and screamed, trying to get him to stop before I vomit all over. He just laughed and persisted.
"YOU FEELIN' SHAKEN, BABY?" he yelled back, then did his crazy "evil laugh" that he loved to do in songs. Probably enjoyed this too much, honestly.
As the seconds passed, he got slower and slower. Old ass man just don't have the stamina to go on that long, I guess. You really want a one pump chump up in that? I breathed in deeply as he finally slowed to a stop. My eyes were squeezed shut, prepared for the dizziness that might come as I adjusted to the stillness. His breath was labored and made my much smaller body rise and fall with his chest.
Slowly, I forced my eyes to open. Ruby still held me tight, muttering curses under his breath. I moved my head to look up at him, his eyes closed and unaware of my staring. "You tired, old man?"
He smiled, eyes still closed. A pressure knocked at my lower abdomen for a second as I wondered if his expression looked similar when he was cumming. Perverted, but the man was holding me against him, can you blame me? His arms tightened even more for a couple of seconds, presumably as a hug within a sorta-hug. A long ass hug that wasn't really a hug since he was only holding me that way in order to torture me.
"Always. F'reel, naa'meen?" he joked, opening his eyes and looking down at me. Again, we stared at each other for seconds that felt much longer. At this point, the heartbeat between my legs was just as prominent as the one in my chest.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, he feels that shit, I know it. You better stop it now... okay, now! ...Now. My gaze flew to the other direction as I felt his grip loosen and his hands travel to my lower back. Nothing was working to make my horniness go away, but something told me that maybe he wasn't disgusted by it. Or maybe I was high and he was oblivious, moving his arms because they were tired. Well, we were both high, so maybe he did know that I wanted it, and he did too. I wouldn't know what was right until I experienced it.
I looked back up at him and met his gaze once again. There was a difference in his eyes that wasn't there before I had looked away, but I couldn't tell if it was annoyance or lust. Damn my mental retardation. Breathing in deeply, I moved one of my arms and placed a hand on his shoulder. My other hand moved to his shirt collar, fingers fidgeting with the ribbed material. Ruby slowly caressed my lower back, his hand flirting dangerously with the imaginary line that separated my hips and ass. I was honestly ready to jump up and do one of two things; option A being to place my crotch directly onto his and start grinding, and option B being to get the fuck off of him and hide in the bathroom.
Weighing the pros and cons, the consequences and benefits of each option, I became lost in thought and didn't even notice that Ruby had now moved from my lower half to my upper half, one hand on the back of my head and the other between my shoulder blades. I only noticed and became pulled forcefully out of my own mind once he lightly pulled at my hair.
I looked back at him, now gripping his collar in my hand. "What's up?" was all I could think to say. Idiot, fucking idiot!
"You feelin' hot, baby?" he cooed, rubbing the back of my head where he had pulled. My lips parted, but no words would or could come out. All I could muster was a breathy, defeated laugh that didn't come from a place of amusement. "Shhh, it's aight, I gotchu."
I breathed out and let slip a small moan, causing Ruby's breath to become heavier. My breaths were long and shaky from being both turned on and anxious. I wasn't sure if I should go along with it, as much as I did want it. Did I really want my first time with someone I liked this much to only happen because we were both high? Honestly, no, that'd suck. I'd overthink afterwards way too fucking much.
"Um," I started, moving my face a little farther away from his chin. "Let's just chill for a while, yanno? I wanted to work more on those demos I know you guys snooped through."
Ruby pressed his lips together, the dimple on his cheek coming out to say 'hi.' I don't think he looked mad, but again, I couldn't tell what he was thinking from his expression. Finally, he spoke, "Want any help? Or input, if you need."
Relieved, I smiled and nodded, then moved off of him and the bed. His hands lingered slightly as I moved away from him, as if they were following me until they couldn't reach anymore. I felt kind of stupid, but I would have likely felt worse if I went through with it, knowing that neither of us were sober.
