And still, Ryan reeled me in like a thrashing bass with every smile and wink he tossed my way.
“And shoes?” Ryan said, sticking his feet out.
I gave him an arched brow and a side-smile. “The dress was a stretch, literally, but it works. I don’t think we’re going to have the same luck with shoes.” His feet seemed so much bigger than mine, same as his hands had, same as his shoulders and chest, too.
He lifted a foot and wiggled his toes. “Let’s try. Give me your nicest red-bottom.” Fuck me. Why did I want to crawl over and suck on his big toe?
Like what in the actual fuck is going on with me.
I went to my closet, hoping to distract myself from my suddenly acquired foot fetish. There was a rack with most of my shoes, an unused pair sitting all the way at the end. I had ordered them online, and they arrived a size too big for me. I grabbed the shiny black pumps and came back to Sunshine. She was sitting on the green chair like a true queen, head high and chest out, smile warm and eyes a little cooler. She reached for the shoes, but I decided to be a little frisky. Why the hell not?
I got down on my knees in front of her and grabbed her ankle, lifting her leg and holding her foot in my hand.
Fuck. It looked even sexier up close. Not that I had a thing for feet before Ryan, but damn, I think I may have had a thing for them after. I pictured making them curl, how they’d look twined between mine… Okay, stop—relax before he notices just how much you love his fucking feet.
I slipped the shoe on, finding it to be a perfect fit. The heel wasn’t big at all, so I figured her ankles would be safe from any rogue twists. I slipped the other shoe on and sat back, letting her stand and get a feel for them. It didn’t take long before Sunshine was strutting back and forth across my drag room, swaying her hips and popping her lips like the best of them.
I started to play some music, livening up the mood even more. Sunshine Divine really started to feel herself, and I watched as an entirely new persona enveloped Ryan. It was so fucking fun to watch, especially knowing that I had a big role to play in bringing this persona out to the surface. I never would have imagined this night happening, and yet I couldn’t imagine doing anything else tonight that would make me happier.
At some point, we started to dance together, hand in hand, twerking and dipping and jumping and grinding. There were zero inhibitions, zero worries, zero pretenses. I would have been happy if this continued on until the sun came up. I could have kept dancing until both our legs gave out and we decided to just crash on the carpeted floor. That sounded like my ideal way of closing out this surprisingly bright day.
That was why what Sunshine Divine asked me next surprised the shit out of me and also made me slightly disappointed.
13
Ryan Diaz
“Let’s go out,” I said as the pop song faded into another, the hard-hitting beat making me move my hips. Elijah’s hands were in mine, his eyes turned up to mine. Adrenaline coursed through me, enhancing the superpowers I was bestowed upon me by my heavy but beautifully styled wig and insanely stunning face of makeup. I wasn’t sure the science behind it, but it was undeniable.
Drag turned people into gods.
“No, no way,” Elijah answered, momentarily bursting my bubble.
I blew that bubble right back. “Come on, the world needs to see me. Sunshine. They have to see the work you did on me.”
Elijah shook his head, feet firmly planted in the carpet. “I think the world will be fine if I just stayed inside for the rest of my adult life.”
“Bullshit,” I said, using my drag powers to try and convince Elijah that it was a good idea. “You did not do all this work on me for it to go unseen.”
“I’m seeing it.” He shrugged, a half-slanted smirk on his face. For a second, I considered kissing that smirk right off.
“It would be a great undercover opportunity. I could talk to the other queens, and they’d have no idea who I was.”
That got Elijah’s gears spinning. It would be advantageous to do some digging when no one around me realized I was a detective, but I could see that Elijah still wasn’t having it. He shook his head and rubbed his face, a sign I took as “just shut the fuck up already,” and I listened. I stepped back and gave him the space he seemed to need, even though I wanted to keep on dancing and talking and laughing with him until the sun came up and the wig fell off. He looked stressed, which was the last thing I wanted when I suggested we go out.