Chapter 17
Court’s mind had been so focused on figuring out if she had ever noticed a gym on ten when cold liquid puddled into her was like a bucket of water. Instantly she was reminded her who she was with. The Bexley kids were a pack and, like when she was young, a pack of wild dogs.
It was on the tip of her tongue to accuse Dylan of doing it on purpose, but she was sure his mom and dad would take his side like they always had. Marlene’s kids could do no wrong, and Court had never been about to do anything right. She was sure that wouldn’t have changed.
Getting up, she left the room as Dylan apologized with a smirk on his lips. That was all she needed to know. This had been just as deliberate as the trip Stephanie had given her at the door. She’d have to be extra attentive from here on out.
Slamming herself into the bathroom, she didn’t care how much noise she made. Right now, she didn’t care what anyone thought or said. She needed away from those people. Every one of them.
Twenty minutes later, she was dry and changed, but still hiding in the bathroom. She knew she wouldn’t get a lot of space the rest of the weekend, so took her time.
Pulling out her phone, she texted her friends, see what they were up to this evening.
Court: Why am I here again? This was all a big mistake.
Ellis: To get closure.
Court: I might have to beat one up again. Closure isn’t happening.
Rebel: That won’t happen. You’re the calmest person I know. I have never even seen you close to fighting. And I was there when you and Connie broke up.
Ellis: Connie, what did you see in her? Most annoying, clingy woman I have ever met. The only good thing about her was after she broke all your dishes, you got those cute yellow square plates. I love those.
Court smiled at that, not the memory of her ex hurdling plates at her, but Ellis calling the new dishes Con-nary yellow. And it still happened every time she ate at her house. That fight had happened in her last apartment, and she had lost her deposit because of all the nicks in the walls.
Rebel: She never looked past those tits, but who could? Glorious.
Court: She was a nice person, as long as you didn’t dump her.
Court: I need permission to leave. Can someone just give me that permission?
Rebel: Leave.
Before she could respond in agreement, her phone rang. Ellis didn’t do long-form texts. Her excuse was that her fingers got tired, and she got bored, but everyone knew she was better with her voice than her fingers. It was how she made her living, after all.
No introductions from her as she stated, “You have to stay until you’ve talked to Calvin. He needs to explain what he was thinking when he did what he did. What he was feeling. Does he feel the same?”
Court laughed at what she had suggested, because it wasn’t how she did things. “This is why I don’t do therapy. Too many feelings. Ellis, how do you have enough feelings for three therapists?”
“I feel big, Court. Which is perfectly normal, and you know it. I love Dr. Douglas for my personal life. He has known me since I was twelve. And Dr. Judith has been there for me since I was twenty and feeling emotional about my chosen career path. A rock. I don’t know what I would do without them.
It’s Dr. Willis I’m not to sure of. He needs to understand me and my feelings better than he,” Ellis sighed.
Her therapists were like a second set of parents to her, only she always listened to her therapists and never to her actual parents.
All except for the last one, the one who never got to stick around to be right about anything.
Before she could answer, Rebel did, which meant that she called her sister before her so they could gang up on her. “Ellis, you need to see a therapist about your therapist addiction. Because it isn’t normal. I have one, one, and I barely see her anymore.”
“Shut up, Reb.” Ellis said to her sister. Usually, she loved listening to the sisters bicker. They were so mean to each other, despite the fact that they loved each other dearly. Theirs had been the first sibling relationship she had witnessed close up.
Ellis ignored her sister’s comeback to Court. “Court, you need to stick it out this weekend. Think of it as a bad date. You just can’t walk out in the middle of it. Order dessert and enjoy it. Saver the badness of it.”
Rebel snorted a laugh. “You can most definitely walk out on a bad date. And I know for a fact that Court has, more than once.”
“But you shouldn’t. It’s rude.” She told her sister, because Ellis had spent her entire life telling her little sister what to do. Court knew from the stories sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. “Just stay, Court, it can’t be that bad.”
“I was just doused with beer and water, not even at a bar.” She informed them.
“Craft or domestic?” Rebel demanded.
“I don’t know. Does it matter?” Court just knew it felt the same no matter what kind of beer it was, wet.
“It does actually. Anyone will spill a domestic. D-bags drink craft. So you know the answer to that.” Rebel argued. She had her opinions and wasn’t afraid to voice them.
“Was it a guy?” Ellis asked over her sister’s words.
“Yes, one of the boys, or whatever.”
“Too bad.” Rebel sighed. “No good chicks?”
“There are girls as well. Most everyone here is married, so it doesn’t matter.” Court wasn’t going to mention that Stephanie was there. Neither sister would let her live down the fact that she went home with her stepsister. It didn’t matter that she didn’t realize it at the time.
And after this weekend, Court was sure she’d never see her again. Since she knew where she worked, she could avoid her pretty easily. Because she was still off-limits.
“If they keep playing tricks on them, flirt with them. Married men get either edgy or gross when you do that. These would probably get to them more than tossing your beer on them. Revenge is better when taken to another level.” Ellis said.
