Chapter 13 #2
Makena sticks her nose in the air, pretending to be offended.
“It is not! What I lack in musical ability, I make up for in star quality.” She loops an arm around Char’s waist. “And Charlotte has a gorgeous voice. She sounds just like Stevie Nicks. I’ll let her take point and stick to the hooting dove part. And interpretive dance. Obviously.”
“Obviously,” Charlotte agrees dryly.
Before I can suggest we get moving so we can beat the rest of the crew to the sign-up sheet—I would be lying if I said I wasn’t dying to see Charlotte up on stage singing like Stevie Nicks—a squeaky voice pipes up from my right.
“Um, would it be okay if I come, too? Like, if I promise not to be awful?
I glance over to see Sierra, Torrance’s girl, one of the women who directly contributed to the Beer Tits fiasco by being a bratty pain in the ass at the first home game.
I turn to Charlotte, fully prepared to let her call the shots on this one, then back her up in any way necessary.
Torrance is a decent kid, but if his girlfriend is trouble, I’m fine with asking him to sit this one out and explaining why.
This is a night for grown-ups who like and care about each other, not people still trapped in high-school era “mean girl” shit, looking for a reason to cause trouble.
“I’m really sorry, Charlotte,” Sierra continues, plucking nervously at the bottom of her pink crop-top sweater. “I feel terrible about that message I sent. It was just…mean. And I’m sorry.”
Charlotte detaches from Makena, crossing her arms as she faces Sierra. “Thank you, I appreciate that. But to be fair, it was also true. I really do need to watch my posture in that shirt.”
Sierra shakes her head hard enough to send her blond pigtails flying.
“No way, it looked fine. Any fit can look weird if you photograph it from the wrong angle.” She darts a glance over her shoulder before continuing in a softer voice, “Luce and I aren’t friends anymore, FYI.
She’s totally vicious online and off, and it just…
” She shrugs, tugging at her shirt again.
“It made me realize that I don’t want to surround myself with people like that.
And I really don’t want to be a person like that.
I’d much rather be with cool, fun people like you.
If, you know… If I haven’t already messed that up. ”
“Of course, you haven’t,” Charlotte says, her smile small but genuine. “We all make mistakes. I’ve certainly made my share, and it takes strength to admit you were wrong. Especially in public.”
Sierra looks up, wary, but hopeful. “Yeah?”
Char nods. “Yeah. That was some serious grown-up shit.”
Sierra exhales a surprised laugh. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. And as long as everyone else is in, I’d love for you to join us,” Charlotte says, summoning murmurs of agreement from the rest of the women. Even Makena, who appears ready to let bygones be bygones as long as Charlotte is.
And, of course, she is.
Because she’s a fucking class act.
And gorgeous and sexy and funny, and she can apparently sing like Stevie Nicks, and before the end of the night, I’m sure I’ll be even further under her spell.
And I don’t intend to fight it.
I’m not even going to try. It’s way too late for that. The last exit off Fake Relationship Highway before Falling Hard for Her Ville was miles back. All that’s left now is to figure out how to ask Charlotte to be mine for real.
But not tonight.
Tonight is for celebrating. Bea is getting stronger and happier with every passing day, the Voodoo just won a blowout game, and Parker’s buying the first round of Trash Pandas.
It’s going to be a good night. I can feel it.
Twenty minutes later, we load into vehicles in the players’ parking lot. Parker and Makena climb into Parker’s massive pickup truck, while Grammercy and Elly swing into their new minivan beside them. (But not before a decent amount of teasing for buying a minivan from both Parker and Mack.)
Torrance and Sierra slide into Sierra’s petal pink BMW, a custom paint job that sparkles under the parking lot lights, while Charlotte, Beatrice, and I start for Char’s SUV.
We’re nearly there when Bea calls out, “Are you coming, too, Archer?”
I frown. I’m about to ask who Archer is when a deep voice rumbles from behind us. “Yes.”
I blink, turning to see Blue stopped beside his ancient Prius, the one barely big enough to fit his bag and his massive body.
The one that also earned him a fair amount of teasing last year, before all the guys gave up on giving Blue grief.
