Ruby: A Reverse Harem Romance (Jewels Cafe Book 6), page 9
I worried my lip. “And what do you think about angels?”
“Mostly uptight bastards who wouldn’t know how to take a joke if it smacked them in the ass. But, some angels … aren’t like the others.” He raised our linked fingers and kissed the back of my hand.
The barista called out our order, but Parker didn’t move. He straightened and his eyes studied mine as he waited anxiously for my answer.
I stood up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to Parker’s. And it felt good. The kiss felt like a sneeze that I’d been holding in that just needed to come out, like something I’d been holding back that needed to be free. It felt as exciting as the first moment I opened a brand-new scroll on a brand-new world. It felt like taking that first cold sip of water after flying too close to the sun. It felt so good that my toes tingled.
The lights flickered and went out. All around us people groaned.
“Oops,” Parker shrugged, his eyes twinkling as he pulled away. He laughed softly.
Then I laughed.
Then he laughed.
We grabbed our coffees and wove our way through a crowd of shadows to the door, laughing. Parker and I both chuckled out of excitement and fear.
I’d just agreed to some kind of relationship with a demon.
My brother’s warning went through my head again as Parker led the way down the street. My demon was so happy that every single human we passed ended up stopping mid-stride and cursing their dead cell phone. I was happy he was happy. I was happy that I was happy.
But human emotions were tricky things. Happiness didn’t equate to goodness. Even if we were happy together, it didn’t mean we were good together.
The question sat inside me like a lump of coal in a Christmas stocking. Who should I believe? My brother or a demon?
Chapter 10
Migs
I had to bite my tongue, which was incredibly hard for me. But one doesn’t make fun of an angel. Mi abuela would come back and haunt me if she knew I had done that. And now that I knew ghosts were real, and that was actually a possibility … I bit down on my lower lip, determined to keep quiet.
But John looked ridiculous. Completely fucking ridiculous.
Bar’s normal pants hadn’t fit John. But thoughtful demon that he was, Parker had apparently put Bar’s cosplay outfits in the trash bag too. So, John was wearing some bright blue Mario Brothers overalls from an outfit Bar had made a few years back. But he wore the overalls with an ugly Christmas sweater Bar had that happened to have Thor’s hammer on the front. Then, he paired the outfit with some men’s shoes from the backroom of Ruby’s store. We’d tried to get him to wear tennis shoes, but he’d insisted on slippers because they were so much softer.
“Those won’t really work in a graveyard—” I’d said.
“Those are gonna get torn up,” Bar had stated.
“All those other contraptions are awful on the feet. Even worse than I remember,” John had argued as he’d pulled on eggplant-purple fuzzy slippers.
He was intending to lead us to the high school. I couldn’t let that happen. No way a teenage girl was gonna listen to us if clown-man here tried to talk. Holly would run the other direction. And that wouldn’t help Ruby one bit.
Bar kept trying to engage John in regular conversation, but John was being a little CIA about it all.
“My last assignment was confidential. I can’t discuss it with mortals.”
Ruby and Parker got back with coffee as John said that. And my chest purred like a contented cat, seeing her again.
Of course, she just looked quizzically at John and asked, “Weren’t you sent out on that tentacle clean up committee?”
John sputtered, his face going red.
“Tentacles?” Bar asked.
Ruby giggled as she passed around our coffees. The sound was as invigorating as coffee itself—warm and energizing. “Yes. Some bright mind had the idea to give an alien species of women tentacles. Well, I’ll give you one guess what they did with them. Procreation nearly halted on the planet.”
The guys and I all stopped. Bar looked kind of turned on by the thought. I would have to see pictures of the alien species before I got the same idea. If aliens actually looked like the movie Alien, or E.T. or Men In Black—basically, if aliens looked anything like they did in movies—I didn’t give a damn what those females did with their tentacles. More power to them.
Parker’s hand brushed Ruby’s back as he passed her, and she gave him one of those shy, sweet glances that new couples often give. I saw Bar tense up next to me, so I walked over to him. I leaned in. “Hey, dude.”
