Becoming Ruby Read online

  Instantly the tension left the room, and everyone started telling stories and laughing. It felt really good to be in a group of people and be myself, not worried about Ruby, not worried about being a witch, just being Jade for a while.

  I had about ten minutes left so I excused myself to write a note to Ruby and change. I decided to tape it to my forehead to see how she liked it.

  I was still on the bus when I became aware. I looked around for a note and didn’t find one, so I got up, and went to the front to see where we were going next. Grady wasn’t there and that made me a bit nervous, but I thought maybe they just had a late night. I rummaged around and made coffee, and started cooking some breakfast burritos.

  About the time I was finished cooking, a blurry eyed Grady stumbled into the kitchen. I handed him a cup of coffee and we ate breakfast.

  “Late night?” I asked.

  He looked sheepish, “Yeah I went out to Beale Street with the band after the show.”

  “That’s awesome! Was it fun?” I faked enthusiasm, I didn’t want him to feel guilty that I couldn’t have went.

  “You’re not upset that I went out and you couldn’t?”

  “Of course not, silly. It’s not your fault that Ruby is active at night.”

  He grabbed me up in his arms and his lips met mine in a smoldering kiss. My stomach clenched. He broke the kiss and placed his forehead on mine, “Jade, I’ve fallen hard for you. I know it’s fast, but I want you, and only you to be mine.”

  “I want that too,” I replied breathlessly.

  We headed back to the bedroom and I suddenly got shy again. I’d never had sex, the Ruby thing kept me from ever trying to connect with a guy before. I was worried I didn’t know what to do.

  “Um Grady, I’ve never ummm done anything before.”

  “You’re still a virgin Jade?”

  “Yeah, sorry if that changes your mind about me,” I said, my cheeks turning bright red.

  “Of course not, baby. I just want your first time to be special. Not some crazy romp on the back of a tour bus. I want you more than you know, but you deserve better.”

  I grabbed his face and we started kissing again, his tongue parted my lips, as our mouths danced together we fell back to the bed, him propped above me. His leg pressed against my knee and encouraged me to open my legs and then he was pressed up against my sensitive heat, only our clothes separated us. He then began rubbing back and forth and it was so stimulating I began writhing against him chasing the same sensation. After a short time I felt like I couldn’t take anymore, and then it burst into the most glorious feeling, my body turned to rubber. If I could orgasm like that with our clothes still on, what was the real thing going to be like.

  Grady started chuckling, I had said that out loud. He just kissed my forehead and said, “Magical.” Then he laid there and cuddled with me until I was ready to get up again.

  I finally regained my mind and asked, “Where are we headed now?”

  “Chicago, for one night, then St. Louis.”

  “I didn’t notice the stalker in Memphis, maybe he gave up in Florida.”

  “I hope so, baby.”

  “When should we hit Chicago? I want to take a shower but don’t want to lose time to explore.”

  “Around noonish. Go shower and I’ll see you in the sitting area when you’re done,” he said, before he kissed my forehead, then walked out of the room.

  I got my stuff around and took a shower, missing the hotel soaking tub already. Once I was dressed I joined Grady in the front. Elias and Liam were up too, both downing the coffee. I was super glad I couldn’t feel the after effects of Ruby’s nights.

  Elias spoke up, “Why don’t we go do something as a group? Grady has been hogging Jade to himself, and I would like to get to know Ruby’s sister.”

  Liam. “I’m ok with that, if I can have another cup of coffee first.”

  “Hold on,” I told him, taking pity on them. I ran back to my room and pulled out a couple of hangover cures I had made back in Boston.

  “Here, put this in hot water and drink it instead,” I told both Elias and Liam.

  “YUCK!” roared Elias, “What the fuck is this.”

  “An amazing hangover cure, it just tastes like shit,” I replied.

  Both men downed their cups with looks of utter disgust on their faces. I guess in the world of balance, a cure for the previous night’s stupidity shouldn’t taste good.

