SSMM Ch26

“Oh please,” Ava says and splashes Jane. “You know you just saw Viv do some OG dyke stuff and got turned on. Just admit it.”

“You ever think that maybe I’m not proud of it?”

“You told me your whole villain monologue about teasing her! And this is what you aren’t proud of?”

Jane blanches.

“Got ‘em,” Ava says.

Jane snorts. “I’m cooked.”

“What did you see, Jane? Tell me what you saw,” Ava asks, leaning close and staring with crazy eyes.

Jane groans theatrically and puts her head back like a sulky teenager. “OK. OK. There was a producer here and an actress, whose name I cannot tell you because that would be scandalous.”

Ava’s impressed.

“Ooh. I never thought about that. You must keep a lot of secrets.”

“Kind of,” Jane replies with a sigh. “Anyway, OK, so… so the producers talked to Viv and they like did their thing, and Viv talked the actress into staying for dinner.”

“Mmm.” Ava makes a frowny face. “I don’t like this story.”

“No, she did it in a not-predatory way. See, that’s what makes her so dangerous. She’s always honest.”

“Not with her wife.”

“OK, that’s different. Anyway! Lemme tell the story. So she makes me do a fancy dinner…”

“Where’s Aubrey during all this?” Ava cuts in.

Jane groans. “On a shoot. Kia wasn’t here, either. Do the math.”

“OK.”

“So they do the dinner, and it’s not my first day, I know what’s going on. So I stay away unless Viv texts me, and I’m getting suspicious. Usually, she’ll ask for some champagne or something at some point when she’s pulling one of these.”

“She does it often enough that you know the routine?”

“It’s not a routine,” Jane says firmly. “But if she calls for champagne or wine after like seven, yeah. Someone’s getting laid. But she didn’t call. So I went to check on her, and I found them on the deck.” She points. “Beautiful night. Moon’s out.”

“Doin’ it,” Ava guesses.

“No.”

“Oh.”

“They weren’t even touching. Viv was coaching this girl on acting stuff and like physicality in a role. Then they danced. Like a romantic dance.” Jane shows with her arms. “Ballroom style, with Viv teaching her. And I’m watching because Viv is so good at this. She looks like a pro. I mean, she is. And of course, yes, the dancing was like her foot in the door, and she kept getting cozier until they were making out. But she made it look so easy. And even though I knew exactly what was happening, I was looking at that and wishing that I was that actress. Nobody has ever or will ever look at me or touch me or kiss me like Viv did. Yes,” Jane adds, shooting Ava an annoyed look. “I know that she’s actress and that she’s good at acting and that acting was what she was doing. Their clothes were on. It was all PG-13. Turned me into a fucking mess. I’ve hated her ten times as much since.”

Ava stares at Jane, who looks embarrassed.

Jane sinks down a little in the tub. “Thanks for listening,” she adds.

“Oh, sweetie.” Ava puts her arm around her and squeezes. “Was that like a whole existential crisis?”

“Oh my god! Yes! There is so much. Like it wasn’t real. And I’m over here like I want that, but I know it’s not real. Drown me.”

It’s OK,” Ava says with a laugh, holding her close.

“Am I interrupting?”

Ava and Jane turn to see Viv enter the pool room with her hair up, walking with a sort of languid confidence that makes one forget things like her age and the fact that while she’s in perfect shape and very beautiful, she doesn’t have an especially knockout figure. She wears a black bikini that doesn’t try very hard and projects assurance.

“Kind of,” Jane tells her frankly.

Ava discreetly checks her phone. Way more than ten minutes. She was wrong; she’ll have to simp for Jane and follow Jane’s lead. That’s not really a bad thing.

“Yeah?” Viv climbs into the tub without hesitation, settling not across from them, but beside Ava. She reaches out and lays her arms on the edge; this is hardly different from the dumbass hetero yawn-n-grab that couples do in movie theaters, yet with Viv it seems natural, organic, and not problematic.

“Yeah,” Jane shoots back, looking past Ava at her. “I was being emotionally **** for the first time in like two years.”

“Honestly, I’m hurt,” Viv says. “No offense, Ava. You’re very charming. But I can’t believe you’d be emotionally **** with a stranger when I’ve been here all along. Is there something I should know, Jane?”

“No,” Jane replies.

Viv doesn’t have her hand on Ava’s shoulder or anything, but her wrist and forearm are touching her skin.

“Hands off,” Jane says, firmly moving Viv’s hand so that there is no contact.

“You’ll have to forgive my surprise,” Viv says to Ava. “Jane’s never done this before.”

“Done what?” Jane demands.

“Asserted dominance and staked her claim on one of my guests before. Honestly, I’m glad to see it.” Viv stands up, and it’s only after a second of gawking at her grace and beauty that Ava realizes this is a calculated move. Viv knows damn well that she can dazzle anyone under any circumstances, and even Jane watches her cross the tub to sit across from them. “Jane’s a treasure. I mean, you’ve eaten her cooking.” Viv laughs. “Felt her massage. If anyone deserves to have a little fun, it’s her. I couldn’t get in the way of that.”

“Yeah? Then what are you doing here?” Jane challenges.

Viv shrugs glamorously and turns an innocent smile on them.

“You invited me,” she says.

“No, we didn’t,” Jane replies.

Viv looks first at Jane, then at Ava, then her eyes go ever so slightly to the left, indicating the view.

Ava feels herself blushing. They are cooked.

“Yes, you did,” Viv says. “And I’m glad. I couldn’t sleep tonight anyway. These new projects are exciting, you know?”

They have failed. The plan was for Viv to walk into a trap and be surprised, but that’s not what’s going on here. They’re on equal footing, maybe even at a disadvantage because Viv just oozes being in control out of her pores. It’s not an ambush; it’s a power struggle. It’s also, Ava reflects, possibly the dumbest situation that she has ever been in. Also the most fun.

But this is a problem. They have to take some power back, and they can’t scheme in front of Viv.

Ava tries to maintain her composure. She wants to laugh at Jane and the absurdity of the situation, but she has to act cool in front of Viv. And she has to be serious; this is war, after all.

Viv has weaknesses. Jane clearly wasn’t ready for Viv to see through her so easily. That means it’s up to Ava to salvage this.

Target Viv’s ego?

Or her libido?