by Cara Malone
She watched Mira dancing not far away, moving in a more sensual way than anyone would expect of a girl who showed up at a bar wearing her hair in a bun. The alcohol must have been doing its job, because Ruby didn’t think she’d ever seen Mira express even the slightest interest in dating before. She had been far too busy with her schoolwork, but now that it wasn’t a problem anymore, she was cutting loose. She attracted the attention of a pretty blonde who danced around her, and after a few beats got up the nerve to put her hands on Mira’s hips.
Ruby did the same to Max, putting her free hand on Max’s hip and moving her along with the music. She was wearing a crisp button-up shirt, having dressed formally for the commencement ceremony, and Ruby reached up to pop open the top couple of buttons, letting her finger slide down the front of Max’s shirt and hook her, pulling her closer. All around them, people were grabbing their girlfriends and boyfriends, grinding against each other and feeling the music. The crowd became one ocean of rhythm and it was beautiful. Ruby could have stayed there all night, dancing with Max and soaking up the energy from everyone around them.
Then Max leaned in and asked, “Didn’t you tell her you have a girlfriend?”
“What?” Ruby yelled over the music, confused.
“The girl at the bar,” Max shouted back. “She bought you drinks. She probably wouldn’t have done that if she knew you had a girlfriend.”
“I didn’t let her pay for them,” Ruby argued. “And I did tell her. Just not until after she helped me out.”
Max went silent for a little while, barely dancing as one song ended and a faster one began. Ruby broke away from Max a little bit to dance to the new beat, and Max said, “I want to go home now.”
“What? Why?” Ruby asked, disappointed. “We just got here.”
“You said we only had to dance for one song,” Max said. “I did what you asked and I really hate it here. Please.”
Ruby sighed, trying not to look too disappointed, then she reached over and tapped Mira’s shoulder. She was dancing with the blonde and looking like she was having a good time, so at least she had company for a little while.
Ruby shouted to tell her they were leaving, adding an apology that wasn’t really necessary – after five years as Max’s best friend, Mira understood. Then Ruby stuffed a twenty-dollar bill into Mira’s hand and yelled, “Next round for the two of you is on us, assuming you have better luck at the bar than I did. Congratulations, Mira!”
Max shouted the same, the music drowning out her words, and then she grabbed Ruby’s hand and pulled her off the dance floor, making a beeline for the door. Just before they reached the bouncer, Ruby realized she still had half a whiskey sour in her hand, and rather than waste a perfectly good, hard-won drink, she tossed it back and then let Max lead her out of the building.
***
Founders Hall was nearly silent by the time Ruby and Max got back – the dorms were closing the following afternoon and most of the graduate students had already moved out. It was eerie walking down the quiet halls, especially considering the fact that when the building was at full occupancy, there was never a time when it was truly silent.
They went upstairs to Ruby’s apartment on the second floor because Max’s parents had already come the day before to pack up all her things – everything except the bag she packed for their trip to Chicago in the morning. That was sitting in the corner of Ruby’s living room, right next to her own travel bag. The dorm felt barren now, the majority of Ruby’s own belongings already waiting in her car.
“You ready for tomorrow?” Ruby asked as she closed the door on the silent hallway.
They’d spent most of the walk home in silence, Max working on recovering from the noise of the club and Ruby feeling the effects of the whiskey warming her veins. She hoped that Max wasn’t still thinking about the girl at the bar because Ruby’s eyelids were growing heavy and she’d much rather collapse into bed than spend the next hour trying to convince Max that the exchange meant nothing to either party involved.
“Yes,” Max said. “I’ve been packed since yesterday.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Ruby said. She stumbled a little as she took off her shoes, putting her hand on the wall to steady herself. There wasn’t a lot of alcohol in that whiskey sour, but she was out of practice and pounding it on the way out the door probably wasn’t the best idea. What had begun as a warm sensation on their walk home had now transitioned into a pleasant state of tipsiness that she wanted to preserve.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Max said. “I feel sticky from that bar.”
