“No way, Daphni. Absolutely not.” I cross my arms over my chest to further emphasize my point, but as usual, Daphni totally ignores me. She continues pacing around the room, her lips pursed as she desperately tries to cobble together some kind of plan. Her intentions are purely noble and even a bit admirable. Her execution, however, is severely lacking.

“Okay, well what if instead of like a formal kidnapping, we make it…more casual? Like we lose the blindfolds and handcuffs?”

“Daphni, love, first of all, there is no such thing as a casual kidnapping. Second, I don’t think the right way to inspire Gabby to emerge back into the world is to scare the shit out of her by making her think she is being abducted.”

“No, you missed the main point, Liam!” Daphni groans as she pins her green eyes on mine. “Sure, it’s like, a little scary for the first half, but the second half is when we surprise her with the puppies. Do you need me to explain the whole thing again?”

I force myself not to roll my eyes because it’s clear how hard Daphni is trying right now. Even though she is absolutely clueless, she obviously wants to help her sister.

Ever since the big fight last week and the publicity fallout, Gabby has been in hiding. While she has stayed on the tour, the minute we arrive at the hotel, she checks in to her room and rarely leaves. Not that I really blame her. The press is thirsting for five minutes with her, but Daphni has been more than willing to help out with that. She loves retelling the story of how she broke Jordan James’s nose in defense of all women, everywhere. She’s milking it, but hey, it’s a fucking fantastic story.

“Daphni instead of all this elaborate planning and scheming, why don’t you just go talk to her?”

Daphni stares at me blankly. “I did talk to her.”

“No, love. Talk about her feelings, her fears, understand what she’s worried about so you can help her. All you’ve been doing is trying to bribe her with pie and baby goats.”

“Well, she loves goats,” Daphni says softly as she collapses down on the couch.

Sitting down next to her, I wrap a reassuring arm around her shoulders. “I know she loves goats, but some problems can’t be solved so easily. Sometimes you need to put in a bit more elbow grease.”

She nods thoughtfully and when she opens her mouth to respond, we hear a loud, clipped knock at the door.

“Who is it?” I call out.

“It’s Gabby.”

Daphni and I share a look of confusion before she jumps off the couch and rushes to answer the door.

Gabby enters the room, her nervous hands clasped in front of her. Surprisingly, she’s not dressed in her usual uniform of black pants, a black hoodie, and sunglasses. Today she looks…better. Healthier and lighter. Her long brown hair is braided loosely down her back and her green eyes look brighter, the bags under them now gone.

“What’s up Gabby?” Daphni asks hesitantly.

Taking a deep breath, Gabby places her palms on her thighs. “I want to go out tonight.”

Daphni shoots me a confused look before turning back to her sister. “Um, yeah. Of course! Sure! Wherever you want. I heard of this great club on Fifth, they have this DJ who plays—”

Gabby waves her arms, stopping Daphni mid-sentence. “No, no club. I want to go somewhere else.”

Daphni obediently sits back down and nods her head. “Oh, right, sure. What did you have in mind?”

* * *

As we enter the smoky lounge, Daphni again grabs her sister’s arm. “Gabby, are you sure this is where you wanted to go?” she asks, her eyes wide as she looks around the room.

Gabby nods and speaks with the host, who promptly brings the three of us to a small, circular booth in the far back corner of the lounge. I slide in after Daphni, facing Gabby. Her eyes are flitting around the room, as if she is trying to see everything at once.

We all reach for the plastic menus on the table and Daphni’s eyes continue to grow impossibly wider as she reads and keeps sneaking furtive glances back at her sister.

When the waiter returns to take our orders, Daphni turns to her sister. “Well, Gabby since this was your choice why don’t you order for us?”

Looking down at the menu, Gabby skims her finger down. “Okay, we’ll get two brownies, please. Three of the peach Dixie Elixirs. And we will take one Maui Wowie,” Gabby says before closing her menu and handing it over to the waiter.

“Right on. Did you want the Maui Wowie as a joint or a bong?” he asks.

“Joint is fine. Thank you,” Gabby replies.

