Spicy Sapphic Christmas

23. Jo

TWENTY-THREE

jo

“Where’s Bea?” Bunny asked the minute Jo stepped into the rehearsal room. Jo’s heart skipped a beat at Bunny’s sharp tone. She hated that she hadn’t gotten used to that yet. It was still so hard to reconcile everything from her relationship with Mandy.

“She’s got a meeting that she’d already scheduled. She said she texted you, and traffic was awful today.” Jo kept her distance from the energy that radiated from Bunny. It was so negative that she could barely stand it.

It wasn’t angry or dangerous, but there was definitely something different in the way she held herself. It put Jo on an edge she didn’t want to be on, but at least the energy wasn’t pointed directly at her. Then they’d be in serious trouble—well, she would be. Bunny snatched up her phone and scowled down at it.

Jo looked over at Piper, wide eyes asking what she didn’t dare say out loud with Bunny still in the room.

What’s going on?

Piper smiled and bobbed her head, shoulders, and body in that way Jo had come to learn meant too many things she couldn’t explain in just a look. It also meant that Jo was left in the dark about what was going through Bunny’s head—and that was far more dangerous than Piper being quiet.

“Well, isn’t that convenient?” Bunny muttered before she threw the phone back into her bag.

“Not really. I had to miss the meeting so one of us could be here,” Jo said, hoping her words weren’t as frustrated as Bunny’s attitude.

To be fair, it wasn’t really Bunny’s fault. At least it wasn’t just Bunny making her feel like she was on a hair trigger.

“Excuse me for thinking we aren’t nearly where we need to be. We only have one more week for rehearsals, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“Bunny.” The way Piper pulled out Bunny’s name told Jo that Bunny was only just gearing up for a major spitfire fit.

“I’m sorry, Bunny.” Jo met Bunny’s eyes. She let her shoulders drop and took a deep breath. “It’s been a stressful day and having to figure out who was going where so we didn’t have to cancel the other appointment but also not abandon you both was a tough and quick decision. If Bea could have canceled, she would’ve.”

“I know,” Bunny muttered again, and for a moment, Jo wondered if she’d actually heard her correctly. “That’s what her text says.”

“All right then.” Piper jumped off from where she’d been sitting. “Seeing as we called this impromptu rehearsal, we should really get into it.”

“Sure.” Jo’s smile came easier when she looked at Piper. Piper’s own smile helped refill her energy bar and allowed the frustration to fall away from her in an instant. Piper always managed to do that lately, and Jo had clung to her as much as possible because of it. Their energies just fit so well together, almost like they were made for each other.

“Good, let’s start with your duet and dance number,” Bunny said.

“Can I do a small warm-up first?” Jo asked.

“Of course.” Bunny nodded, but Jo saw the muscles in her jaw tighten.

“Do a proper warm-up,” Piper insisted before Jo could retract the request. “The last thing we need is for you to get hurt.”

“Of course.” Bunny nodded and stepped out of the area they’d been using for the two to practice their dance.

Piper joined in halfway through Jo’s warm-up, though she was certain Piper would’ve been ready before she had arrived. It was those little things that kept Jo’s body on fire and her chest in a perpetual swell of warmth and joy since getting to know Piper.

Sweat dripped down Jo’s back and every part of her body pulsed with the use of energy she put into the dance. Each place Piper touched her tingled, and Jo couldn’t have stopped smiling if she tried.

They finished their third run-through, and both Jo and Piper breathed heavily from the exertion and the realization that at some point Bunny had left the room for one reason or another.

“I think we make a great couple.” Jo leaned into Piper.

Piper’s lips met her halfway, and the salty flavor made Jo moan.

“Well, now I get it. This thing is why you decided I’m not good enough for you anymore?” The voice filled the room and sent a shock of terror through Jo’s spine.

Mandy.

Jo jumped back and away from Piper, spinning around to face Mandy, standing in the open door of the studio room.

“What’re you doing here?” Jo asked, her voice trembling fiercely.

“Catching you cheating on me, apparently.” Mandy snarled as she stepped over the threshold and into the practice room.

“Cheating on you?” Piper’s exasperation swiveled Jo’s head to see Piper’s eyes narrowed and face redder than she had ever seen it.

“It’s not like that,” Jo said.

“I know.” Piper smiled, but the sadness in her eyes struck a sharp needle into Jo’s chest.

Jo turned back to Mandy, wondering what on earth she’d ever seen in her in the first place. Everything about her was fake: the excessive makeup, the too-tight clothes, and the pursed lips of indignation she had no right to have. Even as she stepped closer toward them, her ankles wavered a little on the three-inch heels she’d never gotten used to wearing.

“I knew something was wrong when you stopped answering my messages, Jo. But I can’t believe you.” Mandy crossed her arms over her chest, pushing up her ample breasts.

Ah, that’s right. It had been the boobs.

It was a pity Jo discovered they were fake as well.

“We aren’t together. You know that.” Jo kept her voice calm. She didn’t like to hurt anyone, and even as misguided as Mandy might be, Jo didn’t want to hurt her if she could avoid it.

“But I apologized, baby.” Mandy dropped her arms, and her pursed lips turned into a pout while her eyes widened.

“Mandy, I told you. It’s over.”

“It’s not over until I say it is.” Mandy stomped her foot, looking ridiculous as she shoved her fists into her hips. Best life skill—tantrum throwing.

