by Haley Cass
Gray eyes turning stormy, Alex turned to square off against her, hands on hips. “You’re the one who came in here, yelling at me for no reason.”
“I didn’t yell! I asked. Quietly,” she said pointedly, trying to take a calming breath.
Which was somewhat difficult when her brother came up next to her to ask, “Is she nice?”
“Yes,” the word fell from her mouth and – damn. “I mean – no! She, uh, we aren’t . . .”
God, she couldn’t stand herself. She groaned, burying her face in her hands and somehow wishing she could take back everything and just go back to suffering in silence about Charlotte.
“That’s quite enough of all this,” Katherine’s voice cut through everything in that effective way she managed. Sutton didn’t think she had ever been more grateful to hear it, especially when her mom’s hand landed on her shoulder in quiet comfort. “Ethan, go to the kitchen and start cutting the vegetables for dinner. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“But –” He gestured widely toward Sutton and Alex, indignant. “I want to know!”
Their mom silenced him with a look, and he sent Sutton big, begging eyes. That had always worked well on her, admittedly. But she couldn’t focus on them with the way her stomach was in knots so tightly.
Though, it did make her relieved to note that there was no sense of judgement in those eyes.
Ethan heaved a sigh. “I’m the only one who even lives here anymore and I still get kicked out when the good stuff happens.”
“Ethan –”
He quickly held his hands up in surrender at their mom’s tone. “I’m going! I was just saying.”
She waited until he had shuffled out of the room before lifting her hands in front of both Sutton and Alex, pre-emptively cutting off anything they were going to say. “Sutton, I was the one who decided to invite Charlotte to the party, without any prompting from your sister.”
“I told you,” Alex huffed out, crossing her arms in annoyance.
Their mother gave Alex another look, before turning to face Sutton. Her gaze sought hers out, catching and holding it with a look of warmth and patience. “After Alex mentioned meeting her –”
That warm comfort so easily taken from her mom dissipated with a feeling of vindication welling up inside of her, as she narrowed her eyes. “I knew you said something.”
“Oh, barely,” Alex shot back. “I told Mom that I met her. Literally that’s all I said; not that I met her pants-less in your apartment at two in the morning.”
Sutton barely restrained herself from whacking her sister in the arm, mostly because her little sister was more muscle than anything else and it would hurt herself more. Instead, she settled on a glare even as she felt herself blush again. “Alex, God, can you just stop?”
Sutton could live with the fact that apparently now her little brother knew she wasn’t straight. And she could even deal with the fact that he had a big mouth and that for all she knew, he’d already told their other brothers. She could not live with everyone knowing that.
Hell, she could barely stand to know that Alex had said it in front of their mother. This awful mortification might never really go away.
Kate turned to Alex. “Please bring the empty boxes back into the attic.”
“I’m being punished even though I didn’t do anything?”
“You aren’t being punished, I just want to talk to your sister.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She sighed, dipping a bit to grab at the stack of boxes the decorations had come from.
Sutton fastidiously avoided her mom’s gaze, because – ugh – all she could think about now was the fact that she knew that Charlotte walked around her apartment in varying states of undress.
“Sutton, please look at me,” she urged, her voice a murmur, as she reached out and placed her hands lightly on Sutton’s shoulders. It was enough to make Sutton pull her eyes away from the floor where she’d been focused and instead look up and meet her mother’s. Her thumbs stroked in gentle, comforting circles against Sutton’s shoulders as she said, “I didn’t need Alex to tell me that your friendship with Charlotte is . . . special.”
It was too easy to lean into the comforting touch. “You didn’t?”
“Hon, you’ve talked about Charlotte Thompson with me only a handful of times but whenever you do, you get this smile.” Her mom lifted one of her hands up to gently swipe her thumb over Sutton’s chin in a gesture she’d done to make her smile since before she could remember.
Sutton dropped her head back in embarrassment, her stomach clenching even as she shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
Kate smiled slowly. “You do, and it’s been quite some time since I’ve seen someone make you smile like that, if I ever have. So it occurred to me after your sister mentioned meeting Charlotte – in passing – that I, too, would like to meet this woman.”
Worrying at her bottom lip, she pressed, “She – she really didn’t tell you?”