An amused smile tugs at my lips as I watch Daphni continue to nervously look around, her eyes wide, as if she expects the DEA to rush in any moment now and drag her to a cell. Gabby, on the other hand, looks far more relaxed as she sinks into the cushions of the booth.

“This is an interesting choice of venue, Gabby,” Daphni comments, breaking the silence.

“Well, when in Rome,” Gabby answers flippantly.

Daphni tugs her baseball cap down a bit farther over her head. All her blue hair is tucked in tightly, and the dimmed lights combined with all the smoke is a good cover for her.

We continue to sit in awkward silence until the waiter returns. He deposits everything in front of Gabby before rushing away. For a Tuesday night, this place is absolutely packed. Gabby divides the drinks and then reaches for the lighter in the middle of the table. Lighting the joint in her mouth, she takes a long inhale and then releases a thick cloud of smoke. Taking another hit, she nods appreciatively before handing it over to her dumbfounded sister.

Daphni takes a quick drag, which sends her into a coughing spree. She almost drops the joint but Gabby pulls it from her fingers and hands Daphni her drink. As she takes a long sip, Gabby takes another hit before passing it back to her sister.

“Daphni, have you never smoked before?” Gabby asks with an amused smile on her face.

Daphni shrugs her shoulders. “I’d rather get a vodka Red Bull than get high and eat Twinkies all night.”

Gabby rolls her eyes and then, placing the joint in Daphni’s lips, instructs her on how to take a solid hit. After a few tries, Gabby deems Daphni beyond help and passes me the joint.

I shake my head politely. “I’m on the clock.”

Daphni pouts, pursing her lips as she gives me her best puppy eyes. “Liam, just this once.”

I shake my head again. Smiling mischievously, Daphni gestures to her sister. “Do it for Gabby, then.”

Gabby takes a cue from her sister and gives me an impish wink. “Yeah, Liam. Take the hit.”

They both begin banging their fists on the table, chanting, “Take the hit!”

“Very mature, ladies,” I comment as I roll my eyes and take the lit joint from Daphni. I take a long hit, keeping the smoke in my chest before exhaling it in a long gust. I haven’t smoked in years and I can feel the effects immediately as each of my muscles loosens and the tension floats away.

“Not bad,” I comment as I take one last hit and pass the joint across the table back to Gabby. When our hands touch, her green eyes jump to mine. They stay locked on me as she brings the joint up to her lips and takes a long hit. When she blows out the smoke, she closes her eyes and leans back in her chair, a satisfied smile on her face.

Daphni stares wide-eyed at her sister. “Gabby, since when did you become such a stoner?”

“I’m not a stoner, Daphni. But, I can fully attest to the many benefits of a nice, properly packed joint to aide with the studying of macroeconomics at two in the morning.”

Daphni’s jaw drops even more and I can’t help but smile at the sight. Falling back in her seat, Daphni crosses her arms over her chest. “I can’t believe it. My sister is a stoner.”

“You know, there are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” Gabby says with a spark in her eye.

“Apparently so,” Daphni responds as she absently takes a large bite out of the untouched fudge brownie on the table.

As she takes another bite, Gabby holds back a chuckle, causing a flush of pink to tint her cheeks. Only when Daphni reaches for a third bite does Gabby shoot out her hand and stop her sister.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Gabby warns.

“Why? I did my cardio this morning, I can have—” Daphni’s face drops the moment she realizes that the brownie she had been stuffing into her mouth wasn’t just an innocent baked good. “Oh no. Am I high?” She drops the brownie on the table. “Gabby, am I high?”

Gabby’s face flushes a bright pink as she tries to hold back a laugh. “Daphni, seriously? You’ve been high before. And those were pharmaceuticals. At least this is all natural.”

Daphni’s eyes widen as she shakes her head. “Okay, true. But I didn’t get ‘high’ so I could see unicorns, I did it so I could stay up late and party. God, Gabby if I see any kind of dancing gummy bears or any weird shit like that, I’m going to kill you.”