Jo forced herself to remain calm. It wasn’t that she never got angry, but she never allowed that to overshadow the joy she let into her life. Seeing Mandy’s anger flashing in her eyes made reaching that joy impossible as she remembered some of the more vicious threats Mandy’s texts had contained. She hadn’t even turned her phone off of silent since she stopped answering them or even reading them at three that morning. The only reason she got Bea’s call was because Bea’s contact had been set to bypass all silent modes after they missed out on a deal because Jo had missed Bea’s call two years ago.

“Jo,” Mandy purred, the whiplash of emotions sending Jo into another tailspin.

But the messages.

Jo was pretty sure most of them were just trying to get a rise out of her. Even an angry reply would be a reply and a win for Mandy, Jo was certain of that. But still, Jo had been more than a little disturbed by the aggressive detail Mandy had put into her messages.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Mandy spun around, and Bunny stood just inside the studio.

“Oh my God,” Mandy squealed and turned back to face Jo. Her face was alive with excitement.

The look made Jo’s stomach turn. Especially when Mandy took a closer look at Piper.

“Oh wow.” Mandy’s hands were up in more dramatic flare than the choreography Piper and Jo had been practicing. “I didn’t recognize you on the account of you snogging my girlfriend, but wow! It really is you.”

Jo flinched as Mandy squealed again and her face contorted into a lecherous leer.

“It’s okay, honey. I don’t mind if you want her to join us. I’m so excited. Look at us, the power couple banging the Piper.”

“Get the fuck out of here,” Bunny growled low, her face contorting into pure rage.

“Look, Bunny.” Mandy turned around, her voice saccharine as she walked, hips swaying too far one way and then the other, back toward Bunny. “I get it. It’s all hush-hush, but really, Jo and I have been together for years, and she invited me here.”

“Jo?” Bunny looked over Mandy’s shoulder and stared directly at Jo.

Jo shook her head from side to side, but the words failed her.

“Seems you’re full of shit,” Bunny said.

“What?” Mandy’s fury raged back in an instant. All charm and sweet seduction, as terrible as the attempts had been, left in an instant.

“You need to leave. You’re not welcome here.” Bunny grabbed Mandy’s arm and pulled her out of the door, but not before Mandy turned those vitriolic eyes back to Jo.

“Just you wait. You’ll be begging me to come back when Little Miss Pop Star here realizes what an absolute useless freak you are in bed.”

Jo took in a deep shuddering breath, Mandy’s words hitting harder than she thought they possibly could. The world spun, and Jo crumpled to the floor in a tangle of legs she was no longer sure she could still feel.

“Hey.” Piper’s sweet and gentle breath brushed strands of Jo’s blonde hair around her ear.

Jo blinked and focused enough to find Piper on the ground in front of her.

“I’m so sorry.” Tears spilled over Jo’s cheeks, and she dropped her head forward.

“It’s okay.” Piper pulled Jo into her embrace.

Being wrapped in Piper’s arms felt safer than anywhere else Jo had ever known. They were a place to rest and breathe. A place she could be herself. Until Mandy’s prediction came true, of course.

Jo and Piper were similar in so many more ways than Jo had been with anyone else in her life. But she had dated Mandy, and Mandy knew her far better than Piper did. And in the end, Jo wasn’t enough to stop Mandy from chasing a life better than what Jo could ever offer.

For now, she let herself sink into Piper’s arms. She let herself indulge in the comforts of someone who hadn’t grown bored and sick of her. It hadn’t mattered so much as it seemed to now. Christmas was just around the corner, and the event would be the highlight of their year. As long as Bea and Bunny didn’t kill each other first.

But even as the excitement loomed closer, Jo’s heart ached with the truth that had rung in Mandy’s words.

They were just having fun for now.

The two of them worked well together—their music, their dancing, their bodies sweating in more naked and pleasurable ways. But in the end, it wouldn’t last.

When Piper had suggested the fake relationship, Jo had instantly reared back at the idea. Her entire career, her life, was about her being allowed to be her genuine self. And even catching Jo and Piper kissing hadn’t stopped Mandy from trying her best to find an angle to butt in. Jo took a deep breath and shuffled the slightest bit in Piper’s arms. At the movement, Piper instantly let her arms loosen and pulled back.

The little things might just be the thing to kill Jo, but she had to do everything she could to stop Mandy from threatening any of them—Bunny and Piper included.

She dreaded how Bea would react when she found out how far Mandy had gone to get a reaction from her.

“Well, she’s a bit psychopathic bathed in overpowering stench,” Bunny said as she walked back into the studio.

Piper burst out laughing, and moments later, Jo couldn’t help but join in.

“I’ll talk to Siena again about a watch for her. You let us know if she shows up again and gives you any trouble.”

“I’m so sorry, Bunny.”

“She’s not your fault,” Bunny said, though her face showed the pulse at her temple Piper had referred to as the pissed off pulse. “We all make mistakes when we’re young.”

The words stung a little, but from what she had learned about Bunny over the last few weeks, she would take the kindness behind the backhanded comment.

“I’ll follow you home and make sure she isn’t stupid enough to show up there.” Piper stood and offered a hand to Jo.

“Is it okay if we finish up now?” Jo didn’t like the way her voice quivered, but continuing practice seemed a little out of her capability.

“Yeah. Your main number with Piper looks good. I can’t see there being any problem with that one.”

“Thanks, Bunny. I’ll call you later,” Piper called behind them as she led Jo to the parking lot.

Jo wanted to say thanks, but her words still faltered and her eyes scanned the parking lot obsessively as they walked to her car. The only thing that kept her anxiety from exploding on the drive was seeing Piper’s familiar silhouette in the car behind her every time she looked in the rearview mirror.