Popcorn Love
Authors: KL Hughes
Tags: #romantic comedy, #lesbian, #lesbian romance, #lesbian fiction
Popcorn Love
Copyright © 2015 by KL Hughes. All rights
reserved.
First Smashwords Edition: September 2015
Edited by Michelle Aguilar
Proofread by Blu
Cover Design & Printlayout by Streetlight
Graphics
All rights reserved. This eBook is licensed for the
personal enjoyment of the original purchaser only. This eBook may
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The characters and events portrayed in this book are
a work of fiction or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real
persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the
author.
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KL Hughes
Popcorn Love
Other
Books from Ylva Publishing
First and foremost, I would like to thank my love.
Thank you, my darling wife, for all your encouragement and support,
your confidence and faith in me, and your endless supply of
laughter and kisses. Your bright spirit always keeps me going.
I would also like to thank my editor and project
manager, Michelle Aguilar, for sticking with me every step of the
way, helping me to grow as a writer, and helping this book to bloom
into what it was always meant to be.
Finally, I would like to thank my publisher, Astrid
Ohletz, and the incredible team at Ylva Publishing for giving this
book, and me, a chance. Please accept my deepest gratitude.
For Swen
“Stop whining,” Vivian huffed before stuffing a
forkful of Cobb salad in her mouth.
Elena rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her
sparkling water and crossed and uncrossed her legs under the café
table. “
You
stop whining,” she hissed at the other woman. “A
refusal does not equate to whining, Vivian. You continuing to push
the issue, however,
does
.”
Vivian finished chewing her food in silence before
dabbing at the corners of her mouth with her napkin. Both she and
Elena were no strangers to proper manners. They had been raised to
never forget them after all.
“Oh come on, Elena. It’s time for you to live a
little. It’s time for you to move on. It’s
time
for you to
get your sexy ass out there and share it with the world!”
Elena quirked a brow at her best friend. “The
world?”
Running a hand through her long, ash blonde hair,
Vivian leaned back in her chair. “Okay, so maybe not the
world
. That would put a whole new meaning on the phrase
‘sleeping around’, wouldn’t it?”
“I am not
sleeping
with anyone,” Elena said.
“I have no desire to dabble in the dating world, let alone jump
into bed with a string of nameless, faceless one-night stands that
could only offer momentary satisfaction, and at the risk of heavy
consequences.” Elena knew well that some of those consequences
could change one’s entire life.
“
Exactly!
That’s the problem!”
“No, dear. The problem is
you
continuing to
hound me about this ridiculous idea of yours to set me up on a
string of dates that I have absolutely no interest in.”
“How do you know you have no interest in them? You
haven’t met any of them yet.
I
haven’t even met any of them
yet.” Vivian pointed a finger at her friend as if she had just made
the most brilliant argument for her case. Elena simply stared at
her, unblinking and unfazed.
“Look, Elena, it doesn’t have to be some big ordeal,”
Vivian said. “It’s not like I am going to put you on a strict
schedule of dates or try to marry you off to the first good-looking
man or woman—”
“Woman?”
“Well, there
was
that time in Cancún.”
Vivian’s soft laugh grew louder as she watched Elena’s cheeks
color. “That was the one and only spring break I convinced you to
take with me during college.” She let out a blissful sigh. “Best
spring break of my life.”
Elena’s blush spread as she ducked her head and
lowered her voice. “Dios mío,” she muttered. “I should
never
have let you talk me into that trip. It was a complete circus, a
circus, may I remind you, of which you swore to never speak again!”
She snatched at her glass of water and took a long sip, the cold
liquid an instant relief. “Oh, and in my defense, I was
highly
inebriated that night. I’m sure you recall the nine
tequila shots I took.
Nine.
”
“Oh I recall.” Vivian turned a wicked grin on her
best friend. “I recall you took all nine of those shots off of nine
different parts of that chick’s body.”
The pink tint painting Elena’s cheeks deepened into a
rich cherry red. She cleared her throat roughly as she glanced
around the café before hissing, “
Still,
it was only one
time.”
“Not true. Have you forgotten about that girl in
sophomore year? What was her name, the one who somehow talked you
into pledging ADPi?”
Elena’s voice lowered to a near whisper.
“Audrey.”
“Audrey, yes! That’s the one! She was a real nut
job.”
With a silent wish that this conversation would fall
into the fiery pits of hell, never to be spoken of again, Elena
cleared her throat. “She was
eccentric
.”
“She stalked you for a
month
after you quit
the sorority! You had to get a restraining order!” Vivian laughed.
“Oh my God, remember when she sent you that teddy bear?”
Elena’s blush crept down her neck to turn the visible
parts of her chest splotchy and red. “Please don’t.”
“When you pressed its ear, it played that recording
of her…” Vivian’s speech was broken around her laughter. “…her
singing ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ and audibly crying!”
Elena sighed and pressed her forehead into her palm.
“That was a rather unfortunate experience.”
“It was
hilarious!
”
“Why am I friends with you?” She practically guzzled
down the remainder of her water, eager to be done with this
ridiculous affair.
“Because I am incredible. Anyway, my
point
was—”
“Oh, you had a point?”
Vivian smiled at her, nudging Elena’s leg under the
table with her foot. “My
point
was that I could set you up
on dates with both men
and
women, if that is something you
are interested in. It’s obvious that you are at least a little gay.
I swear I will only set you up with the best of the best, and who
knows? I could introduce you to your Mr. or Ms. Right! If nothing
else, I could at least set you up for a good lay.”
“Okay, this conversation is over now.” Elena clucked
her tongue as she rose quickly from her seat and grabbed her
purse.
“Oh, come on!”
Stepping around the table, she bent to peck Vivian’s
cheek. Their waiter returned with the check at that moment and
Elena smirked as she pointed to Vivian and said, “Lunch is on her,”
then headed for the door.
“Think about it!” The door jingled with Elena’s exit,
and Vivian was left there to cover the bill.
* * *
The sound of Elena’s heels clicking against the
marble floor of her parents’ foyer reverberated off the walls as
she made her way quickly through the place. She was eager to
see—
“
Momma!
”
A pint-sized ball of energy crashed into her side
from seemingly out of nowhere, and Elena stumbled but caught
herself before she could fall. With a laugh, she turned and swooped
up the small boy attached to her leg. “Munchkin!” She twirled her
son around and planted a dozen little kisses across his face.
“
Mooooooom!
” He whined as she set him back on
his feet, then giggled, even as he made a show of wiping at the
bright red smudges marking his puffy cheeks. “You got lickstick on
me!”
“And it looks fabulous on you.” Elena reached out and
ruffled his dark brown hair, the same deep shade as her own, just
as she noticed her mother Nora standing in the doorway of the
kitchen, watching them.
The elder woman’s long sable hair, bits of gray
peeking in, hung in a single braid over her shoulder, and her
chestnut eyes, so like Elena’s, were warm and kind as she smiled at
her daughter and grandson. Small wrinkles around her eyes showed
years of both joy and stress, but Elena thought she looked ever
young. She hoped to age as gracefully.