Finally Gabby can’t suppress her laughter and she doubles over, her eyes glistening as Daphni glares at her. After a few long moments, she finally calms down. “You know, Daphni, unicorns are the national animal of Scotland.”

“Bullshit,” Daphni says.

“Well,” I start to say before Gabby holds up her hand, silencing me.

“You want to bet, Daphni?”

Daphni rolls her eyes and looks at me. “If you learn anything from me, Liam, learn this: Gabby will turn anything into a bet. Even if she knows she’s wrong, she just likes the thrill of it.” She turns her focus back to her sister. “Okay, I’ll bite. How much do you want to bet?”

Gabby holds up the half-eaten brownie. “Loser eats the brownie. Whole thing. Tonight.”

Daphni shakes her head. “Fine.” She pulls out her phone, and as she types the search into the web browser, her face quickly falls. Dropping the phone onto the table, she turns to glare at me. “You couldn’t warn me?”

I shrug my shoulders apologetically as Gabby hands her sister the brownie. Daphni stares dejectedly at it before stuffing the whole piece into her mouth. She glares at her sister as she chews it, crossing her arms at her chest.

It only takes a few minutes before Daphni’s eyes glaze over and her movements start to slow. She starts to laugh loudly, and Gabby’s eyes widen in amusement at the change in her sister.

“This is worth every penny,” she says, leaning toward me. “But I think it might be a good idea to get her back into bed.”

“Agreed.”

I call over the waiter to settle the bill and we gather our things and stand up from the booth. We each loop an arm through Daphni and bring her outside, where she has now decided to start singing.

After helping Daphni into the backseat of the car, Gabby closes the door and looks up at me. “I never had the chance to thank you for...” She smiles uncomfortably and rolls her eyes. “Well, everything really.”

I shake my head. “You don’t need to thank me.”

“Okay. Well, I had fun tonight. At least let me thank you for that?”

Behind us, Daphni rolls down her window before rolling it back up, then back down again. “Did you guys ever wonder how automatic windows are kind of like a metaphor for how our expectations of life are just illusions?” she asks as she pokes her head outside.

Gabby and I share a smile and I gesture to her sister. “Perhaps it should be Daphni you’re thanking for putting that smile on your face again.”

Gabby laughs as she looks back at her sister. “True.”

She looks back at me and sucks her lower lip into her mouth, as if she’s trying to solve a difficult equation. Then, without warning, she perches on her toes and presses a kiss to my lips as she grips my shirt in her hands. The minute I feel her lips on mine, a switch inside of me flips. For weeks my body has been aching for this and with her perfect pink lips on mine, it’s fucking impossible for me to hold back. So I don’t. Instead I push her back against the car, deepening the kiss. My hands find her hips and I grip them as Gabby brings her hands up to wrap around my neck. My tongue slips in her mouth, meeting hers. The hot heat of her mouth makes my dick spring to action and I feel my erection press uncomfortably against my jeans. As my hands skim up her body, the sound of the car’s horn instantly rips me out of the moment.

I reluctantly pull away and look into the car to see Daphni in the driver’s seat fumbling with the steering wheel. I curse under my breath and look down to see an amused Gabby watching me. She slips away and opens the driver’s door to pull Daphni out and tuck her in the backseat. Collecting myself, and adjusting my hard dick in my pants, I jump into the driver’s seat and take us back to the hotel.

I don’t have a chance to say goodnight to Gabby when I get caught by John on the way up to our rooms needing to discuss the plans for the rest of the week. Reluctantly I watch Daphni and Gabby slip into their hotel room and follow John to go over the week’s schedule. Though I try to listen, I’m too distracted. I can still feel Gabby’s lips crushed against mine, still smell her perfume. And it’s only in the quiet of my bed later that night that, with nothing but silence and my own thoughts surrounding me, that I realize Gabby is it. She’s what I want and everything I never knew I needed. I had never allowed myself to think of the possibility of settling down with a woman before. I had everything I thought I needed already. Love was never part of my plan. And then she happened. And there’s not a chance in hell that I’m letting her slip out of my arms a second time.