I pushed any thoughts I'd been having away and dug in my backpack to get out my laptop, then sat on the bed with the pillows supporting my back. He contentedly laid beside me on the bed as I worked on a few new songs. He was listening to a few of the beats I wanted to use and made suggestions for samples, occasionally making jokes and lightening the awkward vibe we were in. It was kind of funny, him helping me on songs that were about my feelings for him. I hoped he wouldn't put two and two together and figure out what the subject of the songs was.
Over time, he said less and less and I had almost forgotten he was there. I looked over and saw him with his eyes closed and his phone on his chest. I smiled at the sight and looked away, not wanting to seem creepy. Yeah, the edibles definitely got to his ass, too. First making him a horndog, then making him pass out. I couldn't be mad at him, I had just been flipping out and tweaking from them. Hopefully he wouldn't remember too much of the little moment he and I shared by the time he woke up.
My phone vibrated and I picked it up without looking. "Hello?"
"Vivi, where are you?" Max asked.
"Um, I'm in my room. Why?" I didn't want Max walking in and assuming anything about Ruby & I. Not that he would, since the only people that got to experience our almost-sex was us.
"Do you know where Ruby's at? He said he was gonna go over there like 30 minutes ago."
"He's here," I said and looked over at him once more. "I was working on some new shit and he wanted to help out."
"Ohhh, okay. He told you where we were thinking about, right?"
"Yeah, more or less. I told him I'd go."
"Okay, well, we're leaving in a few hours. We'll stop by to get you guys once we leave."
"Sounds good." I hung up and threw my phone in front of me. I looked at Ruby again, hoping I hadn't woken him.
I focused again on my work after seeing Ruby hadn't moved. Before I knew it, an hour had gone by and I had three songs that were almost done. Of course, they wouldn't be that great without a real studio mix, but a lot of progress had been made. I was confident that after the tour ended, I'd be able to almost instantly release an EP or something small. Content was content, and I was excited for these to be completed.
I was watching a weird youtube video, looking for something that could be good to sample. Soon, though, I regretted turning the volume all the way up when the video suddenly decided to send a screeching, high pitched noise through the speakers. I instantly muted my laptop and held a hand to my ear. I felt Ruby jolt awake and looked over at him.
"I'm so sorry, holy shit," I said. He had a surprised look on his face for a split second, but started laughing once he realized what happened.
"Yo, what was that?" he asked.
"I don't know, the video was really quiet so I turned the volume up," I closed my laptop and put it in my backpack on the side of the bed. "Sorry for waking you."
He shook his head. "I shouldn'ta fuckin' fell asleep on you knowing your dumb ass would break your speakers." I laughed at him and playfully hit him on the arm.
"Max called me looking for you."
He stretched obnoxiously before answering. "You told him to fuck off, right?"
"No," I said, getting up from the bed. "I told him I killed you."
"Good job."
In an attempt to be away from him, I walked over to the loveseat to turn on the TV. I felt awkward still, but I didn't know what was going on in his mind. "Are you staying in here or are you going back to the Land of Testosterone?"
Ruby laughed and joined me on the loveseat. Great. "I ain't leaving you alone, we might forget you."
"I'm just that forgettable, huh?"
"No!" he said, caught off guard by my comment. "You've seen it, though. We do some ridiculous shit and get caught up."
"You're right, but still. Ow," I said, moving slightly away from him. He seemed to be normal, as if earlier events never happened. Good, as long as things stayed that way, I'd be fine.
After a couple episodes of some 90's sitcom Ruby loved (him paying more attention to it than me since I wanted to get ready), Max showed up at my door knocking like a lunatic. Everything, for the most part, remained tranquil and light. And as we rode in the rental car to the restaurant, I didn't feel the need to shift away from him while we sat together. We pulled up and I wiped my hands on my knees, my palms sweaty from seeing the size of the building. Touristy, just like Ruby said. The amount of people that would be inside... it made me nervous. I was sure that there would be eyes on us, especially the guys.
