Chapter 19 Gemma
GEMMA
Gemma wandered aimlessly along the high street while she waited for Rory to have her hair cut.
After the momentous occasion of cutting Rory’s plait off, she was then unceremoniously shooed from the shop by Craig, who declared that ‘it was not a spectator sport’ and that ‘girlfriends were not required.’
She didn’t want to dive into the fact that neither Rory nor she had corrected him that she wasn’t Rory’s girlfriend.
As she aimlessly wandered, she wondered if Rory would correct his assumption while he was cutting her hair.
She didn’t know what to think of that. If she was honest, she felt more like Rory’s girlfriend with every day that passed, except they weren’t girlfriends and didn’t sleep together.
She went into a charity shop and idly flicked through the clothes as she thought about that.
They did sleep together. Every time they ended up at Rory’s place, they ended up in the same bed, and it was innocent and platonic, mostly.
A couple of times she had woken up nestled in Rory’s arms, and once she had snuggled into Rory’s back when she’d woken up after a bad dream, but that didn’t mean anything.
It couldn’t mean anything, she reminded herself, not when Rory was so strict about keeping things as just friends between them.
She was flicking through some clothes and thinking about Rory when her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. She glanced at the screen before swiping to accept the call.
“Hello Teagan.” She smiled into the phone.
“Hello Gemma, or is it Mrs Rory yet?” Teagan’s voice was full of the annoying teasing she loved about her friend.
“What can I do for you?” Gemma ignored Teagan’s comment. To acknowledge it would only prove to Teagan that it bothered her
“Are you and the missus free tonight?” Teagan’s voice was filled with Aussie mirth.
Gemma ground her teeth. “Teagan!” She implored.
“Sorry, sorry,” Teagan giggled, giving the impression she wasn’t sorry at all. “Brad’s mate’s band is playing at The Pub, and he’s got four tickets. Wondered if you and Rory wanted to join us for the evening? I was thinking pizza first and then on to The Pub? What do you think?”
Gemma worried a lip as she looked at an ugly skirt on the rails.
Noticing that she was the only customer and that the woman behind the counter was listening in to her conversation, she hurried outside into the sunshine.
“I don’t know. She’s having her hair cut as we speak, and I don’t know how she’ll feel about it. ”
Teagan hummed down the phone, and for a moment said nothing.
She and Gemma had spoken a lot this week about Rory having her hair cut.
Not particularly about Rory, but about how Gemma felt about it.
Teagan had perceptively mentioned one night that Gemma was taking on a lot being Rory’s only support on her journey.
“How’s she doing?”
“I have no idea.” Gemma sighed and fixed her sunglasses over her eyes. “I was sent away and told to go back in half an hour.” She glanced at her watch and groaned. There were still fifteen minutes to go.
“I bet she’ll look hot.” Teagan made a rawr sound down the phone.
Gemma hoped so, but wasn’t sure how she would feel about that.
She hadn’t confessed to Rory but had opened up to Teagan last week over a bottle of red, that she didn’t find butch women particularly attractive.
A few times someone androgynous had caught her eye, but generally she’d always liked to have a feminine body in her bed.
In a way, it would make things easier between her and Rory if she didn’t find her attractive anymore.
They could settle back to being just friends, and she could dip her toe back into the dating pool.
She hadn’t wanted to examine too closely that she’d felt no desire to date anyone else since meeting up with Rory again.
Perhaps tonight would be a good chance. They could go out with Brad and Teagan as friends.
Perhaps she could flirt with some women and maybe get a few numbers.
“She’ll look like Rory.” Gemma finally replied, realising that she had been mid-conversation with Teagan before her mind had wandered.
“A hot Rory.” Teagan teased. “How about I make a reservation at the Italian place on the corner for dinner? If you both feel up to eating, then join us and you can decide about The Pub after that?”
Gemma agreed to talk to Rory and hung up the call before Teagan could tease her any more.
It would be easier, she rationalised to herself, far easier if her silly crush on Rory went away.
This unresolved sexual tension between them was likely to be a residue from their night together.
If they met now, without their history, Gemma might not even give Rory a second glance.
That was crap, she told herself. Rory was always worth a second glance.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened Instagram.