Bar looked over at me and gave me a look. I could tell just by the expression on his face that he was jealous and annoyed and trying to hide it. I couldn’t do anything about how he felt about Parker or me and our connection to Ruby. Not yet anyway. But I could give him a shot at a little alone time with Ruby so that maybe he’d feel more confident. He’d always been the most insecure of us. I leaned close to him and jabbed a thumb in John’s direction as the angel downed some coffee. “John can’t go to the high school like this. I mean—look at him.”
Bar nodded.
“We’re gonna take two Ubers. You go in the one with Ruby. Parker and I will go with John.”
Bar looked at me, understanding crossing his face. He gave me a small smile before he nodded and whipped out his phone, ordering his ride as I did the same.
When the cars came, I slipped the front driver a twenty to take off like a bat out of hell once Ruby and Bar were in the backseat. Then Parker and I took up the backseat of the second car, forcing John to sit next to the Uber driver.
Parker read over the text I sent him. He glanced up at me and gave a quick nod when he finished. Then he waved his hand, and the map on the driver’s phone flickered. Our route changed to be the most roundabout route to the high school you’d ever seen. John was too busy touching buttons up front to notice.
“What’s this do?” he asked, as he pushed a button to spring open the change holder. Inside, there wasn’t change. There were little dime bags. I didn’t know of what. I didn’t want to know. I stared out the window and pretended not to notice as the driver hurriedly shoved the drawer closed.
“Hands off, you bumble fuck. This is a ride, it ain’t your ride.”
Well, that took off two stars at least.
Parker stretched the seatbelt as far as it would go and leaned between them. “So, John, tell me: what do you think about the objectification of angels?”
“WHAT?” John turned in his seat and I realized he hadn’t put on a seatbelt. He crouched near the glove compartment as he said, “What are you talking about?” His eyes narrowed on Parker as if any objectification was Parker’s fault.
I felt lost for a second. I had no idea what Parker was thinking. “Do you mean like kitch?” I asked. “Like how they sell angel magnets or night lights?”
Parker shook his head and his fingers flew across his phone. “No. Like this.”
He held up his phone, showing us a photo of a Victoria Secret model walking down a runway.
John’s reaction was classic horror movie shit. His hand flew to his chest and his gasp almost made our driver swerve into a fire hydrant.
“Fuck!” said our driver.
“Lightning bolts!” said John.
I was pretty certain they both meant the same thing.
John grabbed onto the phone and stared. “Who’s doing this? Stripping angels of clothing and …” he shook his head. “This is just as bad as those Renaissance perverts painting us naked on church ceilings—HOW HAS THIS NOT MADE IT UP TO THE ANGELIC PROPAGANDA COMMITTEE?”
Suddenly, John’s body melted into a ball of light and winked out of existence, his borrowed clothes falling to his seat, his slippers empty on the car floorboards.
Our driver screeched to a halt. “Holy shit balls. Fuck. I knew I shouldn’t have taken those ‘shrooms before this shift. Fuck.”
Parker and I exchanged a look. We were surrounded by crazies. We climbed out of the car.
I gathered up John’s clothes before the Uber driver took off, tires smoking and screeching.
Parker and I walked to Stone Hill High.
When we got there, school was just letting out.
Girls who were dressed for summer at the beach instead of winter weather poured out the front doors in short skirts. I rolled my eyes. Teenage girls had never made sense to me. Not when I was a teenager and not now.
My eyes scanned the front lawn and spotted Ruby and Bar, his arm slung around her shoulders, a single yellow flower in her hands.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Of course, he’d probably stopped the car to run over and grab that at a convenience store or something.
Parker and I strolled over to them only to find them chewing on Red Vine licorice as they looked through the crowd for Holly.
“Where’s John?” Ruby asked as soon as they spotted us.
I didn’t answer. The sight of Ruby sucking on that strand of licorice did things to me. Serious things.
