Chapter 34
AFTER ZO?’S OFFICIAL GIRLS-ONLY BIRTHDAY DINNER, RORY AND Orson met up with us to go dancing. Between Zoe and Rory, we were well connected, skipped the line, and felt like kings and queens with complimentary bottle service.
“I can’t believe you two went to prom together! That’s so cute!” Maddy squealed. It was the most she’d had to drink since before getting pregnant, and she was determined to celebrate.
Rory’s smile slipped, and before he could say anything, Zoe slapped Orson’s chest and said, “Aren’t Maddy’s tits incredible?”
I blinked rapidly and could see Rory’s face shift into a confused expression as well.
“I don’t know how to answer that question. Is that a question? Are you asking me that question?” Orson shook his head and stuffed his face into his cocktail.
“Don’t do it. Don’t fall into the trap,” Kara warned, poking her finger into Orson’s side.
“You’ll never hear the end of it.” Her voice changed into an impersonation of Zoe.
“Remember when you said Maddy’s tits were incredible?
She had a baby and was married, you goddamn deviant.
I want a divorce, Orson. You don’t deserve my tits anymore!
” Kara widened her eyes and looked at Orson again, sending him another warning, and we all broke into laughter, including Zoe.
“Kara, you need to let your nursing career go. You should have been the actor,” I declared.
Maddy turned to Kara. “Didn’t you date Rory’s brother?”
“Whoa! Left field! Abort!” Kara shouted louder than necessary.
Rory shook his head while popping a bottle of champagne at the table. “Let’s not go there.”
Maddy then turned to Hannah, like she was taking each of us down one by one with a rapid-fire assault. “Hannah, didn’t you date the other brother?”
“What’s happening right now? I’m engaged, my friends.” Hannah fanned herself with her hand, blinding us all with her ring.
“Are you happy about that, though?” Maddy squinted at Hannah accusingly.
“Oh my god, Maddy. Try to control yourself, or you’ll be the new Kara, saying shit you shouldn’t be saying,” Hannah exclaimed, then tipped her chin to Rory for backup. “Right, Rore?”
“Oookay, Han, let’s not go there, either.” Rory poured the champagne and tried not to show anyone else the “yikes” expression he was giving me.
I chuckled softly, and Kara hip-checked me.
“Alright, I want to hear about the craziest thing that’s happened since Zoe and Hollywood left New York,” Orson declared, holding his drink out for Rory’s pour.
“I genuinely don’t even know where to start.” Zoe looked over to me.
“Wait! Pause. Happy birthday, Zoe. You’re an absolute knockout, smart, and funny, and I’m so happy to be getting to know you,” Rory cooed with a devastating smile, knocking us all down at the knees.
Where the hell did this guy come from?!
The Rory of my childhood would never have said something so effusive and suave. He was so comfortable in his skin that I thought back to Tessa at Topgolf and all those open legs, ready and willing.
“Happy birthday, Zoe!” We clinked our glasses.
Rory winked at me before taking a sip.
“Okay, continue.” Orson smiled.
“Oh, right. Well, Ellie and I were accidentally in a porn movie,” Zoe stated bluntly.
“ZO?!” I scream-laughed, and buried my hands in my face, horrified.
“What?!” Rory yelled. His jaw practically hit the table.
Hannah and Kara doubled over with laughter. They loved this story and were clearly excited that Rory was about to hear it.
“Okay, fine. We don’t know it’s porn, but I’m at least eighty percent positive.”
“I need more information than that.” Rory laughed.
“We were booked by an extras casting agency. The only information we were given was the time and location. It was a pool hall. Anyway, these two actors . . . Wow.” Zoe shook her head, dumbfounded.
“There’s no explanation other than they must have been porn stars.
Plus, the dialogue, the scene, the lighting.
It was too much. So, when the director called action, instead of quietly mumbling ‘watermelon, watermelon, banana, banana,’ there were twenty-five background actors all looking around suspiciously at each other and whispering, ‘Are we all in a porno right now?’ ”
“Ha!” Maddy dabbed a tear from her eye. “I don’t know this story.”
“Did you leave?” Orson asked.
“No. We wanted to see how it ended.” I laughed.
“Did you see them having sex?!” Rory’s eyes were fiery; he was loving every minute of our ridiculousness.
“No.” Zoe pulled a sad face. “Which is why I’m not one hundred percent.”
“Ellie won a car on The Price Is Right!” Hannah jumped in.
Rory excitedly snapped his head around to me.
“Oh, and we once danced with George Clooney,” Zoe added on.