We were seated quickly, surprisingly. Not sure if someone tried using their instagram following to their advantage or not, but I was happy to not be sitting in the freezing waiting area regardless. Ruby actually sat across from me, still acting normal and joking around. I tried to focus on him and all the other guys talking, as I was right about the amount of people in the restaurant. As I tried to order by the time the server came, I was stumbling over my words and my ears started getting hot. I hated how nervous I got, especially now that I had been playing shows with tons of people. I should have been used to it by now, but of course my severely mentally ill brain refused to make the transition.
"Right, so it's pretty much a condom with an artificial dick tip. Like heels but for dicks," Kev enthused, yanking me out of my thoughts.
"What?" I looked over at him, leaning forward.
He fished a sharpie out of his jacket pocket and flipped over his drink's cardboard coaster. "Here, it looked exactly like this," he said, concentrating on drawing the dick heel or whatever. "Tell me that this is not the future."
I reached over and took the coaster. Kevin's crude little drawing-slash-diagram made me wonder what Coco had to deal with in the bedroom. "Very promising. I'm sure all the one-inch wonders would appreciate this."
"Vivi, hol' up," Germ said, taking the doodle from me. "You sayin' that if some mufucka wit' a baby dick pulled that shit out, you'd let 'im hit?"
"BRO, I never said that. But if you have a baby dick, you might as well pull out the fuckin' strap. The dick-heels would slip right off."
"Like a dyke? You was wit' a girl for a lil' bit, did either o' y'all pull out da strap?"
Wow. "Oh my god. I'm gonna go to the bathroom, hopefully you'll all stop being 12-year-olds by the time I'm back," I sighed, getting up and quickly walking to the restrooms. Usually, I'd ask one of the guys where the bathroom was, but I wanted to feel more independent and less like a small child.
After I was done and exited the small stall, I got extremely nervous as there was another person washing their hands at the sinks. Normal thing to do in a public bathroom, so I beat myself up for being so sensitive. I tried to be quicker than normal washing my hands, despite my OCD, I just wanted to get back to the table. As I dried my hands with a paper towel, a girl came into the bathroom and stopped dead in her tracks, holding the door slightly open. She stayed like that for a couple of seconds, causing me to glance at her. She then snapped out of it and entered the bathroom fully, giving me an excited smile.
"Oh shit, Vivian, I'm such a big fan!" She said quietly, walking towards me at the trash can. Fuck. fuck, fuck, fuck, I can't blow off a fan but what the hell? I rarely ever get noticed in public. Shit. I smiled back awkwardly, trying my best to hide my shakiness.
"Heyy, it's nice to meet you," I managed to say, causing the girl's excitement to grow.
"We're in a public bathroom, so I won't ask for a pic, but I just wanted to say I love your music and your art and everything. I can't wait to see you at the concert tomorrow!" She beamed. Although it was nerve-wracking to talk to a fan, it felt pretty good. Her giddiness was so cute.
"Thank you so much - um, sorry, what's your name?"
"Mandy!"
"Well, thank you so much for your support, Mandy. See you at the show," I smiled, giving her a fist-bump and going our separate ways. Even though it was nice to meet someone who supports what you do, especially when a lot of people in your life don't, it was still difficult for me. Again, I wondered if fame was really the right thing for me, or if I should just listen to my family and quit to work a shitty retail job for the rest of my life.
As I walked back to the table, I found myself imagining what my life would look like if I did quit music. Or if I would even be able to, since I had serious doubts that the special ed class I was touring with would let me quit. I know Max would shake me and scream in my face that I'm making the biggest mistake of my life or some shit. Well, at least I had a village.
We continued to joke around and talk about various inappropriate topics, very occasionally getting real and being serious. Not too serious, but as serious as we could get at the moment. I soon forgot about the earlier interaction and the tons of people that surrounded us in the restaurant faded away. Ruby shot me glances every now and then, but I didn't think much of it. He looks at everyone, he's not blind.
