Page 10 of Hardcore Vanilla
“I told you she’d hate it,” Kate said, still laughing.
“What’s wrong with it?” he asked patiently. The man had an abundance of patience, which was a real virtue among their group of friends. Especially since when Sharon and Kate got together they were loud. Andrew always took it in stride.
Sharon rolled her eyes. “Look, I get that this might be hard to understand when you’re marrying real-life-Barbie, but not all women look good in all clothes.”
“Hey, I don’t look good in everything,” Kate protested. Sharon raised an eyebrow at her bestie, who really did look like a Barbie doll. She was tall, slim with big boobs and rounded hips, and had long white-blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The California tan had faded since they’d moved to Maryland, but it would be back in the summer.
By contrast, Sharon looked like the Italian princessa that she sometimes liked to pretend she was. Short, curvy, thick black hair, black eyes, and olive-toned skin. Although she’d paled quite a bit since they’d moved to the East Coast too. She was Snow White to Kate’s Cinderella… At least she didn’t usually feel like one of the dwarves.
She might if she had to wear the dress Kate had just shown her though.
“Ruffles – especially tiers of ruffles – do not work on short, curvy ladies,” Sharon informed Andrew, ignoring Kate’s ridiculous statement. If there was something Kate didn’t look good in, they hadn’t found it yet. The closest it ever came was that she didn’t look as good in some things as she did in others. Lucky bitch. “I would look like a cupcake.”
“Huh.” Apparently, Andrew didn’t have an answer for that – which was just as well.
“I wasn’t really going to put you in that,” Kate said, giggling and tugging the magazine away from Sharon’s fingers. “I just wanted to see your expression.”
"Bitch."
"Ho."
"Ladies," Andrew said firmly, cutting into what could have easily descended into an insult war. He'd been around them often enough to know exactly how fast they could get going. Sometimes it amused him, sometimes it exasperated him. Today it looked like it was going to be the latter.
Sharon stuck her tongue out at Kate.
"I saw that," Andrew said sternly, wagging his finger at her.
"And if I actually thought you'd do something about it, I would be worried," she bratted back at him.
"You need a play session," Kate said, laughing as Andrew narrowed his dark eyes threateningly. 'When are you at Stronghold next?"
"I don't know... Probably this weekend," Sharon said, although she had to admit to herself that a play session didn't sound nearly as interesting now that she had a seriously hot fuck buddy.
"Ooo, who are you thinking about?" Kate asked, leaning forward. The woman could be like a bloodhound on a scent.
"Brian," Sharon lied immediately, naming the Dom she'd dated for several months last year. She knew better than to claim 'no one.' Lying was an art, and one she was damn good at. She'd gotten lots of practice when she was younger. "I still need to ask if he'll be my date to my cousin's wedding."
The wedding was coming up in a couple of weeks, as her parents had reminded her at Christmas. Melinda didn't care if Sharon didn't give her a name ahead of time, or if Sharon even showed up alone despite RSVPing as bringing a date, but Sharon's parents would. Her choices had been to either find a date or deal with her parents on her own all weekend.
She'd figured finding a date would be better. Then they could cast their disapproval on her and whoever she brought, instead of just focusing on her. Plus, as long as she brought a date they'd refrain from trying to hook her up with their friends' sons for the evening. Last time she'd attended a gathering with them, there had been a mortifying moment when she'd realized her mom was trying to hook her up with a friend's daughter. While she'd appreciated that her mom would have been supportive if she was gay, trying to explain that she wasn't to the woman she'd just been paired up with without insulting her had been embarrassing.
Fortunately, the woman in question had been very understanding and they'd had a great night together being each other's wingman.
"I still think that's a terrible idea," Andrew grumped. Sharon couldn't help but smile at him. Ever since he and Kate had gotten back together she'd gotten to spend a lot of time with both of them, and Andrew had started acting like the protective big brother she'd never had. In return, she freaking adored him and did her best to get on his nerves as often as possible.
"What? You should know better than anyone that exes can still work out," she teased.
"Not you two," Andrew said immediately. "That man is a Daddy Dom, and no matter how bratty you are, you're not a babygirl."
"Too true," she said with a sigh. That, in essence, had been exactly why she and Brian had broken up. Sharon liked to be a brat and she liked to be coddled, but when it came down to it, she and Brian just didn't click on all the levels they needed to for them both to be satisfied. He would have always felt like there was something more that he needed, and she would have been unhappy if she'd tried to provide it.
Heck, she had tried and found that it wasn't for her. Even calling him 'Daddy' had given her the willies. She had enough real Daddy issues, having another man acting as a 'daddy' hadn't been sexy to her even though she'd wanted it to be. It had sounded great on paper, but just hadn't worked for her.
Still, she liked Brian. He'd be a great date and he would be understanding about her parents. Even if they weren't together, he would coddle her, and she could use that during family functions. But she was pretty sure he was interested in the submissive he'd been talking to last night, Rae, and if that was the case she didn't want to mess that up for him.
If she asked him, he'd say yes, as a friend... But would a potential girlfriend understand that? That was what had kept her from approaching him last night, she figured she still had some time. Maybe she could find someone else.
Jake could go...
