Chapter 34
The bass was thumping loudly as Stephanie walked into the club on Court’s arm.
It was the same club she had met her at and the one she had been at the night before.
Though it looked no different today, she was even more nervous now.
She was walking right into the friend test, and she knew it.
Failing wasn’t an option. Even if she had already met both women, that wouldn’t mean anything to these women.
Court forcing them to take the class hadn’t been a smart move, not just because the women wouldn’t like her for it, but by the end of class, Micah had figured it out and was again threatening to quit.
Court led the way through the crowd to a booth where the sisters were sitting across from each other.
Both were nursing mixed drinks. Stephanie knew she had to impress Rebel and Ellis because they could turn Court against her in a heartbeat.
Every other word out of Court’s mouth was about these two women.
And though Court wouldn’t say who her best friend was, Stephanie knew it was Ellis.
Rebel was her business partner, Ellis was the best friend.
She was the one Stephanie had to impress, and she knew she had an uphill battle.
Ellis already didn’t like her for reasons unknown.
It wasn’t that she said or did anything, there was just a vibe coming from the woman every time they met.
Before they got to the booth, Rebel moved to the same side as her sister. Though Stephanie was sure, neither said anything to the other in the process. But it left a booth for her and Court.
As they made their way across the floor, they were spotted, and Ellis moved to the opposite side to sit next to her sister. Which meant they were both watching them come towards them. Conversation between the sisters had stopped, and they were just staring, making Stephanie even more nervous.
Slipping into the booth with Court, still holding her hand, she knew she had dressed all wrong.
She had chosen leggings and a tunic when she saw that both of the sisters had chosen dresses.
When she had asked, Court had said what she was wearing was fine, but it wasn’t.
Both sisters were now judging her for not trying hard enough.
“Took you two long enough.” Rebel smirked at them, as if there were enough time to actually have sex.
“Who’s the band tonight?” Court ignored her comment as she looked towards the stage.
“A bad one.” Ellis adjusted her dress.
Before anyone could comment, a waitress came up to the table and set drinks down for everyone but Stephanie. “Hey, girls.”
“Ginger.” Rebel purred and leaned towards her, taking her drink from the woman’s hand before she could set it on the table.
The server basically ignored her when she turned to Stephanie and raised an eyebrow in question. “Rum and coke.”
“Okay,” she glanced at Court’s arm on her shoulder.
The moment the woman walked away, Rebel whistled, “Ginger’s pissed you are seeing someone, Court. That one has been trying to get back in your bed for over a year. Not happy to see you with someone else.”
Of course, Court had slept with the server, Court had slept around a lot and mostly from this bar. Why should it surprise her? But it did, because she didn't like to be reminded of that fact.
“Ginger already knew there was no chance of that.” Court pulled her arm away from Stephanie to pick up her drink.
“Ginger knows nothing. Every time you come in here, she's sniffing around.” Ellis rolled her eyes. “She’s a bartender, so why was she even out here? I mean, her job is to remain behind the bar. She should stay there. With her out flirting with you, there are too few people to mix the drinks and everything gets backed up. I hate when drinks are slow.”
“Can we stop talking about my exes and slow drinks?” Court shot both her friends a look.
“Okay, but there will be so little to talk about.” Rebel got up and headed for the bar in a huff.
“I think Rebel only likes to hunt in packs. With you mated up, she's lost.” Ellis watched her go, toying with her drink glass.
“Not a chance. She just needs to find her next prey, and she’ll be fine.” Court argued as Ginger set her drink down with a longing glance at Court before heading back to the bar.
“Stephanie, what do your parents think of you and Court here?” Ellis asked, because Court had to have told her everything, but must not have told her that they weren’t telling anyone anything yet. Or this was just part of the test.
“I haven’t told them.” She admitted, but wondered when she would. Surely after a week, she didn’t have to feel guilty about keeping the information to herself. She usually didn’t tell them until it had been a month or so.
“Why not?” Ellis asked as she toyed with her glass.
“I haven’t spoken with them this week, actually. Which means telling hasn’t been an option. I’m still upset about the weekend. To be honest, they haven’t reached out to me either.” She said to her girlfriend, or at least she hoped she was her girlfriend.
“But you plan to, right? Soon? Before it becomes an issue? Because isn’t going to become an issue the longer you are dating.” Ellis asked.
“Of course, I’ll tell them when it’s time. We haven’t been dating long enough to need to tell anyone.” She didn’t break eye contact with Ellis, knowing she was trying to get under her skin.
“Court’s in love.” Tearing her gaze away, Ellis said before taking a drink of her wine.
“I'm not.” Court turned to her with her anger.
Ellis just raised an eyebrow. “She’ll tell them when she wants to, not when you want her to. Just give it time.”
Court rubbed her face with her hands. “You're right, you're right. It’s been a hot minute.”
“Ty was here. She had to go but said to tell Court hi, so hi Court.” Rebel slid back into the booth, breaking the tension.
“Why didn’t she come over?” Ellis asked, looking behind her in question.
“Something about not wanting to disturb you.” Rebel shrugged as if it didn’t matter.
“Who is Ty?” Stephanie asked.
Was she another woman from Court’s past who wasn’t over her? Was she someone more recent than last year? Or worse, was she someone special?
Her fears were confirmed when Ellis looked at Court before answering simply, “Court’s friend.”
As if that explained anything. Except why wasn’t she friends with them all if she was friends with Court? How did she have separate friends than these two? They were always together, weren’t they?
“She’s…” Court stopped and then started again, as if she needed to think about it. “She’s my friend. From way back.”
“When did you meet?” She asked, though she knew she didn’t need to know, but Court was so secretive about her past it was hard to get any information from her. This way, it was possible her friends would tell her.
“In college.” Court and Rebel said together, which sounded believable.
Except Ellis at the same time said, “at a club.” Then she glanced at her sister. “In college.”
Which meant the entire story was made up. They weren’t even all on the same page about it. Ty was someone that Court was willing to lie to her about. Were there more like her? How would Stephanie know when it was the truth?
Leaning towards her girlfriend, she asked, “Who really is she, Court?”
Court stiffened beside her and leaned away from her. “She’s a part of my past. My past is behind me, and I want to keep it that way.”
And just like that, the evening was soured. Not just because she was sure she had failed the friends test, but because she had failed the girlfriend test, too. Court wasn’t happy with her, and she wasn’t hiding that fact.