Release the Stars (9 page)

“Don’t worry about it, buddy. This is your first game. You can hardly expect to be the star player.” Liz was one of the most positive people Charlie had ever met. “That being said, you do look a little distracted, though. Hot ‘friendship date’?” Liz smiled and winked at her.

“I guess that’s a pretty accurate way of describing it.” Charlie grinned as she leaned in and whispered, “She kissed me, though.”

Liz’s eyes opened even wider. “Are you kidding me?”

“Most certainly not, my friend.”

“It’s as though I can hear a plethora of lesbian hearts breaking this very second.” Liz slapped her on the knee this time. “But good for you, buddy.”

“Good? There is no way this is good for me.”

Liz stared at her for a few seconds, as if computing something in her brain. “Oh, right.” She nodded her understanding. “I see.”

“In fact, I was thinking about asking Josie out for a date.”

“What a great idea to go for the no-strings-attached girl.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We’ll talk later, buddy. I’m up.” Liz ran onto the field, not looking back.

They lost the game, but no one seemed to mind. At the bar afterward, Charlie hung out near Josie. She had to do something to stop the never-ending reel of Ava images in her brain. Ava leaning in to kiss her. Ava tilting her head back and exposing her neck while drinking wine. Ava handing her
Crying Rivers
. Ava walking into the waves in her red bikini.

“Hey, Charlie, we need you,” Sarah said. “You’re single, right?” Sarah stood next to Josie.

“Rub it in, why don’t you?” Charlie replied.

“There’s no shame in that. In fact, this is excellent news.” A few team members clapped. “The club is organizing a single’s auction for charity in three weeks. If you would agree to be auctioned off, that could bring in some serious dough!”

“A single’s auction?” Charlie stared at Sarah incredulously.

“You know, where people can bid to go on a date with you.” A few more team members started clapping and roaring. “Tiff, Josie, and Andrea are up for grabs as well. I’d participate myself, but my lovely wife disagrees.”

“No need to give an answer now, Charlie,” Liz chimed in. “Sarah really is sort of springing this on you.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll do it.”

“That’s awesome!” Sarah shouted. “It’s for a good cause. We’re supporting a shelter for homeless teens and a lot of them are LGBT.”

Charlie gazed briefly at Josie. Perhaps she should make her move now that the conversation had shifted to dating. “Then I’ll be honored to put my reputation on the line.” Charlie shot them all a smile.

Tiff, who stood next to her, held up her hand for a high five, and Charlie happily slapped her palm against it. She was, at last, starting to belong to some sort of community in LA.

“Can we bid on each other?” Tiff asked Sarah.

Sarah rolled her eyes at Tiff.

Just as Charlie was about to take a step in Josie’s direction, Liz swooped in. “Hey, Casanova,” she said while hooking her arm around Charlie’s.

“Yes, boss.”

“First, thanks for agreeing to do that. I was going to ask you in private so you could decline with dignity, but Sarah jumped the gun.”

“Oh, it’s fine. My pleasure, really.”

“You say that now.” Liz pulled her face into a funny pout. “We’ve organized these before, and it’s not exactly the fairytale situation you’d like to believe it’s going to be. Some of the women who bid are really loaded and willing to spend tons of cash on a date, so we keep the tradition going for charity’s sake.”

“Maybe I can get Nick to come over and outbid everyone to save my ass.”

“Maybe, but, erm, Charlie, I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“Let me guess.” Charlie sipped from her post-game beer. It had gone a bit stale and warm. “Josie?”

“I wouldn’t object if you hadn’t told me about Ava kissing you, but I don’t want anyone’s feelings getting hurt.”

“Come on, Liz. She bet that she would be the first to score a date with me.”

Liz held up her hands. “I know. I know. I’ve scolded them for that. It won’t happen again.”

“You’re such a momma bear, Lizzie.”

“Someone has to be.” Liz tugged at the hem of her shirt.

“You know I’m not interested in Ava in that way. I can’t be. I’m genuinely interested in Josie.”

“As long as you’re not using her to… I don’t know. Get your mind off someone else.” Liz glanced at Charlie’s beer. “Shall I get you another?” She simply couldn’t help being the nicest person on the planet.

“I promise I only have the best of intentions, Lizzie Bear.” Charlie pulled Liz into a hug. “And I’ll get you another.”