  “I’ve heard about Millennium Park, we could go spend the day there?” Grady offered.

  “Sounds good to me,” I agreed, not really caring what we did today.

  The other guys agreed and went back to shower and got ready one at a time, while the rest of us tried to watch a movie. It was some action movie I didn’t much care for, so I cuddled into Grady and let my thoughts to wander.

  “Earth to, Jade,” Grady was saying.

  “Oh, sorry I was lost in thought.”

  “I could tell, we’re here. Time to get going.”

  I followed the guys off the bus and into the car. Grady and I wound up in the backseat this time. I sat in the middle, because I craved to be close to him. I felt like a schoolgirl with a crush.

  The first thing I noticed when we arrived at Millennium Park was a giant mirrored Egg. When I say giant I mean massive, like stories tall. It was oddly strange and beautiful. I wouldn’t want to have to clean it though. We decided to go ice skating first, which none of us had ever attempted before. Let’s just say I’m glad no one was taking pictures, but it was a blast. I was slowly getting to know Ruby’s guys and they seemed pretty great, which surprised me knowing Ruby.

  We stopped and ate and thought about catching a movie, but it wouldn’t give us time to get back for Ruby. Instead we headed back to the bus to watch a movie there and just rest a bit before the band had their show that night. I was perfectly happy to cuddle into Grady while we watched a movie again.

  It was time for Ruby to be back, so I made my way back to the bedroom and laid down. I didn’t bother to change my clothes this time.

  Chapter 9

  I felt the piece of paper on my face before I opened my eyes. I groaned, tired of this note game. Why don’t we just leave each other voicemails I wondered, then decided it would be creepy to hear Ruby talking to me. I sat up and read her note.

  Jade,

  Just fyi creepy stalker dude is back. He left a letter at the venue for us and I could feel him staring while we performed, which shouldn’t have happened. Keep your eyes open and tell the boys, I didn’t bother.

  XOXO

  Ugh, I hoped he was gone. I got dressed and headed to the front to share the letter with Grady if he were awake. Lucky for me he was and had made breakfast. “You have me spoiled, how am I going to go back to real life in 10 more days?”

  “Who says you have to,” he purred in my ear.

  “I don’t know how we can make this work you, me, Ruby, the others, it’s a lot to consider.”

  “I think if everyone has similar goals we can figure it out.”

  “Point taken, here read this. Ruby left it on my forehead again. She's going to make us breakout if she doesn’t quit.”

  Grady chuckled, until he read the note, then his eyes got dark.

  “Dammit! Ruby should have said something last night,” he yelled.

  Elias stumbled out of his bunk, “Ruby what?”

  I handed him the note to read as well. “Fuck. I was hoping it was just a local creep in Florida,” Elias cursed.

  “We all were,” Grady grumbled.

  “I guess we all just have to keep alert and hopefully he’ll get bored soon,” I said being hopeful.

  “Are we in St. Louis already? Can we visit the arch?” I asked once I realized we hadn’t been moving.

  “Let’s go, but you tell me if any creepy feelings happen,” Grady said.

  With that we were out the door and on our way to visit the arch. St Louis had a lot of traffic this time of morning, but they were b
eing nice about letting people merge. When we arrived at the arch, I was a little disappointed, it looked way cooler from a distance. We watched the river boats and then looked to see what else there was to do in the city.

  We decided to check out the zoo, it was still early so the zoo had just opened not long after we arrived. We spent the entire day looking at the animals, riding the train, and carousel. I even got to pet a stingray. Towards the end of our day I started to get the feeling I was being watched and my stomach sank.

  “Grady, can we go back to the bus now?” I asked.

  “It’s happening? Shit, I wish this fucker would show himself so I could hex him to Sunday.”

  “That wouldn’t help us now would it.” I gave him a pointed look. Hexing requires taking on the negative consequences of placing the hex on another person.

