Rock Chick 08 Revolution (35 page)

I had my back to the wall, my arms and legs curled around my man, and
Ren was exploring the functionality of the deep slit up the front of my killer
aqua column bridesmaid dress with a chiffon overlay that exposed a pure Ava
rock ‘n’ roll stretch of midriff.

Ren and I were doing the business.

In other words, love was in the air.

Totally good luck that Tod had picked up and kept hold of all the
bridesmaid dresses until the big day. If mine had been in my apartment,
semi-tragedy.

But my mind wasn’t on escaping a semi-tragedy.

It was on something way better.

“I’m… it’s…
Ren,
” I gasped,
whimpered, then came.

Glorious.

“Fuckin’ fuck me,” Ren growled. He shoved his face in my neck, thrust
deep and groaned.

I held on tight as his shuddered though him and mine me.

After it was over, I kept holding him until he kissed my neck,
indication to let go.

I did. He slid me up, sliding out of me. His mouth came to mine, his
eyes glued to mine, as he put me to my feet. He held me against the wall and I
felt him do up his trousers.

Then he touched our lips together before crouching in front of me and
ordering, “Foot, baby.”

I lifted a silver strappy, stiletto-heel shod foot and he slid one side
of my discarded thong over it. I lifted the other and he repeated, then slid my
thong up my legs.

This caused another shudder.

He settled my panties on my hips and rearranged my skirt so it fell
properly, but before he got to his feet in front of me, he kissed the inside of
my right knee.

And another shudder.

Then he was on his feet and I was no longer leaning against the wall
because I was in Ren’s arms.

“You got sex hair, honey,” he told me, eyes moving around my head.

“So?” I asked, and his gaze came to me.

That got me a smile, which led to another touch on the lips. This one
harder, it lasted longer and it included our lips opening and both of us adding
tongue.

Yummy.

Ren ended the kiss, landed one on my jaw and grabbed my hand.

He led me to the door, opened it and shoved me in front of him, still
holding my hand as he pushed us out.

And thus we ran headlong into Sadie and Hector.

Sadie, in a baby blue dress the same style as mine, stared up at me.

Her face got red.

Hector muttered, “Fuck,” and pulled her back. He gave a chin jerk to
Ren, and then sauntered away, clamping an arm around her waist and disappearing
around an opening to the corridor.

I looked up at Ren.

Ren’s eyes were to where Sadie and Hector disappeared, but when he felt
mine, they came down to me.

When they did, I burst out laughing.

Ren’s arm slid along my waist and he propelled me forward as he joined
in my hilarity.

Yep. Love was in the air.

* * * * *

After hitting the bathroom for a necessary errand due to Ren and my
cloakroom activities, I entered the function room and scanned the crowd looking
for Ren.

My eyes stopped on Luke, who was standing with his mom and Ava’s mom.

Ava’s mom was clearly babbling, and it was clear she’d been doing this
for a while because Mrs. Stark was nodding but the smile was fixed on her face
and it was obvious her mind was miles away. This was also clear because Luke
looked like he wanted someone to shoot him. But still, he was standing there
holding his mother’s hand, and I thought this, particularly from badass Luke,
was all kinds of cool.

I continued my scan and my eyes stopped again when I saw Tex and Duke
standing close, Tex looking weird (and not just because he was wearing a suit
instead of his uniform flannel shirt and jeans) and Duke smiling and clapping
him on the shoulder.

Tex
had a personality set to crotchety and Duke
worked with a bunch of crazy women and had for decades. Thus they did not get
along in a normal way. They got along by bantering (sometimes heatedly),
bonding when shit got crazy and they agreed that the women amongst them were
loons, and the rest of the time ignoring their own craziness in order to focus
on the crazy around them.

This did not mean they weren’t tight. They’d known each other awhile
and had both ridden the turbulent waves of the Rock Chick/Hot Bunch Courtships
from the very beginning, and those kinds of rides formed unshakable bonds.
Trust me.

But they were men. They didn’t have heartfelt conversations or hug it
out. I’d never seen one touch the other. I didn’t think I’d even seen them
smile at each other.

Now Duke was smiling big.

However, Tex wasn’t.

He just nodded, said something, turned jerkily away and his eyes caught
on me.

He then lumbered toward me.

When he got close, I greeted, “Yo, Tex.
What’s up?”

His eyes moved over my hair then back to me and he noted, “I think sex
in a public place is illegal.”

“That’s only a problem if you get caught,” I returned.

“This, the Ally Nightingale Life Philosophy,” he muttered on a low
boom.

I grinned. “You bet your bippy.”

He stared at me, and it was then I noticed he still looked weird.

So I asked, “You okay?”

“Need to talk to you,” he told me.

Uh-oh.

This could mean anything.

“About what?” I asked cautiously.

“What’re you doin’ on Wednesday?” he asked back.

I was likely taking pole dancing classes from Daisy.

I didn’t tell him this.

“Nothing… yet,” I answered.

He lifted his hand to his throat, where the tie that was there earlier
was now gone and likely in some trash receptacle. His fingers encountered no
tie so he lifted his hand to wrap it around the back of his neck and he rubbed.

Oh man.

This was not a good sign.

“Tex—”

“Indy’s standing up with me,” he cut me off to say bizarrely. “Trixie’s
doin’ it for Nancy. We only need two
witnesses, but I still want you and Duke standin’ beside me. Indy and Duke
already agreed. I need you at the Justice of the Peace on Wednesday when I
marry Nancy.”

Ho.

Lee.

Crap!

“What?” I whispered.