After giving Liz her fresh drink, Charlie finally walked up to Josie. “Would you like to win a bet?” she asked. It had taken her the entire softball game to come up with that opening line.

“Good one.” Josie clinked the rim of her glass against Charlie’s, spilling a bit of beer in the process. “Oops, sorry about that.” She stared at the wet stain on Charlie’s jersey.

“Don’t worry. That’s why washing machines were invented.”

“How do you propose I win that bet?” Josie got back to the point.

“By going on a date with me, of course.” Charlie smiled triumphantly.

“That’s not going to win me anything, although it would be a nice start.”

“What do you mean? I heard you and Tiff and Andrea had a bet on who would manage to go out with me first?” It sounded completely ridiculous when she said it out loud like that.

“Go out with you?” Josie shook her head, smiling. “I believe you might have been missinformed.”

“Oh.”

“Hey, we play softball after all. We’re more prone to place bets on which base we can make it to.”

Charlie pretended to chuckle at the lame joke. “Never mind,” she said and made to leave.

“Hold on,” Josie said. “I’m sorry. I was just messing with you. My bad.” She put her hand on Charlie’s arm. “I make stupid jokes when I’m nervous, that’s all.”

“I guess we’ve all been there.” Charlie turned to face her fully again.

“Do you want to see a movie together?” Josie asked. “I’m free tonight.” She accompanied her question with an endearing smile.

Charlie expelled a dramatic breath and said, “I would love to.”

* * *

Josie shared an apartment with a friend a few streets away from Charlie’s place. Charlie picked her up and drove them to the theatre.

Since the first time Charlie had gone to the movies as a kid, she’d been mesmerized by how powerful a medium it was and what a trip sitting in a dark room with a bunch of strangers could be. Today, though, it didn’t really matter which movie they watched together, as long as it was entertaining enough, and as an extra bonus, provided an easy topic of conversation after. Charlie let Josie pick the movie, and they ended up at a screening of
Nothing Without You
, the latest Jenna Blakely rom-com.

At first, it was thrilling to sit in the semi-dark next to someone she’d just met, their arms bumping when they reached for their drinks. As the movie inched closer to its predictable finale, Charlie had to drag herself out of reverie after reverie of sitting in a dimly lit theatre with Ava instead of Josie.

It didn’t help that Josie broke out in a loud giggle at the silliest of jokes. And she was supposed to be a comic.

“That was so much fun,” Josie said, when they left the theatre. “Did you enjoy it?”

“It’s not really my preferred genre.” Charlie tried to be diplomatic.

“What? You should have said.”

“No, it’s fine. As long as you enjoyed it.” They walked slowly to Charlie’s car.

“You get to pick where we go for drinks, then.” Josie was dressed in the shortest of shorts. Not that Josie didn’t have the legs for it, but Charlie would never choose to wear something so flimsy to watch a movie.

“Lux?” Charlie offered. It was a selfish choice, because then she would be able to walk home.

“That viper’s nest,” was all Josie said. “Half the team will be there, as well as a third of my exes.”

“I have a cozy, quiet backyard,” Charlie proposed next. “And a few bottles of excellent vino.”

“Deal.” Josie stared at her from under long, long lashes. Ava had long lashes too, but they didn’t look so unnatural.

On the way to her house, Charlie scolded herself for letting Ava dominate her thoughts. She was on a date. Moreover, she was the one who had asked Josie out. She’d deliberately picked her and now here they were. It was only polite to make the most of it.

“What do you get for winning the bet?” Charlie asked before pulling into her driveway.

“Oh, it was just for the honor.” Josie shot her an apologetic smile. “Despite it not being very honorable in the first place.”

When she smiled like that, she looked quite kissable. Charlie smiled back as she opened the door and escorted Josie inside.

“If you could grab two glasses from that cabinet.” She pointed above the sink. “I’ll be right out with a lovely bottle of Pinot Noir, or do you prefer white?”

“Red’s fine.” Josie stretched and retrieved the glasses. “What a lovely place.”

Charlie had never really considered her house lovely. The loft she’d shared with Jo in Brooklyn had been spectacular—mostly courtesy of Jo’s interior decorating skills. This house came fully furnished, and didn’t reflect Charlie’s taste at all. It was only a temporary home for her. If
Underground
did well, and she decided to stay—which might also happen for different reasons, but she hadn’t encountered those yet—she’d look for a more permanent place that she could make her own.