She scrolled through the influencers she had found and sent to Rory and looked at the pictures.
Her heart sank slightly as she realised she didn’t feel the slightest bit of attraction to anyone who presented more masculine.
She looked at Jak’s pictures. Objectively, she could see that they were gorgeous, but there was not a flicker of attraction anywhere in Gemma.
She opened her photo app and flicked through the pictures they had taken together at the opera and at the hotel.
A pang of longing hit her in the stomach.
There was that familiar prickle of attraction and desire.
Perhaps it was for the best if she didn’t fancy Rory with short hair.
They could be friends. The families wouldn’t get their hopes up, and she could share a bed with Rory without that almost irresistible pull to sink into her.
Yes. That was decided. Masc-presenting Rory was not going to trouble her heart or her libido.
Decision made, she turned and walked back to the barbers, not caring if half an hour had passed or not.
She pushed through the door and fuck! Rory was sensational. Gemma’s heart thumped in her chest, and desire shot through her like an arrow.
Holy fucking lesbians.
Damn, Teagan was correct. Rory was hot. She was hotter than anyone had a right to be.
Rory had cheekbones and a jawline and a neck!
Oh, what a neck! Gemma couldn’t explain why short hair highlighted her neck more than having her hair up in a bun did, but it did, oh it did, and Gemma wanted nothing more than to bury her face into that neck.
But more than all of that, Rory was smiling.
Not just the happy-to-see-you smile she wore at the opera or the settled-in-her-family smile that she had sported by the swimming pool.
This was a beaming smile that started at her core and radiated throughout her body.
Gemma was transfixed. Rory’s hair was buzzed into her neck, but there was still a piece that flopped across one eye, and her fingers itched to swipe it back into place.
She wanted nothing more than to run her fingers through Rory’s hair and pull her into a kiss.
She took several breaths before moving forward towards Rory.
“What do you think?” A hint of insecurity entered Rory’s voice, and Gemma hated that her inability to speak made Rory uneasy.
“I love it,” she said on a breath, and Rory’s smile broadened. Gemma hadn’t thought it possible, but Rory looked even happier than she had before.
“You look like…” Gemma cycled through words in her mind. You look sexy, you look handsome, you look happy.
“You look like you,” Gemma said. She didn’t know how that was possible. Rory had never had hair this short or this masculine, but she looked right.
Rory turned to look at herself in the mirror, and Gemma moved next to her.
Rory touched the front of her hair with a hand before looping an arm around Gemma’s waist and pulling her into her side.
Gemma fixed Rory’s gaze in the mirror again and smiled.
They looked good together. Her heart clenched. Damn, they really looked good together.
Their eyes locked and again, the world fell away as Gemma saw Rory’s happiness.
The moment was shattered when Craig called out to them and held a phone up.
“Can I take some after pictures?”
Rory nodded, and Gemma moved to one side. Sammy snapped away, and at the last minute Rory pulled Gemma to her side and they posed for a picture.
Rory cleared her throat. “I, erm, I don’t mind you having them for your portfolio, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t put them on social media.” She paused before adding, “It’s all a bit personal still, and I don’t feel like sharing everything with the world.”
Craig nodded in understanding, and Gemma wondered how much Rory had shared with him as he’d cut her hair.
Gemma was still in awe of how good Rory looked and was in a daze as Rory paid Craig and shook his hand.
They would probably still have been there chatting if his next customer hadn’t arrived for their cut.
Rory ushered Gemma out of the shop with a warm hand to the small of her back, and they walked back to the car. They walked in companionable silence until they were sitting in the car. Before she started the engine, Rory turned to Gemma.
“You really like it?” Her eyebrows came together as she asked the question.
“I do.” Gemma reached out a hand but then pulled it back. “Sorry, I forgot.”
“No, it’s okay.” She looked at Gemma with a seductive smile. “I think I might like you playing with it now.”
Gemma took that as permission and ran her fingers through Rory’s hair. It was softer than she’d imagined. She traced her fingers over Rory’s brow and the floppy piece of hair that lay there. She had to admit, Craig had done an amazing job with it.
“Do you like it?” She asked Rory as she traced the curve of her head.
“I do.” Rory grinned. “I fucking love it!”