“Flirt with a man? Court’s never done that before.” Rebel chuckled as she said it.
“How hard can it be?” Ellis demanded her of her sister.
“As hard as it would be for you to hit on a chick. When there’s nothing to gain, the difficulty level goes up,” Court answered, because Ellis had never once hit on a woman, and actually hitting on one might be out of her comfort zone.
Sure, she had been hit on before in The Button, but never had she done anything but politely informed the woman she wasn’t interested.
“I have seen it done by you so often I think I could swing it.” Ellis was right. Between her sister and Court, she had seen plenty over the years, but seeing was easier than doing.
“Next time we’re all together, you are hitting on a chick. I’m sure you won’t do it so I’m willing to place a bet on it.” Rebel challenged.
“Bets require cash.” Ellis reminded her sister.
“Five big ones to the charity of your choice if you do it, mine if you fail.” Rebel throughout.
Court could only smile. The sisters bet on almost everything, and the first time she had seen it happen, the bet was for five dollars, and Rebel could barely pay up when it was time.
The group had come far from their college days, because five grand wasn’t going to even be noticed by her business partner these days. Or her lawyer sister, for that matter.
“You’re on, but not when I’m seeing someone.
I can’t just cheat on the man I’m seeing.
I hold our relationship in higher esteem than that.
We can’t base our relationship on me being unfaithful, even if I have no intention of doing anything with this random woman.
” Ellis then back to Court. “Court, you just need to pretend they are butch girls. I mean Adam’s apple butch. ”
“Women never have those. And besides, she likes a femme. Rarely has she hit on any woman who looked remotely like a man.” Rebel reminded her.
“I don’t care, she's flirting with the guy who tossed a beer on her. She needs to show them she’s above that.” Ellis stated, more to her sister than to her friend.
Listening to the sisters always made her decision making better, even if they had two different points of view.
Just listening to them was usually enough.
She had to stay, had to get the answers she had come for.
Nothing was going to be so uncomfortable that she’d leave before she talked to Calvin.
Which meant she needed to get that out of the way. So she could leave.
But there was a more important question that had come up since she walked in the door, Stephanie. What should she do about her? Could she just ignore the pull she still had on her? Maybe if she didn’t get too detailed about the woman, they could still help with the situation.
“Stop fighting for one minute, you two? I need some advice, real advice, Rebel,” she warned her friend, which made them both stop talking instantly. “So, one of my one-night stands is here.”
“Married to someone?” Ellis sounded scandalized and so damn excited.
“Did you ghost her?” Rebel asked at the exact same time.
Rolling her eyes at their very different questions, Court answered them both. “Not married, and yes, I ghosted her. She's one of the girls.”
“Now you have to leave, Court. Women don’t like to be ghosted. Seriously, I ran into someone I ghosted once, and she freaked out on me. In the middle of a restaurant, during a date with another woman. Needless to say, I went home alone that night.” Rebel sounded panicked at the mere idea.
“Is she gay? I mean, sometimes they aren’t. Your one-night stand, that is.”
“That I don’t know yet, Ellis. She recently broke up with a guy, and her family only talks about her dating men. So maybe she was experimenting when we, you know. Maybe I didn't need to ghost her. She was probably going to ghost me.”
Court wondered exactly how she’d feel if she had been the one ghosted. The few times it had happened before hadn’t meant anything to her. But with Stephanie, it was different. Something she didn’t want to think about, much less talk to her best friends about.
“Or she just isn’t out with her family. That happens.” Rebel took a drink of something, loudly.
“Not every family is as good as Eomma and Dad about that sort of thing. And he was the man who…” Ellis stopped talking, then quickly added, “Was your godfather. How long ago did you ghost her? Maybe she doesn’t remember. Does she act like she remembers?”
Court couldn’t pretend she didn’t remember. They both remembered everything. “She remembers.”
Rebel gasped and sputtered, “See what happens when you steal Court? Bad things. Remember this the next time you try to butt in when I’m picking up a woman.”
“It was last week.” Ellis stated, sounding like a lawyer, and took for a plausible way out of the situation, “There is no way she has forgotten already.”
“I know for a fact she remembers.”
“Does she own a gym?” Rebel asked from out of nowhere. How could she even have figured that out?
“Yes, how did you know? An all women’s gym in the city.”
“Her partner’s gay,” Rebel said, as if she knew everything about everyone.
“You can’t know that,” Ellis accused her sister.
“I can because she was at the bar last weekend talking to some tall woman, one that I have spent an evening with myself. Makes sense. They were out together.” Rebel said, more to herself than to them.
“OMG, is there a lesbian in this town you haven’t slept with, Rebel?” Ellis demanded of her sister.
“Court and this Stephanie Bexley so far. But maybe there are others. I’ll find out tonight. What to come with Ellis?” Rebel laughed because they all knew that Ellis was rolling her eyes.
“No, Reb, go yourself.” Ellis told her quickly. “And Court, whatever you do this weekend, don’t let it be this woman again. Once is an accident, twice is a step too far. There are too many ties to your past with this one.”