“Thanks.” Charlie had found the bottle she wanted, unearthed a corkscrew from the drawer, and remembered her giddy nerves when she’d uncorked that bottle of wine at Ava’s.

“Are you okay?” Josie enquired. “You seemed lost in thought there for a moment.”

“I’m fine.” Charlie led the way outside to her tiny garden.

“Oh my God,” Josie exclaimed, not unlike Charlie had done silently when faced with Ava’s view of the ocean. “I want to live here.”

“Let’s have a glass of wine first.” Charlie poured and handed Josie a glass.

“No U-Haul jokes, I promise.” Josie sniffed her glass like a connoisseur. “So, out with it, Charlie. Why did you pick me?”

“Wow. Have you been saving that up until now?”

“Correct. The worst that can happen at this point is you kicking me out of your house for asking untoward questions.”

“The answer is rudely simple.” Charlie tried the wine before continuing.

“Excellent comic timing,” Josie said, a twinkle of amusement in her eye.

“Because you’re my type.” Charlie chewed her bottom lip, waiting to see how that would go down with Josie.

“Fair enough.” Josie pulled her lips into a crooked, seductive grin. “You like exotic girls with long, black hair.”

You have no idea, Charlie thought. “Oh, yes.”

“Well, I have a thing for blue-eyed writers with shaggy blond hair.”

“This really couldn’t be working out better.” The irony of her statement wasn’t lost on Charlie.

“I could think of a few ways to improve the situation.” Josie went into full-on flirt mode.

Just as Charlie tried to come up with a decent response, her phone vibrated urgently against her thigh. Normally, Charlie wouldn’t bother checking during a date, but it was as if she could sense the text was from Ava. “My phone,” she said. “Sorry.” She scrunched her lips into an apologetic pout.

Josie shrugged and reached for her purse, most likely to check her messages as well.

Charlie’s heartbeat picked up as she pulled her phone from her pocket. There it was, lit up on the screen. A message from Ava.

When can I have my book back?

Charlie’s lips spread into a goofy smile.

“Good news?” Josie asked.

Josie’s voice pulled Charlie out of another thought spiral centered around Ava. “Sorry. What?”

“That smile could melt whatever’s left of the North Pole.”

“Oh, yeah.” Charlie chuckled. “Just a second, please.” At the risk of coming across rude, she typed out her response.

Leave me alone, I’m on a date. ;-)

She wasn’t sure she should actually send that to Ava, but she didn’t have time to consider it for too long. She pressed
send
and put her phone screen-down on the table.

“All yours again.”

“I’m not sure about that.” Josie straightened her posture. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Charlie, and you never once sent me anything near a smile like that. I don’t mind if you’re seeing other people, obviously, but witnessing that made me feel really bad for a minute.”

“I assure you I’m not seeing anyone else. If I was, I wouldn’t have asked you out.”

“Then who was that?”

“Just a friend.” The conversation jolted Charlie right out of her pleasant mood. She’d exchanged similar words with Jo too many times to let them pass her by.

“Okay, if you say so.” Josie didn’t look convinced.

Charlie had, in fact, spoken those exact words to Jo, in the most passive-aggressive manner possible, quite a few times during the last months of their relationship.

It was getting darker, and it was hard to ignore the faint light her screen shed onto the table, despite being upside-down. Charlie itched to check Ava’s reply, but that would blow the evening entirely.

“Tell me honestly, Charlie.” Josie inched to the edge of her seat. “Do you want me to stay?”

“Of course, I do.” Charlie tried very hard not to look at her phone, but the pull was stronger than her desire not to. “We only just got here,” she tried.

“How about this.” Josie rose. “I’ll leave anyway so you can give all your attention to whoever is sending you those messages.”

In a panic, Charlie stood. Had she really been that rude? Or was Josie prone to overreacting? Either way, she was right to assume that this wasn’t going anywhere if a single text from Ava undid Charlie so obviously. “My apologies.”

“It’s fine, Charlie. I get it. You probably have a ton of admirers.”

Charlie chuckled inadvertently. Why did everyone presume that so easily? It was extra funny—or sad, depending on how she looked upon it—because it couldn’t be further from the truth.