The guys successfully distracted me from thinking about anything that could potentially make me anxious, and for that I loved them. Until, of course, Kevin asked me what age women usually start waxing their buttholes. That, obviously, caused Scott to make some quips about anal bleaching, and they then embarked on an energetic discussion about which process is done first.
Once we were done, me needing a container for my leftovers as usual (why do so many restaurants pride themselves on their huge portion sizes?), we made it out of the building with no one else being noticed. I didn't even tell anyone about getting recognized, I knew they'd start lecturing me about how I "gotta get used to it sooner or later" or else I'll be "throwing up after every concert." And they were right, to an extent, but it was just so hard to do when all my life I'd been hiding from people in a way. Judgement and bullying, and also there likely being a developmental disorder somewhere in the mix, made me this way. It's hard to rewire your brain.
When we got back to the hotel, I hung out with Kev and Max. Kev really wanted a rematch, so I agreed. He lost again, what else is new, and sulked with his arms crossed and bottom lip turned out like a toddler. All while Max and I made up some stupid joint victory dance, even though Max didn't play. I just would feel stupid doing a victory dance on my own. Then, after the gloating and melodrama, we decided to head into our own rooms for the rest of the night. Tomorrow's show wasn't anything special or different, but we would have another sizable after party in one of the hotel lounge-room things. I'd been in a small one before with my old group of friends, but the one we'd have the party in was like a supersized version.
I tried getting some more things done once I was settled in my room, but the progress I'd made was marginal. Finally, I had time to become lost in thought, in a fantasy world where Ruby and I weren't high and actually went through with having sex. Unless that's not what was about to happen? There came the doubts... What if I was just horny and projecting? What if he was just high and saying nonsense? You don't know if he was hard, you didn't feel anything. So he's old, hairy, greasy, sweaty, AND has a small dick. I loved my brain sometimes, it made me successful, but fuck did it know how to flip and do circus tricks.
One thing was for sure; Ruby didn't mention anything about anything that happened before his little nap on my bed, so I should figure that we're fine. That he forgot all about it, that it was no big deal. If it never happened, then I shouldn't waste time overthinking anything. My mind still wandered as I hung out by myself and eventually went to bed. Hopefully, Ruby wouldn't mention anything tomorrow either.
---
While the concert was fun and everything, I couldn't help but feel weird that all those people in the audience were people who could judge and rip me apart in their minds. Some loved me, like the girl from the toilets, but I knew that at least one person in that crowd thought I was stupid or ugly or talentless. It was like my normal anxiety was turned up a notch, since I now was thinking more about how every single person in the crowd was an individual with thoughts and a real life and opinions. Not like it wasn't obvious, but it just seemed so frightening to think about when you think about shit for way too long.
Ruby didn't say anything about yesterday, we just proceeded as normal with our normal relationship... er, friendship. Maybe he thought he was having a wet dream, since he did act a teeny bit awkward around me. Looking at me for longer than normal, touching me more often; all the classic signs of flirting and attraction that you'd read in a "does he like me back?" quiz from middle school. Again, no need to think shit over, I'd already established that everything was normal again, and would stay that way.
"Yo, Veevz, you ready to go back to the hotel?" Max yelled, running up to me as I tied my shoe. The boys had just finished performing not even five minutes prior, why the rush?
"You guys usually stay like ten minutes after the last song ends," I argued. Not saying I didn't want to go to the party, but I did need a little more time to mentally prepare myself.
"Yeah, but no one can get into the lounge until we're in there. Also, you should be more eager to get there, so you can hang around CB and ward off random hoes," he joked, punching me lightly in the arm.
"If he wants a hoe, he can have a hoe. It'd be weird and suspicious if I stay by him all night. He's an adult, yo."
