Epilogue
Stephanie looked tired, and Court wanted to call it a night because of it. Her girlfriend had been up since five that morning, and it was almost midnight now. When she’d suggested not coming, Stephanie had insisted she wanted to go out with Rebel and Ellis tonight.
It was probably because Ellis had given in and was going to make good on the bet tonight. She was going to kiss a woman. Rebel had been going on and on about it all day, and Stephanie was now on their group text and could see the back and forth.
For months she had been serial dating like never before. Once she cut one man loose, she always found a new one. Court was sure she was only doing it because she was scared about the kiss. Probably because they never let her forget that it was only a matter of time before it happened.
Lately she’d been dating a Henry for a few weeks, but as the third approached, Ellis stretched it for time.
And with some pressure, she was willing to ‘cheat’ on him by kissing a woman.
Not that anyone saw it as that, since they had only been on two dates.
If they were serious or sleeping together, Court would talk her out of it.
If just until she broke up with the man, because now that she was in love, she could tell her friend wasn’t.
Even as Court, Stephanie and Rebel watched, she was heading towards the bar not only to pick up a woman for the first time, but to kiss her.
What pickup line she used wouldn’t matter here, and as someone who once picked up women here all the time, the line didn’t matter as long as you had confidence.
Something that Ellis was currently lacking.
Court herself was willing to let her off the hook, because if it was her and she had to kiss a man, she’d pay any price to get out of it. But Ellis hadn’t come to that conclusion herself yet, because she was insistent tonight that she needed to get this over with.
“She’s not going to do it.” Rebel’s head turned away from them as she watched her sister.
Ellis had been sitting beside her sister until the other woman had left them behind to make good on the bet. Even from here, she seemed nervous as she walked very slowly.
“I’m sure she will. She isn’t going to give you the satisfaction of chickening out.” Court told her friend.
“And she’s never kissed a woman before? I thought you said she comes here all the time.” Stephanie asked over the music, which tonight was half decent.
“She gets hit on a lot, but she politely declines. It’s like the only time she’s nice to anyone.
” Court had an arm wrapped over her shoulder, mostly because she loved touching this woman.
But there was a little part of her that was warning anyone off approaching either one of them.
Though Stephanie had nothing to worry about, Court didn’t want her to think she’d been wrong in placing her trust in her.
Rebel turned to them to set them straight. “She does it because she’s so deep in the closet she can’t see out. I predict she’ll be married to some loser before she realizes the truth.”
“No, she’s straight. If she was gay, she’d have already accepted that. You’ve been out since forever. There’s no reason she wouldn’t be.” Court was watching Ellis, who was slowing even more than the snail’s pace she’d been moving before.
“You believe what you want, and I’ll believe what I do.” Turning back, Rebel waved a hand in the air. “Oh, and did you hear Ginger is engaged to that chick who looks like you?”
“Ginger who?” Court asked, because she couldn’t pinpoint who she was talking about. The only thing she knew was that a Ginger didn’t work for them.
“Overly clingy bartender from here. The one who was in love with you.” She got to her feet and stood by Court, so she could watch her sister better since she’d sat down next to a redhead.
“She and this chick met like a month ago and fell hard, it seems. I don’t know who proposed, but they are getting married.
Which means you are behind, Court, you haven’t put a ring on it. ”
“I, well, um,” she stammered. They were living together, but were they actually ready for marriage? Did Stephanie think they were ready for marriage? Was she ready for marriage? She’d never thought about it before.
“One day, Rebel.” Stephanie took a drink of her rum and coke, as if that would be enough to stop Rebel from talking.
“Don’t rush into anything.” She lightly punched Court in the arm. “I never saw her with a red head. Are you watching this?”
“I am. That’s number eight on her list. Subsection.” Court started, but was cut off.
“C, no curly redheads.” Rebel finished as their eyes were glued to the couple.
Court couldn’t stop watching. It was like a train wreck.
How many times had she watched Rebel do this exact same thing and compared to Ellis, who was a novice?
Maybe all the boring men she dated was because she had no pickup game.
Because the woman she was picking up didn’t seem to know that was happening.
“I should go save her. This is ridiculous. Who thought it was a good idea for her to kiss a random woman?” A protective Rebel slammed her drink down and marched towards the bar and her floundering sister.
“Are you going too?” Stephanie asked, letting go of her hand.
Turning to her, she smiled, because she loved that she knew that Court would want to go. But tonight, she was more interested in staying with Stephanie. Rebel could save the day alone for her sister tonight.
Leaning over, she kissed her cheek. “No, those two can handle this without me.”
“Does Ellis really have a crush on you? Because that explains so much.”
“No, not really. I don’t know what it is. Not sexual in the very least. Rebel just likes to say things to get a rise out of me.”
“Have you ever been attracted to her?” Pulling away a little, Stephanie reached for her drink.
She searched her memory, but found nothing. Not once had she thought of Ellis as anything but a friend. “No. I don’t even think I dated anyone who looked like her. I have a type, and you, my love, are my type.”
Stephanie sighed as they turned their attention to the scene unfolding at the bar. Ellis was still chatting up the redhead, and her sister had been distracted by an ex, who seemed to be telling her off.
Court barely heard her when she asked, “Do you want to get married?”
The words registered just as Ellis was going in for a kiss. Turning away from the scene in front of her, she turned to Stephanie. “Married? Us?”
Stephanie sat up straight, her nervousness showing as she rushed out with, “Sorry, that was stupid to ask so soon. We just barely moved in together.”
The words were hanging between them, and Court had no answer.
She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Stephanie, but was she ready for that level of commitment?
In some ways, she was well beyond that level, but marriage meant family, and she had no idea how to be a family with anyone.
How could she answer without losing everything they had built together?
Court’s reaction wasn’t what she’d expected. Not that she had planned to ask in the middle of a noisy club when she was running on fumes. She’d planned to ask in their backyard while Court was wearing her tool belt and surveying her handiwork on whatever project she was working on now.
For weeks, she’d been devoting all her attention to making their home better.
Every day, Stephanie came home to another improvement.
From a closet organizer to Court in the middle of the kitchen, reorganizing everything according to some internet organization guru.
That had turned out so badly that within a day, they were putting everything back to where it had been in the first place.
Not once did Court say anything about the fact that Stephanie wasn’t pulling her weight?
Because she wasn’t. She was barely there most of the time, and when she was, she wasn’t up for a project that took even more energy from her.
Which left her feeling not only like a bad partner, but left out when Court did the project, anyway. Never once had she complained, either.
Last week, she and Jordan had admitted that they would need to hire more people.
That their membership had doubled in the last six months, and they couldn’t handle it with their current staff anymore.
Even Micah’s classes were starting to attract enough to support itself.
Jordan had suggested that they hire more people than they actually needed, so they could work fewer hours and spend more time with their loved ones.
Which meant Stephanie and Court because Jordan was still single, but she’d noticed how hard it was to be in a relationship.
Stephanie needed to clear the air before Court read too much into her proposal and clammed up, or worse, got upset about it. Not once had they talked about marriage, and now was not the time to start. And now she wasn’t going to bring it up again for a long time.
“Forget I asked, it was a stupid idea. Rebel hit a nerve about us just living together. I feel we are more than just girlfriends. I don’t know how to explain it, and I’m messing this up. If you say no, I don’t care, you can say no.”
“Did you see that lip lock? I was expecting a little peck. She really got in there.” Rebel was bouncing on the balls of her feet when she got back to the table, not noticing that the tone of the table had shifted. “Did you see it?”
Court didn’t answer, but just kept looking at Stephanie, her expression distant.