She went into the bathroom, leaving the door open as she turned on the water and started to undress. Ruby plopped down on the couch where there was a clear view into the bathroom, and watched her. She had wanted to rip Max’s clothes right off her as soon as she put them on this morning. She looked even sexier now, after she’d allowed Ruby to loosen a few of her buttons and her hair wasn’t so neatly slicked back.
As the clothes slowly came off, Ruby was locked in a struggle to decide which urge was more pressing – the one that wanted her to collapse into bed, or the one that wanted her to join Max in the shower.
“I wish we could have stayed a little longer,” Ruby said, the alcohol loosening her tongue. “We should have danced with Mira more since we won’t be seeing her for a while.”
Max was pulling her undershirt a little clumsily over her head and kicking her shoes off at the same time. She was shorter than Ruby by at least six inches and the shape of her body was more athletic than curvy, the muscles of her stomach contracting and becoming more noticeable when she twisted in a certain way, like when she leaned over the edge of the tub to check the water temperature. Ruby bit her lip and felt a stirring in her core.
“It was too crowded,” Max mumbled, and Ruby couldn’t hold that against her. She knew from the moment they set foot in The Rainbow Room that it was everything Max hated about public spaces all rolled into one, and Ruby wouldn’t have pressed Max to stay if Mira hadn’t wanted to dance.
Ruby wished that Max could just take one for the team every now and then. They spent most nights doing exactly what Max wanted to do and what made her comfortable, and most of the time Ruby was more than okay with giving up her former life as a social butterfly in order to hole up in the dorm with Max. Tonight, though, maybe it was the alcohol but she couldn’t help wondering if some of Max’s moodiness had to do with the girl at the bar. They had a rough start at the beginning of their relationship, before either one of them had admitted that they had feelings for each other, but ever since Max asked Ruby out, she had never given her a reason to be jealous. Suddenly, Ruby needed to prove it to her.
Max got into the shower and Ruby stood up, stepping out of her dress and letting it fall to the floor as she went into the bathroom and got in the shower after her. She slid her hands over Max’s hips and asked, “Did you think I wanted to fuck her?”
“What?” Max asked, and for once it was her turn to be shocked by the abruptness of a question.
“The girl at the bar,” Ruby said, and then she bent down and kissed Max’s shoulder.
She kissed her breastbone, and then each of her breasts, enjoying the way the water felt between her lips and Max’s skin.
“I don’t want anyone but you, babe,” she murmured, slowly taking one nipple in her mouth, and then the other. Then she straightened and kissed a line up Max’s neck until her mouth was close to Max’s ear and she whispered, “You looked so hot today, I must have missed about ninety percent of the commencement ceremony because all I could think about was getting to this moment.”
Max let out an aroused sigh, clenching her teeth and squeezing Ruby’s hips in her hands. Ruby pressed her against the cool tile wall just behind the shower head. She slid her hand between Max’s legs, parting her thighs as she nibbled the end of Max’s earlobe and slipped a finger inside of her.
She was so ready for her - Ruby could already feel Max throbbing agai
nst her fingers. Ruby pressed the length of her body against Max and ran her tongue up the side of her neck, water from the showerhead trickling into her mouth as she lapped it off Max’s skin.
She slipped another finger inside her, enjoying the way the water added a new sensory element to something that was already quite familiar to her. With every thrust, her palm made a slapping sound against Max’s pubic bone and Ruby moved her hips in her own aching rhythm, the music from the club still playing in the back of her mind. Just as Max came, throwing her arms around Ruby’s shoulders and clinging to her, Ruby closed her mouth around Max’s shoulder, her teeth sinking lightly into the flesh in a moment of pure desire.
She topped the site of her love bite with a kiss and gave Max a playful swat on the ass, saying, “Take your shower before you run out of hot water.”