"Well, whatever. Just figured you'd be more protective over him after what happened with HB."
"HB?"
"Hoebag! Whatever, anyway, the guys all wanna get to the hotel now, so get in the car."
I pushed my chin up, giving Max a dramatic frown. "Okay, damn."
We bullshitted all the way to the hotel, then got the room ready and welcomed some people inside. I actually ended up wandering over to Ruby, but it wasn't for the reason Max insisted earlier. He was just being a wallflower near the drink table, just like I usually was.
"'Sup, Vivi," he said, sort of flatly.
"Tryna get lit, at least a little," I replied, taking a cup and making my usual. "Why you acting like me?"
He laughed dryly, then shrugged. "Guess I'm a lil' burnt out from all the people."
"I can leave you alone if you want, but it is fun to have someone else to be antisocial with," I felt kind of bad, I was lowkey trying to make him chill with me for the entire party. It wasn't in vain, though, as his expression warmed and he nodded, taking a sip of his own drink.
"Aight, let's go over to one o' them big chairs. Only people goin' to that area are the introverts and absolutely blacked-out motherfuckers," he pointed with his cup. I silently agreed and he led me over to a small corner of the room with a loveseat and two soft chairs.
Once we got comfortable, I watched the room fill a little more with people until Ruby's voice made me snap out of my people-watching trance.
"You had a nice performance tonight, but ya seemed more scared than usual. Everything okay?"
I raised my eyebrows and turned my head to look at him. "Uh, kinda. I got recognized last night, at dinner. This chick came into the bathroom and was all like 'omg hi, I'm a big fan I'll see you tomorrow!' and I was so awkward."
"You ain't tell us that, figured you woulda. I been gettin' noticed in public for a while, it's not every day but it's enough to where I'm used to it."
"Well I was just embarrassed that I was all awkward. And then it made me spin out because she likes me but there's probably other people in the crowd that don't like me," I rambled, turning my head away from him again.
"Veevs, you can't give a fuck 'bout who might hate you. You think I aint have haters? We all do, but it don't matter. Trust me, baby, your life'll be a lot easier once you stop caring what people think."
"I guess. It's just so hard."
"Seems hard at first, but then it's like, 'fuck, why haven't I been doin' this already?'"
My eyes focused on my drink and I stayed silent. I didn't know what to say or even really think, I didn't think I was capable of 'not giving a fuck', even though so many people told me I needed to have that mentality.
"Aight, I ain't gon' make you spin out even more, I'm jus' tryna help... Soooo, you tryna actually make this move happen?"
My head snapped in his direction, my false-eyebrows close together in confusion. Hoping he wasn't talking about yesterday's thing, I asked, "what are you talking about?"
"Remember, on our lil' walk, I told you to move down to NOLA? I was dead serious, I think you'd love it, but I ain't tryna force you if you wanna stay in New York. Just figured I could help you look for a place if you do wanna do it."
Oh. Thank fuck he wasn't talking about what my dirty mind assumed, but also I was kind of taken aback by what he was talking about. I had kind of forgot about our walk before the music video shoot, but once he mentioned it I remembered. No way did I want to stay in New York, as much as I love it, I hated the brutal winters and shitty people I grew up with. If he was actually gonna help me move and everything, why not go somewhere else? At least for a while, and I could always wait out the lease or whatever and move back if I really hated it.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. I mean, I'm sure I'd like it, but I've only been there like twice. Or thrice."
"Thrice?"
"You know it's a word, haven't you used it in a song before?"
"I don't even remember, honestly. Jus' weird, like you never hear none o' that in real life," he chuckled, looking me in the eyes in another odd way.
"Well, sorry for bein' eloquent," I said. Ruby smiled at me, making me feel tingles in my hands.
"Stop avoiding the question. It's okay if you don't want to."
"Nah, yanno what? I think I should."
Ruby went to answer, but was cut off by his manager, Kyle. "There you are, damn. I've been trying to find you. Listen, that chick Julie's here and she says she wants to talk to you."