Gemma’s fingers had reached the nape of Rory’s neck, and she gently caressed the fine hairs that stood out from Rory’s skin, enjoying how they felt under her fingers. Rory moaned, and the sound bounced around the car and went straight to Gemma’s clit. Rory swallowed before tugging her head away.
“I think it's best if you don’t do that.” Her voice was clipped and formal, and for a split-second Gemma wondered if she had done something wrong. Then Rory’s eyes met hers, and the desire shone like a beacon, drawing her in.
“Why? Don’t you like it?” Gemma trailed her fingers down Rory’s neck and traced the toned muscles in her arms before trailing a fingertip over her hand.
“You know I do.” Rory’s voice was low and husky.
Gemma leaned across the car. Her gaze flicked to Rory’s mouth.
She noticed Rory’s eyes drop to her own lips, and a magnetic pull drew them together.
She felt Rory’s breath on her lips and was just about to bring their lips together when her phone rang loudly, the noise deafening in the silence of the car.
Rory cursed and gripped the steering wheel while Gemma fumbled to answer it. She barely registered her mother’s name showing on the screen before her voice filled Gemma’s ears.
“Gemma? It’s Mum.” Gemma rolled her eyes and indicated to Rory to start the car. Her mother’s phone calls were never short, so they might as well drive home in the interim.
“Hi Mum.” Gemma tried to keep her voice steady and not as if she had just been about to devour Rory’s lips with her own.
She pinched her nose, partly in frustration that her mother had disturbed them and partly because she had again forgotten that she and Rory were going to be just friends and kissing her was not part of that deal.
“What are you up to?” Her mother inquired, “Is this a bad time? You sound breathless.”
Gemma rolled her eyes and firmly kept her eyes ahead so she wouldn’t look at Rory. The last thing she needed now was to see that sexy-ass smirk cross Rory’s face.
“Nothing, I’m just out with Rory, and we’d just walked back to her car.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back.
She muted the call briefly. “Shit, shit, shit!” She dropped her phone in her lap and massaged her temples.
Her mother’s excited chatter drifted up from the phone.
She slammed her sunglasses onto her eyes as a way of hiding from the world and lifted her phone to her ear again.
“Oh, how lovely. I knew you two would hit it off again. She is such a lovely girl.” Her mother’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial level.
“You know she would be an excellent girlfriend for you. Your dad and I are always saying how good you look together. George!” She called out, presumably to her father, who was across the room from her. “Gemma’s out with Rory!”
Gemma couldn’t hear her dad’s reply but could hear the low rumble of laughter emanating from Rory. She turned her head to see that sexy smirk twist the corner of Rory’s mouth.
She closed her eyes and pinched her nose again, which dislodged her glasses and provided a perfect metaphor for how her afternoon was going.
Ever since Rory had looked at her with that short haircut and blinding grin, her world had been off its axis.
She listened to her parents talking in the background of the call.
Despite pressing her ear to the phone, she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
In the end, she gave up trying and called out to get her mother’s attention.
“Mum!” She paused so her mum could turn her attention back to the call with her daughter. “Why did you call me?”
“Ah yes, your grandmother is planning another trip to the opera. Apparently, they had a box booking cancel, and she’s taken the tickets.”
Gemma sighed. Her grandmother was a prominent supporter of the opera house and often took up unsold tickets so that it would have a full house.
“Okay when is it?” Gemma knew without asking that they would expect her to go with them.
“It’s a week next Saturday.”
Gemma let out a breath. For the life of her, she didn’t know why her mother couldn’t use dates like the rest of the human race.
“Can you text me the dates? I can check my diary and let you know.”
“Can’t you tell me now?”
“No, Mum I can’t. I need to check my diary and see if I’m free.” She also needed the time to mentally prepare herself for another family gathering.
“Okay, can you ask Rory too? Saves me a phone call to her mother.”
Gemma smiled at that. It wasn’t like their mothers needed any excuse to call each other and would likely speak before the day was out anyway. In all likelihood, Gemma’s mum would call Rory’s mum as soon as she hung up with Gemma to tell her she was out with Rory.
She said goodbye to her mum and turned to Rory.
“Sooo,” she dragged out. “Fancy another night at the opera?”