He gives far too few shits about what other people think to make teasing him any fun.
And his first name is Archer, apparently.
Though I have no idea how Bea knew that…
Before I can ask, she calls out, “Mind if I ride with you, then? Charlotte and Bay don’t need a third wheel cramping their style.”
“Please do,” Blue says, smiling. “I’d love the company.”
“I’m fine with a third wheel,” I hiss to my sister.
Bea backs away, whispering beneath her breath, “Well, I’m not. And I’d love to get to know Archer better.”
I’m not the slightest bit upset about her showing interest in a very nice, very decent guy. After Kai, anyone without sociopathic tendencies would be great, let alone a legitimately great man like Blue.
But still, I can’t resist adding in a slightly louder hiss, “How do you know his first name?”
Bea stops dead with a stunned snort. “Dude, are you crazy? He’s Jai Archer Blue.” At my blank look, she repeats, “Jai Archer Blue. You know? The kirtan singer?”
Her jaw drops. “You didn’t know?! Where have you been?
Under a rock? He’s low-key famous. Or he was, before he stopped making music ten years ago and dropped off the face of the earth.
” Her dark eyes glitter as she adds with barely contained excitement, “I’m pretty sure no one has any clue he became a hockey player, and I am dying to find out why, how, when, and if he’s ever going to make yoga music again because he legitimately has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard. ”
“Go,” Charlotte whispers, clearly nearly as excited as Bea. “Find out everything, and tell me later. I want all the tea. Also, I’m not even a little bit surprised. Look up hidden depths in the dictionary, and there’s a picture of that man beside it.”
Bea emits a soft, giddy yip. “I know! And will do.” Then she turns, scampering across the parking lot to where Blue is already holding open the passenger’s door for her, like the gentleman he is.
A gentleman who withholds a lot of shit from his friends, but still…
I lift a hand to him, calling, “See you there!”
As Charlotte and I start toward Char’s SUV again, I whisper, “Why didn’t he ever tell me? I’m one of his best friends on the team.”
“Don’t take it personally,” Charlotte says. “He’s a private guy.” She shrugs. “And maybe he thought you knew. You go to yoga.”
I grunt. “Once or twice a month. And honestly, I’m not sure I’d know Blue’s voice if I heard it. He doesn’t talk enough, and I’ve never heard him sing. He isn’t the ‘sign up for karaoke’ type.”
Charlotte smiles. “Well, maybe you should change that. Ask him to sing a duet.”
I laugh.
“What?” she challenges. “I want to hear you sing.”
I shake my head. “No, you don’t. I mean, I can carry a tune, I guess, but I’m nothing special.”
She hums beneath her breath. “I think you should let me be the judge of that. I like hearing a man sing. I like it a lot.”
I arch a brow. “Yeah? How ‘a lot’ are we talking?”
“Enough to drag a man back to the family bathroom at the bar, perhaps,” Charlotte says.
“I’ve been looking for an excuse to check it out.
Mack says there are some creepy taxidermy things in there that still give her nightmares.
Even months after she and Parker decided against doing the deed on the changing table. ”
“Gross,” I say, laughing as I dump my gear bag in the back of her SUV.
“Very,” Charlotte agrees, handing me the keys.
We agreed I’d drive tonight, which is just fine with me. I like to be sober when deciding whether or not to fuck in a semi-public place.
“But I’d still do feral things to you in that bathroom if it’s a secure location,” I add as I move to open the passenger’s door. “Just not on the changing table.”
She stops in front of me, close enough to feel her breath warm on my lips as she whispers, “Obviously not. You’re way too classy for that.”
I settle a hand on her hip, curling my fingertips until they dig into the top of her ass. “I was just thinking the same thing about you,” I murmur, the urge to kiss her so strong it’s all I can do not to go feral on her right here.
But there are still players behind us and people waiting at the bar, including my sister. But once we’re settled and everyone’s had enough to drink to stop paying attention to who wanders off for a moment alone…
Well, if a vocal performance is the only way to get Charlotte’s skirt up around her hips and my mouth between her legs, so be it.