Are you fucking kidding me? Ruby's demeanor changed instantly at the mention of Hoebag. He didn't seem super mad, no, it was something mixed with annoyance. I couldn't figure out what it was, but it was a lot different than just a moment ago. "I do not wanna fuckin' talk to her. I'm goin' to my room. C'mon, Vivi," he said, blunt with a slight uneasiness. Then he gently grabbed my upper arm and lifted me up, making me almost fall over.
"Is she in the room?" I asked, to which Kyle shook his head.
"She's right outside of it. I'll tell her y'all aren't here, but you should go out the back, near the drinks."
"Aight, thanks, man," Ruby said, then led me swiftly over to the exit. It went straight outside to the back of the building, which made getting to our floor take longer than it should've.
Once we got there, though, I stopped Ruby from going back to his room. Was it a ploy to hopefully recreate and - this time - finish yesterday's 'almost'? Kind of, but it was honestly mostly a, "bro, that crazy hoe's gonna come right to your door if she finds out which room you're in."
"Damn," he realized I was right and put the keycard back into his pocket. "Your room then? She's not gonna fuckin' bother you, I know it."
At that point, I was already walking to my room, which was just around the corner and down a little bit. Keycard already in my hand, I led him to my door and unlocked it. "Plus, how will she even know my room number?"
"Exactly," he agreed, walking into the room and heading straight for the bed. Oh how I wished it was because he wanted me. Locking the door behind me, I took off my sneakers. Ruby, again, had to be reminded to have the courtesy. There was a bit of tension in the air, and I automatically knew that he didn't forget about what happened. Or, almost happened.
"Wanna watch TV or something? Not much else to do until we can be sure she's gone," I suggested, walking over to the section of the room where the TV was and trying to clear the tension a bit. I can think of something else, but I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut on that one.
"But the TV ain't in front of the bed," he whined, spreading into a starfish-like position on my bed.
I sighed dramatically, letting him know how annoying he was being, and walked back towards the bed. I leaned on it and gave him a little lecture. "This is my bed, yanno. If you fall asleep on me again, I'mma scream in your ear."
"Hey, I'm open to sharin'. Jus' don't kick me or nothin', cuz I kick bitches out for kickin' me."
"It's my room! How are you gonna kick me out of my own room?"
"Pick yo' skinny ass up and throw you out, that's how. Whatchu weigh, like 90 pounds?"
"Ninety-three, and that's a terrible question to ask a young woman. Do you ask Godzilla that question?"
"If you've been referring to Julie as Godzilla this time, then nah. But if you mean the gargantuan woman you assume I'm married to, then... also nah."
"You'd be a terrible husband, even to Godzilla," I joked, my heart pounding in my chest as I climbed onto the bed and sat on what little space was left.
Ruby put on a fake look of offense. "I'd be a great husband. I gotchu your dumb lil' chips you love yesterday. I played with Bill to make you laugh. Don't be a meanie."
"Seriously? You think I don't have higher standards than that?"
"Don't deny it, you know I'd treat you right."
I almost came from that sentence alone, not even mentioning the tone in which he said it. It took everything I had in me to keep from squealing like a little girl. "Please, I feel like you'd be so corny. Like, getting ice cream on the beach to watch the sunset and sharing chicken nuggets and a milkshake." Did I secretly want that to happen? Yeah, fuck yeah. Hopefully it's happening to me in an alternate universe or something.
"It ain't corny, baby, it's classic," he said, annunciating the word 'classic' all obnoxious. I wanted to punch him. And fuck him. Both sounded nice, honestly.
"Oh god, you're so old. Don't you know that nowadays it's all about social media? Making couples videos together, prank videos? Get with the times, Boomer."
Ruby laughed, then started coughing, which caused him to move to make more room for me on the bed. He then told me he'd never seen any couples prank videos before, triggering a whole rant from me about them and how addicting they are even though I hate them.