Then Ruby stepped out and grabbed a towel, drying off before going into the bedroom and collapsing naked into the bed. She was asleep almost instantly, but she woke up as Max crawled into bed next to her a few minutes later, throwing her arms around Ruby. They kissed goodnight and as Ruby drifted back to sleep, she wondered if there would ever come a time when Max would have fun on a dance floor and enjoy the music flowing through her body like Ruby did.
CHAPTER 4
Max and Ruby arrived in Chicago late in the afternoon on the following day. The car ride had been long and tedious, large portions of it taking place in farm country where there was nothing to see but soybean fields all the way to the horizon. Ruby used that time to coach Max on what she’d find in Chicago.
“My parents are kind of conservative,” Ruby told her around the Ohio-Indiana border. “They pray before meals, for instance. Did your family say grace growing up?”
“No,” Max said with a little chuckle, dismissing the idea. After strict Catholic upbringings, both of her parents had roundly rejected organized religion, and Max grew up wondering what people’s fascination with church was all about.
“Well, my parents do most of the time,” Ruby answered. “All you have to do is remember not to start eating right away, and say ‘amen’ at the end of the prayer.”
“Okay,” Max said.
“Oh, and they’re not big on PDA at all,” Ruby said.
“Personal digital assistants?”
“No,” Ruby said with a laugh. “Public displays of affection. They’re not naïve, I’m sure they realize that you and I are sleeping together and staying in the same dorm – I lived with my last girlfriend.”
Max prickled at this reference to Megan, who she met once in the fall semester and who she wasn’t a fan of. She would much prefer to pretend that Ruby had never even looked at another girl before they met.
“They just don’t think kissing and stuff like that is for polite company,” Ruby said. “Growing up I was always so paranoid about getting caught in any sort of sexual situation, even if it was just kissing.”
“Sounds like they’re pretty strict,” Max said, starting to feel nervous. She didn’t do all that well with first impressions, and the more rules and guidelines she had for interacting with someone, the harder it was to keep everything together.
“It’s really just that one thing,” Ruby said. “Other than that, they’re really easy to get along with.”
“We’ll see,” Max said, shooting Ruby a look that was meant to be taken as a challenge. Surely Ruby remembered their first few encounters – they hated each other for weeks – so if anyone could screw this up, it would be Max. She thought about the engagement ring packed carefully in the bottom of her bag and told herself she’d do everything in her power to win them over.
The horizon continued to be low-growing crops and flat farmland for miles and miles. It wasn’t until they approached northern Indiana that the buildings got closer together, and taller. By the time Chicago was visible on the horizon, Max had a distinct sensation that she was shrinking, becoming more and more miniscule as the city loomed in front of her.
They didn’t actually go into the city, though. Ruby’s family lived in a suburb on the outskirts - much the same way Max’s family lived about ten minutes outside of Granville - except everything here was disproportionately big. They drove through neighborhoods whose houses became larger and larger the farther they went, mini-mansions taking up more space than the entirety of Max’s family’s yard.
She expected them to drive through these opulent neighborhoods and continue on to more humble houses like the one Max grew up in – three- or four-bedroom ranches and farmhouses that were the hallmark of the lower middle class Max was familiar with.
Instead, Ruby pulled into the driveway of one of these mini-mansions, saying, “Home sweet home.”
“Funny joke,” Max said, raising her eyebrows as Ruby rolled down her window to punch a code into a keypad that controlled the gate. But then the gate swung open and Max realized this was where they’d be staying for the week. This was where Ruby grew up. No wonder she didn’t want to stay in Granville this summer.
There was a long driveway, pristinely kept grounds, and a large house with old but well-maintained stone masonry. Ruby parked in a circular driveway in front of the house, and as they got out of the car and stretched their legs for a moment, Max asked, “So, did your parents win the lottery?”
“No,” Ruby answered with a bashful laugh. “They’re just hard workers.”
“And you’ve lived here your whole life?”
“Yeah,” Ruby said, going to the back of the packed car to retrieve the most immediately necessary luggage from the trunk. Max joined her, picking up her bag and one of Ruby’s and slinging them over her shoulder.