“On Wednesday, me and Nancy’re gettin’ hitched,” he stated, and I felt
my body lock and my eyes get hot in that way that this was the kind of stuff I
knew would take a miracle to hold back the tears.

Nancy
was Jet’s mother. Nancy
was the bomb. Nancy had also been Tex’s girlfriend for a good long while.

But Tex and a Justice of the Peace?

I started teetering and Tex started
talking.

Fast.

“It’s no big deal. We just do our thing, get the fuck outta there, and
Blanca’s givin’ us a little shindig in her backyard. Just family. You don’t
even have to wear a dress. You can wear jeans.”

“I… you… Nancy…” I stammered, stopped
and felt the wet hit my eyes. “Tex,” I
whispered.

He stared at me, looking agitated, then more agitated then finally he
declared, “The cats like her.”

I burst out laughing.

Still doing it, I threw myself at him and wrapped his massive bulk in
my arms (as best I could, my arms didn’t go around).

His arms closed around me and they did this tight.

Tex and I had also never hugged it out.

Now that we were doing that, it felt amazing.

My body bucked as the emotion shoved itself up my throat and I barely
managed to force it back down.

I felt his bulk bow as he put his lips to my ear and that was when
Tex—yes, Tex—whispered, “I take it you’ll be there.”

I turned my head to get to his ear and my voice was croaky when I
whispered back, “With bells on.”

“Thank you, darlin’.” He kept whispering.

My body bucked again and the swallow was audible, and loud, when I beat
back the sob.

“What’s goin’ on?”

That was Ren.

I twisted my neck to look at Ren as Tex’s hold loosened and one of his
massive mitts hit the small of my back in order to direct me into Ren’s arms.

When Ren had me, Tex answered, “Nuthin’. Gotta go.”

But he didn’t go.

He caught my eyes and held them before he lifted a beefy hand and
rested it on the top of my head.

Warmth flowed through me.

Only then did he take off.

Quickly.

“Baby?” Ren called, his hand coming to my jaw and tilting it up.

“We have plans Wednesday,” I declared. “I’m standing up with Tex while
he marries Nancy, and then we’re going to Blanca’s for an after party.”

Ren did a slow blink at me before his head turned and he looked in the
direction where Tex took off. Then he looked back at me.

“I’m gettin’ a feeling that, you in my life and not just my bed, my
social calendar is gonna be busy,” he noted.

“You might want to buy a whole new calendar with lots of blank space,”
I suggested and got a lip quirk and arm squeeze. Then I shared a colossal
understatement. “The Rock Chicks like to party.”

“Right,” he mumbled, lips still quirking.

“So,” I started, “Would you like me to quit avoiding them and take you
to my parents to introduce you?”

His brows shot up and he asked disbelievingly, “You doin’ that shit
with sex hair?”

He had a point.

“Uh…” I mumbled, but did it beginning to laugh.

“No,” he answered and dipped his face to me. “Tame that mane, honey,
and the answer changes to yes.”

Time for another trip to the bathroom.

I was about to tell Ren where I was going when Roxie, in a dress like
mine but in teal, rushed up and stopped on a wobble.

“Did Uncle Tex ask you?” she queried excitedly.

“Yep,” I answered as Ren let me go, but tucked me into his side with
his arm around me.

“Did you say yes?” she asked.

“Yep,” I answered.

“Did you have sex in the cloakroom?” she went on.

“Yep,” I answered, that word shaking with humor, and my body shook with
it when I heard and felt Ren sigh.

She looked over her shoulder in the direction of where Hank was
standing and talking to Tod and Stevie.

And she did this muttering, “That’s out.”

“Please, do not tell me where you and Hank have sex during this
reception,” I begged.

She looked back at me. “You’re one of my closest friends. Friends talk
sex. Everyone knows that.”

“And he’s my brother,” I reminded her.

“It’s not like you don’t know we do the deed,” Roxie returned.

“I do know that,” I retorted. “I just don’t want details. I’ve already
had so many details, it’s a wonder I’m not in therapy.”

“Location isn’t a detail,” she shot back.

God!

“La, la, la, I’m not listening, la, la, la,” I
chanted.

“Oh God, Roxie’s talking about Hank and her doing the business.”

This was said by Indy (in aqua, like me) who, when I turned my head, I
saw was approaching with Lee.

“Then we’re leaving,” Lee muttered.

Indy giggled and pulled him to us, sharing, “Well, don’t use the
handicapped bathroom upstairs.”

“Fuck.” Lee kept muttering.

I bit back laughter.

Roxie didn’t.

“Or the cloakroom.” Stella’s kickass husky voice came at us from the
side, and I turned to see her (in teal) and Mace (like Lee and Hank, in a tux),
joining us.

“That’s two for the cloakroom,” Roxie stated.

“Who else?” Stella asked.

“Ren and me,” I told her.

“Ah,” she mumbled.

“Jesus,” Mace grunted.

“What are you talking about?” Jet (in baby blue, though she didn’t have
a chiffon-exposing midriff; she had a figure-skimming, kickass pregnant lady’s
bridesmaid dress) with Eddie (in a tux) asked.

“Rock Chick/Hot Bunch wedding assignations,” Indy answered.

“Oh shit,” Eddie murmured.

“Handicapped bathroom,” Jet shared.

“Fuck me,” Eddie clipped at the same time Lee bit out, “Christ.”

Jet turned to her husband. “What?”

I didn’t bite back laughter then. I couldn’t. I just let it fly.

“What’s funny?” Jules (in teal) asked, and we all looked to see her and
Vance coming in around Indy and Lee.