“What the fuck?” Orson’s eyebrows flew up his forehead.
“Yeah, but that was by accident.” I tried to temper the story, which made me instantly self-conscious. I was always worried that my sometimes-seemingly glamorous LA life came across as self-aggrandizing when, in reality, nothing ever is as it seems.
“Have you ever been to the Hollywood Bowl?” Zoe then asked.
Rory and Orson both shook their heads.
“Next time you come to LA, we’ll take you.”
My heart leapt into my throat at the idea of a next time.
“Alright, let me think,” Zoe continued. “Ellie, you want to get into any of your work stories?”
My eyes plummeted to my drink, and I felt heat rise up my neck.
“You have to tell them about the time with the construction workers,” Zoe said, turning to Rory and Orson.
“Ellie once had a boss who invited her into a meeting with a director, then complained about the construction noise out on the street in front of their office. He said that if she couldn’t get the construction workers to stop for the duration of the meeting, she would never be a successful producer.
He kicked her out in front of everyone, just for a power trip, locked her out, and would only let her back in if she got the workers to stop doing their job. ”
“That’s so messed up.” Orson’s face morphed with disgust.
I couldn’t look at Rory. I didn’t want to even imagine what he was thinking.
“Did you get them to stop?” Orson asked.
“Um, yeah. I did.” I laughed weakly.
“How the hell did you do that?” Maddy asked, baffled.
“Oh, I don’t know. I got pretty good at talking myself into and out of bizarre work situations. I’ve had worse,” I said, minimizing the story. “And my boss now isn’t like that. Ken’s great.”
“Yeah, but don’t you have to work with that Craig guy a lot?” Maddy kindly reminded me.
I gave her a poisonous glare. “Craig’s fine.
” My voice was clipped. When I finally flipped my attention to Rory, I could see that his jaw was tense.
He kept his dark eyes on me. “Alright, let’s be done with this.
No one wants to talk about work. We’re in Vegas!
Let’s dance!” I took Kara’s hand and led the ladies to the dance floor.
The dance floor was packed. People were pressed into each other. Drinks were sloshing about and making the hardwood floors ever stickier. All the girls were dancing together, and when Rory and Orson joined us, Rory spun me around, away from the girls and toward him.
“Hey,” he said. “Is everything okay at your work?”
“All good.” I shook my head and continued dancing.
“I don’t know if I believe you.” Rory lifted his hand to brush my hair away from my face.
“I’m okay. It’s in the past. It’s not that bad anymore.
” I took his hand into both of mine and pulled it to my lips to kiss the inside of his palm.
I held my lips on him and opened my eyes, looking directly into his.
I could see that my kiss surprised him. I had done this with him before, at his dad’s funeral, and it surprised him then, too.
My stomach collapsed, and I wondered if his had, too.
“I promise you, I’m good. Now, for the love of God, Rory, dance with me. ”
Rory and I danced all night. We may as well have been at the club by ourselves.
I would usually have been concerned about how my friends felt about me abandoning them, but every time I looked over at any of my girls, they gave me an enthusiastic look.
Kara even went so far as to give me a thumbs-up.
Hannah looked nervous, but I could see the light in her eyes and knew she was excited, too.
We were sweaty, and our heartbeats pumped along with the music.
Our foreheads collided, and we could feel our hot, alcohol-tinged breath on each other’s faces.
Our hands tangled with each other as we swayed.
Rory found my stomach and pushed my shirt aside in search of my bare skin.
I draped my arms over his shoulders. His body pressed into mine, his chest, his hips.
His hands roamed me openly and fearlessly.
The music raged, and we felt every beat thrumming through us.
Rory tugged me all the way in to him and placed his forehead on my shoulder.
Still bouncing to the music, I became a time traveler.
I had felt him in this exact position so many times in the past. I could see us as teenagers on a couch, I could see us at prom, in his car, in New York, at his father’s funeral.
Back in the club, I could feel him breathing on my bare shoulder.
Then I could feel him pressing his lips into my shoulder.
He gently lifted my arm as the music carried us away.
He moved his mouth down my arm and kissed my bicep, the inner crook of my arm, down the soft inside of my forearm, my rose gold bracelet against my wrist, all the way to my palm, as I had done with him.
“Rory.” I was breathing heavily. He lifted his dark eyes to mine and bit the top of my thumb. “What are you doing?”
I might have said it out loud, but it also might have been in my head, because before I could think straight, or think at all, Rory brought his other hand to the back of my head and dug his fingers into my hair. His mouth landed on mine.