  “I just want you to be safe. This stalker is bad business.”

  “I know honey, but hexing won’t help. We just have to make the best of what we have and be careful.”

  We were in the car on the way back to the bus by the time the conversation ended. The rest of the ride was in silence, I was lost in thought, and I think Grady was as well.

  We walked into the bus and Grady announced, “He was at the zoo, even we didn’t know we were going to go there until last minute. He’s either tracking her or he is following closely.”

  It’d never occurred to me that we could be tracked by the stalker. The following made more sense, but I didn’t always feel like I was being watched either.

  We decided to order pizza and watch movies to take my mind off of the stalker. The guys let me pick, so I wanted a Marvel marathon. We started with Iron Man. It helped a lot being cuddled up to Grady while we watched some of my favorite movies, and ate pizza. It almost felt normal, even if we were on a bus.

  Entirely too soon, the sun had began to set. I wish there was a way for us to separate, and that’d never occurred to me before since our entire existence had been this way. I wrote a note about the stalker guy and taped it to my nose and laid down to wait for the darkness.

  Grady had warned me we would be in Kansas City when I woke up since it was a short drive. I looked for a note and it was wrapped around my cell phone this time.

  Jade,

  So maybe this stalker is a bigger deal than I thought. I can’t smell him out and neither can Elias. He left another love letter, this time with threats against us if we don’t come to him in the next three days. The label has upped security, and we'll going to continue on the tour. I have never been worried before. How do you live like this?

  XOXO

  The letter was really disconcerting. If Ruby was worried, then we were in a heap of trouble. I fought the urge to stay in bed, and got up and got ready for the day. I steeled myself to face Grady to see what his mood would be after last night's events.

  “Morning, baby.” Grady swept me into a hug and held on for a moment.

  “Good morning to you too.” I smiled up at him.

  We drank coffee and discussed the stalker, I refused breakfast, my stomach was rolling. We decided that we’d stay in and have another movie marathon, since we hadn’t finished the Marvel one we started, and we wouldn’t have to deal with stalker guy while in the bus.

  We’d just made it through the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie when Elias and Liam crawled out of their bunks. Both looked to be in very sour moods.

  “Cheer up boys. We have movies,” I said with a false happiness, trying to cheer them up.

  Elias gave me a dirty look, “I'll not cheer up until your stalker is dead or in jail. He just better hope the police catch him before I do.”

  Liam piped in, “We just want Ruby and you safe.”

  The guys settled on the couch to watch movies with us. We munched on popcorn and sandwiches throughout the day so when dinner time came I really wasn’t hungry, but all three guys were. Liam got up and made a pot of spaghetti. By the time it was done my belly was growling because of the smell.

  Grady poked my belly, “I thought you said you weren’t hungry, Jade.”

  “Lemme alone. I can change me mind.”

  Grady just shook his head, smiled, and brought me a plate of the delicious smelling pasta.

  We had time for one more movie before I had to get ready for Ruby’s time. We chose Spiderman Homecoming since I hadn’t seen it yet. When it finished, I decided it was my favorite Spiderman, because of the awesome new suits.

  I gave Grady a kiss and headed back to the room and barely had time to sit and I was gone.

  The first thing I felt was cold porcelain under my butt. Ruby pulled her pants down and sat on the toilet to switch places. There was a note in my hand.

  Jade,

  How about a cold awakening. Haha get it. Anyways stalker guy made an appearance again. We are fucking going to take him down when I find him. I don’t put up with this shit from anyone. See if you can stay really public today and lure him out. The guys all agreed to go with you wherever you want.

  XOXO

  These games were getting really old, but I had no control over what she did. At least she can’t give me tattoos, or piercings I thought to myself. After I made myself presentable I went to the front of the bus, surprised Elias and Liam were awake.

  “Hey, baby, I hope Ruby explained that we decided to try to lure the asshole out today. We are going to spend all day exploring, until you change over to Ruby,” Grady said, then placed a kiss on my cheek.