Parker didn’t notice her fellating the candy and just reached over and grabbed a vine from the bag in Bar’s hand. “Your bro had to go bring something to a committee or something. He’ll be back soon, I’m sure.” Then, the demon had to stir the shit, like always. “You know, yellow flowers are supposed to be for friendship,” he nodded toward the sunflower in Ruby’s hands.
Bar’s face reddened. “That’s not true.”
Parker shook his head. “Flower language. It’s a thing. We used to have a whole division to help fuck it up and send mixed messages until red roses started dominating the market.” Parker leaned casually against a tree, twirling his licorice.
I punched his shoulder. “Dude. Shut up.” I glanced meaningfully over at Bar, who was trying to nut up and tell Ruby his flower didn’t mean friendship.
Parker rolled his eyes but shut his mouth.
“I thought flowers were part of mating rituals down here,” Ruby said, blinking up at Bar.
His face reddened like a beet. “Yeah, um, they are.”
Her smile and his resulting awkwardness were almost painful to watch. When Bar was confident, he was hilarious, fun to be around. But when he got shy or felt insecure, it was like a puppet master took over his body. He got all spastic and jerky and awkward.
Thank fuck Holly appeared, or the girl I assumed was Holly—based on the death glare she gave us as she marched over. The blonde girl was prettier than most, even if she did have a perpetual pouty look about her. She had the air of a popular girl, which I knew made Bar cringe. I didn’t mind as much, but Parker just smiled lazily from his spot against the tree.
Ruby waved enthusiastically.
I walked toward the sweet angel and caught her hand in mine, kissing it. “Ruby, corazón, teenagers generally like to pretend adults don’t exist. Maybe less waving, huh?”
Ruby’s eyes widened. “Oh, right. Yes. Sure.” She put down her hand and waited until Holly got close enough to hiss at us.
“What the fuck? What are you doing here?” Holly hissed.
I was pissed she was being that rude to Ruby.
Ruby didn’t seem to notice. She gave the girl a bright smile. “Hi, Holly. These are my soulma—”
I interrupted. “We’re Ruby’s friends. We thought you might want some help searching the thrift stores for your sister’s clothes.”
Holly stopped walking, shocked.
And then she dropped her book bag and walked forward to give Ruby a hug.
The tears that misted in Ruby’s eyes were the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.
And I decided right then and there that I’d do whatever it took to make her happy.
Anything.
Chapter 11
Ruby
We were at the second thrift store when Holly’s ex texted her.
“My ex, Joe, thinks he’s a total GOAT,” Holly rolled her eyes as she shoved her phone into her pocket and started aggressively shoving aside shirts on the rack.
“He thinks he’s a farm animal?” I asked. That sounded like a serious problem. It was probably a good thing they stopped dating.
“No. Greatest of All Time. It’s an acronym, Ruby. Sometimes, I swear,” Holly rolled her eyes as she stomped off to look in another area.
Apparently, once again, my ignorance was annoying. Well, get in line, Holly. It’s not just annoying to you. It’s pretty fucking annoying to me, too, I thought as I shoved a vintage pink t-shirt aside.
My eyes drifted up to find Miguel’s. He exchanged a sympathetic look with me. Teenagers. English. Miracles. Ugh.
Parker slid a hand over my shoulder and tickled the back of my neck with his fingertips before saying, “I got this one, sweetheart.”
My heart did one of those shy, happy swivels, the kind where you link your hands in front of you and sway your shoulders side to side as you smile. He called me sweetheart. That, I could understand.
Less than two minutes later, Parker had Holly laughing up a storm. They walked back toward us; heads buried in Holly’s phone. Then she held it up like a trophy. “Look! Parker somehow hacked Joe’s phone. Now everything he posts in Insta comes out in German!”
The two of them doubled over in laughter.
Holly laughed until she was gasping. “Oh, it hurts!”
I rushed over. “Do you need a doctor? How did he hurt you?”
Holly waved me off.
Parker swiped at his eyes and smiled. “She’s just laughed so hard her stomach hurts.”