“What do your parents do for a living again?” Max asked. Ruby told her a few months ago that her mother worked in a restaurant and her father was in public transportation, but now she was wondering if Ruby failed to mention that they had royal blood or something. “Because for a house like this so close to a major city, the property tax alone-”
“Butterfly!” Max heard a woman squeal behind her and she winced slightly at the pitch of her voice.
When she turned around, the source of the squeal was rushing down the front steps with her arms outstretched for Ruby. This excited, slightly portly woman in an expensive-looking pair of chinos must be her mother – she was the only one Max knew of who called her by that nickname, one that Ruby earned for her reputation as a social butterfly as far back as elementary school.
Max stood off to the side and out of the way as they hugged, Ruby’s mom squeezing her tightly and rocking her side to side for a moment before finally releasing her. Then Ruby said, “Mama, this is Max. Max, this is my mother, Lorna.”
“Oh hi Max. We’re so happy to have you this week,” Lorna answered, and without hesitation she turned and threw her arms around Max in the same exaggerated fashion. All Max could do was count the seconds and wait for her to let go. One… two… three… four… then Lorna broke away and said, “Oh, but you should call me Mrs. Satterwhite.”
“Mama-” Ruby objected, her eyes going wide. Max just stood there, trying to recover from the bear hug.
“I’m kidding! Sheesh, did you lose your sense of humor on the road?” she asked. “Of course you can call me Lorna, dear. Come inside, you two. Are you hungry? I can make you a couple of sandwiches, or order a pizza, or grill some chicken-”
“We’re fine for now, mama,” Ruby said, throwing a sidelong smile at Max as they walked in the door and she looped her arm in Max’s.
It was good that she had Ruby’s arm to hold onto, and the luggage to weigh her down, because as soon as they walked into the house, Max started to get the sense that she might get lost in it. However impressive the grounds were, they didn’t even hint at the size of the house’s interior.
There was a foyer big enough to be its own room and appointed with marble floors. To the left there was an office, its double doors open to reveal a large mahogany desk in the middle of the room, and the walls were lined with leather-bound books. To the rig
ht of the foyer, a long dining table and eight upholstered chairs sat in a formal dining room, and straight ahead Max could see a hallway that branched off in a couple different directions. There was a large staircase, and the hint of a kitchen at the back of the house. Beyond that, she could see a wall of windows with the blue water of a pool shimmering in the sunlight.
The house was overwhelming and Max hadn’t expected any of this. She knew that Ruby drove a nice car, and that she had a top-of-the-line computer, but Max didn’t think she was this rich.
“Wow,” Max said, somewhat involuntarily as Lorna led them further into the house. Ruby looked a little embarrassed at her reaction, her cheeks coloring, and Max was thinking about the diamond ring in her bag. Would a single-carat solitaire be even remotely impressive to Ruby when she was used to this level of luxury? For all Max knew, she already had a dozen of those in her childhood jewelry box.
“I can’t take credit for any of it,” Lorna said as she caught the awed direction of Max’s gaze. “A designer handled all the décor and a service comes twice a week to handle all the cleaning. It’s a bit much, isn’t it, dear?”
By her body language Max gleaned that Lorna was trying to be humble, but she was having a hard time finding anything humble about this house.
“I’m just wondering if you and your husband figured out how to fit a camel through the eye of a needle after all,” Max said. It was meant to be a joke – the very little that Max knew about Christianity included that phrase about it being easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, and she thought Ruby and Lorna would appreciate the biblical reference.
By their expressions, she was quite wrong.
Lorna looked attacked, and Ruby was giving Max a wide-eyed, subtle shake of her head. Shit. Bad first impressions were quite familiar to Max, and she’d already broken her resolve to avoid them with Ruby’s family. Max had only just arrived and already she was sticking out like a sore thumb – that was a feeling she was used to, but in these marbled surroundings she now had a whole new reason to feel like an outcast and she didn’t quite know how to deal with it.