  “Why do all the votes happen at night.” I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted. “It means I never get a voice, but whatever let’s go then.”

  Liam spoke up, “She’s right, If she’s going to be the bait she should have a say in it. Do you want to do this, Jade?”

  I was totally shocked Liam stood up for me like that. “Yeah, I want to catch this stalker so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Thank you for asking though.” I shot him an appreciative smile. “Where are we anyways?”

  “Dallas. What do you want to do today?” Grady asked.

  Elias spoke up, “There’s an amusement park, we could go ride roller coasters?”

  “Sounds good to me, how about you two?” I said looking at Grady and Liam.

  They both had big grins on their faces, so we headed off to grab breakfast and go play in the amusement park for the day.

  As soon as we sat down for breakfast I felt the creepy eyes on me. I let the guys know quietly. Liam made his way to the bathroom, Elias walked outside, and Grady attempted a location spell. Everyone came up empty handed, it was like this guy was invisible.

  After breakfast we stuck to our plan, and we were off to ride some roller coasters. We spent the entire day at the park waiting in lines and seeking thrills, I didn’t feel stalker guy again until towards the end when it was getting close to time for Ruby to come out.

  We headed to the car, not wanting him to witness the change since we couldn’t find him. The vote was to head back to the bus before Ruby actually came around and we’d regroup tomorrow in Phoenix.

  As soon as we got back to the bus I wrote a note explaining what had happened that day to Ruby, hoping she would be careful. This guy had me unnerved. I laid down and let the darkness take over.

  Chapter 10

  I woke up to the familiar feeling of being on the road. At least I knew where we were going today. Ruby left a note laying on my chest this time.

  Jade,

  Asshole stalker left a note only saying tick tock this time.

  XOXO

  Short and sweet, I guessed there was nothing for her to goad me about at least.

  I dressed in comfy clothes and headed out to the kitchen for breakfast. Grady wasn’t up today so I started the coffee, and checked supplies to see what I could make. I found the makings for french toast and got started. By the time the first two pieces were made all three guys were standing there waiting to have some.

  “I thought you two liked to sleep in?” I asked teasing Liam and Elias.
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br />   “Food woke me up, it’s your fault, Jade,” Elias growled.

  I just giggled and kept cooking until everyone was fed, than sat down to eat myself.

  Once they finished eating both Elias and Liam stumbled back to bed, which made me start giggling again.

  “We’re stuck on the bus all day today I’m afraid,” Grady said, as he put his arms around me. “We won’t arrive in Phoenix until evening.”

  “I’m fine cuddling with you all day.” I looked up smiling,

  His lips crashed against mine hungrily, and mine met his equally as starved. We ended up laying on the couch just enjoying the taste of eachother. “We have to stop or I won’t be able to, and this is not how I want our first time to be, baby.” He said in a husky voice.

  I stuck my lower lip out, not wanting to stop. He leaned forward nipping my lip. “Come on let's watch some more of your Marvel movies, baby. I promise as soon as we can do it right, I'll ravage that body of yours, but I refuse your first time to be on a tour bus, especially where someone could walk out and see.”

  “Ok, you win,” I sighed.

  We cuddled up together which felt good as well. I didn’t bother telling him we only had one more movie that was out to watch. Once we finished Thor we had to figure out what other movies to watch. I had a very strange taste in movies so I thought I would challenge Grady with a few of my favorites.

  The next movie we watched was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, it made me super happy he enjoyed it as much as I did. I was beginning to feel like the Goddess made this man just for me. Then my worried mind took over and wanted to know what was going to go wrong, nothing was supposed to feel that right.

  Elias and Liam crawled out from their bunks again and we ate sandwiches and switched to some stupid humor comedy. It was nice stress relief just to laugh at the movie and not have to think about everything that had happened lately. Since we still had several hours before we would arrive in Phoenix I decided to do a bit more reading.