Page 28 of Spicy Sapphic Christmas

Bunny kept her eyes on Piper but saw Siena’s eyebrows rise at her question.

“Can’t it be both?”

“Yeah.” Bunny smiled on a sigh. “I’m sure it can be.”

“And you, Bunny?” Siena asked.

Bunny turned back to Siena, her chest heating with the discomfort she had known all her life. “I don’t know.”

“Please.” Piper’s voice was stronger now. Her hands no longer gripped the table, and she bounced a little in her seat.

“I promise, no rainbow waving card will be required.” Siena put her hands up and out, making sure her voice was quiet and discreet so it didn’t carry. Bunny always appreciated that.

Bunny closed her eyes, huffed out a small breath and squared her shoulders. She’d put Piper through the ringer that day already, first with the mention of Haylee and now this. She could do this one thing for her best friend, couldn’t she?

“All right.” Bunny nodded, and Piper squealed with excitement. That weight eased up a little, and Bunny couldn’t stop herself from smiling. When it came to Piper, having her happy mattered more than the pain in her chest. “Put us down for the headliner.”

snow, snow, snow…

NINE

bea

“I can’t wait to see who we’re singing with!” Jo, perky as always, vibrated with barely contained energy.

Bea’s stomach was a twisted tangle of nerves. It always was whenever she had somewhere new to go or something new to do, and this was so different from anything she’d done in a long time. The stage where they were set to perform wasn’t available until the week running up to the event, so they were rehearsing in a small studio on the edge of town that took Bea an hour to get to.

Commuting an hour each way was going to drive her insane.

Jo bounced around as she went, acting as if none of this was a problem. The door to the studio was opaque, the glass looking almost rippled, but it was definitely the right place. Bea had triple checked the address before they’d left that morning and insisted that Jo travel with her at least for this first day.

She could do this.

Pushing the door open, Bea told herself again that she would plaster professionalism all over herself no matter who they ended up singing with. Music filtered through the studio from the piano that was staged close to the large windows on one sideof the room. The lights were bright, and the acoustics exactly what they needed.

The melody was so familiar to Bea that she almost started humming along to it already.December Prayerwas one of her favorite Christmas songs to date. If that was going to be one of the songs they were singing for the charity event, then Bea was happy they’d agreed to it.

Jo’s squeal was so loud that it echoed through the studio. She raced up and wrapped her arms around Piper’s neck as she leapt into a hug. The two of them embraced while Bea’s stomach sank even more.

This she should have figured out.

This she should have known.

The piano music stopped abruptly. And Bunny stood up, leaning over the edge of the upright to stare at Piper and Jo before slowly sliding her gaze to Bea. And that gaze was intense. It moved straight between Bea’s legs, causing a shudder to flutter through her.

“I didn’t realize you were doing the charity event, too!” Jo spun around the side of the piano and wrapped her arms around Bunny, who froze. Sharply. Stiffly. She looked over Jo’s shoulder and made direct eye contact with Bea, begging her to step in and make it stop.

“Jo, leave her alone,” Bea said softly. “Siena put it together. It’s not too much of a surprise when you think about it.”

Bunny stepped to the side and moved decidedly out of Jo’s reach. Piper moved in and gave Bea a half hug. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Did you know?” Bea murmured, keeping her voice as quiet as possible so hopefully Bunny didn’t hear.

“Yeah.”

“So we’re the ones in the dark this time.”

Piper shrugged. “I hope you don’t mind.”

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