“Oh,” I blinked. I didn’t know laughter could have negative consequences. Note to self, human bodies cannot handle large amounts of laughter.
Even though it apparently caused her some pain, it was good to see Holly laugh, even if it wasn’t for the nicest reason. Baby steps back to normal—that’s what the miracle guide said anyway. Holly was typically rolling her eyes at me and not laughing. But after Parker’s little prank, she smiled nearly the entire rest of our search.
Pride swelled in my chest at Parker. I didn’t know if he’d meant to do something good. But he had. And that little connection between our souls sizzled as a result. I could feel it. And I could see the little orange flickers of soul around his heart were bigger and stronger than before.
When the others wandered to the shoe section, I gave him a soft kiss on the neck to thank him.
He looked down at me, surprised. “What was that for?”
“For being sweet.” I smiled, then backtracked. “I’ve seen couples do it. But, um … I’m sorry. If you don’t want my body parts to touch yours … I probably should have asked first.”
Parker swung his arm around my shoulders and leaned down. He kissed my neck in return, then whispered, “Your body parts can touch mine any time you want.”
For some reason, those words made my private area catch fire. I had to scurry away to the ladies’ room to make sure there wasn’t any actual combustion going on down there. Luckily, it looked normal. So maybe too many sweet words did to my body what too much laughter did to Holly’s—made it malfunction.
Holly’s good mood lasted all night. She even smiled at Bar, who came up with ridiculous outfit combinations, though she rolled her eyes when she found out he was into cosplay.
“Dude, that’s so extra. And not in a good way,” she said when Bar tried on a mauve top hat that he said he could use to make a Mad Hatter costume.
Bar bought it anyway, because I told him that the color looked good with his skin, which it did, before his cheeks and neck turned bright red.
When the store closed at eight, we left—without finding anything that had belonged to Maddie—and grabbed a slice of pizza, before the guys called an uber van. We dropped off Holly.
She actually waved goodbye as she walked to the front door, which her mom opened for her.
I was feeling pretty good about this assignment, and life, and even earth, when all the guys turned to look at me expectantly.
Nervous flutters started in my stomach. Shoot. Just when I’d thought everything was good, clearly it wasn’t. Clearly, I was missing something, like always. “What?”
The driver turned and looked at me. “Where do you want to go?”
Three stares burned through me like the laser guns my angel legion had used in the Kuhaulan War in the Sombrero Galaxy. “Um …”
Bar grabbed my hand and leaned forward. “If you come back to our place, you don’t have to do anything.”
I scrunched my brow. That made zero sense. “Why would I want to go to your place if we’re not gonna do anything?”
Migs leaned over from the seat on the other side of me and his hot, warm breath on my ear sent tingles to all the right places. All the mating places. Migs whispered, “He means, you don’t have to do anything sexual. We can just get to know one another better. Maybe play a game.”
My heart beat triple time. They wanted me to go back to their apartment. “Okay,” I said shyly.
Migs lips immediately went to the lobe of my ear as Bar’s hand clamped down on mine.
Bar leaned forward and pushed Migs back in his seat. “She said okay to heading back to our place, not to kissing. We haven’t worked out the rules for any of that yet.”
“Rules? There are more rules?” I asked, trying not to whine. Earth had way too many rules.
“He means about the three of us sharing you,” Parker clarified.
The uber driver started coughing up front. Hard.
I leaned forward, concerned. “Do you need a cough drop? I might have something in my purse.”
The man beat on his chest as he pulled up to the guy’s apartment building. He sucked in air, gasping as he said, “Nope. Nope. I’m good.”
“Okay, well thank you for driving us,” I waved at the driver as Bar helped me out of the van and then slid an arm around my waist. Parker slid an arm around my shoulders as Migs unlocked the door. Bar pushed Parker’s arm off.
“Dude,” Parker said.
“Dude,” Bar said.
I shrugged out of both of their holds as they stared into one another’s eyes. I could sense tension between them, but I wasn’t quite certain why. What had made them angry? Had I done something wrong? Again?