Somewhere in the middle of my rant (by then I had gotten to the subject of couple youtubers who make their entire channel based off of the fact that they're in an interracial relationship), I heard a frantic knock at my door. Creeped out, I ignored it and went on with what I was saying, a bit quieter this time.
Then, a shrill, "Vivi, I know you're in there, I can hear your voice!" came from the opposite side of the door. It was Julie, for some reason. Ruby hadn't had much of a chance to talk during my whole spiel, so I was sure she didn't know he was in here.
Ruby's eyes went wide, and he immediately sprung up from the bed. I whispered to him, "take your shoes!" and he sprinted to the bathroom with a heavy huff. He seemed pretty pissed that his plan failed, and that she was even at the hotel in the first place.
"OPEN THE DOOR!" she whined, slapping the door as if I owed her money. As much as I didn't want to open the door, I also didn't want a noise complaint against me from people who didn't know the situation.
Begrudgingly, I moved to the door and cracked it open, not unlocking the chain. "Damn, bitch, how much money did you spend to get here?"
Hoebag looked distraught, but I knew it was all a performance. Maybe some of it was genuine, but I could tell when it was more theatrics than real emotion. "Open the door all the way. Someone said Ruby left with you, and he wasn't answering his door."
I rolled my eyes, then closed the door to unlock the chain. "You're not coming in here, but I'm tellin' you now, he's not here. Look."
She eyed the room for upwards of five seconds, her botched filler-lips parting a bit. How can you fuck up filler when you're trying to be 'subtle'? Her eyes finally landed on me again and she sucked her teeth. "You know where he went? I need to talk to him."
"No. Probably to his room. I don't think he wants to talk to you though. How the fuck did you even find his room number? You really need to get a grip." I said bluntly. Her face fell and turned red as she started crying fake hoe tears.
"You don't get it, Vivi, he ghosted me! Blocked me on everything after that night," her voice strategically breaking, she 'sobbed' and put a finger to her eye. "I just wanna talk to him, I don't get why he would do that after-"
"One question, if I may?" I cut her off, not wanting to listen to her bullshit anymore. She nodded and sniffled, and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes again. "Who's the baby now, bitch?"
SLAM!
Before she could even respond, the door was shut and locked. Hoebag tried to jiggle the handle, but quickly gave up as the realization probably hit that I was gonna call security on her ass. I was satisfied with my little revenge, though, even if it was immature. After a minute or two, Ruby still hadn't come out of the bathroom.
"You okay in there?" I called outside the door. Something hit something else, possibly his hand slapping the sink? It didn't really matter, as the door was unlocking within seconds of the mystery noise.
His face was kind of red, and he still seemed frustrated. I could understand why, I wouldn't want some cunt I ghosted to stalk me and my friends. "Can I stay in here tonight?"
My mind immediately filled with dirty scenarios, but I pushed those thoughts away as he was obviously having a hard time. Having someone stalk you and bother the other people in your life was probably a shitty feeling. "Yeah, man, of course."
For the rest of the night until one of us felt tired enough to turn it off, we watched Netflix on my tablet. It was a sort of compromise since I wanted to watch the actual TV but he still insisted on staying in bed. It was pretty intimate the way we were cuddling under the covers, but it was no different than the way we were cuddling on the couch in the bus. This time we were just laying down with a blanket over us, no big deal. But it kind of was a big deal, to me and my horny-and-in-love ass.
I swear, though, that the gentle caresses and reciprocated desire came back the second the lamp and tablet were turned off. In the pitch black room, we couldn't see the other's face, which made it easier to press more sensually onto each other. Again, I ached and breathed shakily and could hear his pounding heart. This time, I could distinctly feel the stiffness in his pants with my bare leg. However, if the Christian God was real and this was a test of temptation, then He would be proud. Neither me nor Ruby believed in it, but we still practiced abstinence that night.