“She really didn’t,” her mother assured. “So, you might want to apologize for that. All she told me was that she met her when she came to see you, but no details.” A thoughtful look crossed over her, expression playful, as she tilted her head. “I didn’t know about the no-pants aspect until moments ago.”
“Mom!” Sutton jerked back so her mother’s hands fell and a surprised, choked-off laugh escaped her. Bringing her hands up, she rubbed at her cheeks as if hoping to get rid of her blush – which she was almost entirely certain was going to stain her face at this point.
After a few moments, she managed to take in a deep breath and her sneaker kicked lightly at the ground as she peered back up at her mom. Who, for all of her credit, looked completely composed.
“Charlotte really isn’t my girlfriend though,” she informed her, keeping her voice level, but needing her mom to know. “She’s just – we’re friends.” And because she knew her mom wouldn’t easily believe her, she pushed, “Really, Mom. She’s . . . Charlotte, she isn’t out – like, in public – because of her career and I don’t want to be the reason that anyone knows. I just mean, you know, that should be her own thing.”
Her mom seemed to understand exactly what she wanted to say, and she nodded, giving Sutton one of those warm, proud looks that she’d always relished in. “I haven’t even discussed it with your father, I promise you.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, taking a deep breath before letting her head drop back a bit. Her ponytail swung down her back and relief swept away the tension in her shoulders.
Katherine got a look on her face like she wanted to say something else, but before she did, Ethan poked his head back in. “Um, nothing’s wrong or anything,” he started with a winning smile. “But hypothetically, if I were to have knocked the flour onto the floor, what is the best way to pick it all up?”
Sutton couldn’t help but smile, a chuckle working its way out of her. Especially when she saw, now, the light dusting of flour in her brother’s hair that he’d obviously tried to dust away.
Kate let out a long-suffering sigh. “You were supposed to start the vegetables. What in the world were you doing with the flour?”
Some more of the tension drained from her shoulders. She had a possible reason as to why Charlotte was avoiding her. And she would figure out how to make it stop. Somehow. For now, she would just do her best to be present with her family and not fixate on Charlotte.
***
Not fixating on Charlotte didn’t extend to not watching her debate against Naomi, of course. Sutton had watched the debate with Grace for company, watching Charlotte in all of her glory on the biggest television in the house.
She’d been unable to resist texting her minutes before the debate, wishing her luck. And had held her breath when her message had been opened and seen immediately . . . only to get no response.
Still, Charlotte had been gorgeous and poised and utterly brilliant. She’d easily taken the debate, had deliberate and concrete answers for every question thrown her w
ay, and firm, serious yet witty rejoinders for everything Naomi tossed her way.
It was exhilarating to watch Charlotte on that scale. She’d felt a kind of pride she’d never had before in another person. She’d never been bored by politics or debates, it was just that it had never been her own passion.
Tonight had felt different. Personal.
When she hadn’t heard from Charlotte post-debate, she told herself not to take it personally and had tried to keep busy. Charlotte was surrounded by her family and people who wanted to celebrate with her. Just because Sutton very much wished she could be a part of that at the moment didn’t mean she would begrudge Charlotte celebrating herself.
She’d only let herself scroll on a handful of news sites to make sure that the general consensus ruled Charlotte as the victor in the debate before forcing herself to put the phone down to get some sleep just after midnight.
Only to jerk up, her eyes opening a bit frantically as her heart pounded at the sound of an incoming call. Grace, who had been lying at her feet, popped her head up too.
Shaking her head as her heart calmed, Sutton tried to calm her dog with a slightly clumsy head rub.
“I know, I know,” she murmured, squinting slightly in the dark as her eyes adjusted, and she narrowed her eyes trying to locate where she’d placed her phone on the edge of the bed.
All of her hard-won sleepiness completely scattered, though, when she saw that it was Charlotte calling. And not just a regular phone call, but a FaceTime call. Quickly drawing her hand through her hair but then giving up because it was a mess from tossing and turning, she answered.
Her excitement didn’t even fade as she had to blink blearily as the video she was seeing shook and wavered, moving around and shifting so much that it might make her dizzy.
Charlotte’s face wasn’t actually visible and it looked like she was walking.
Blowing out a breath, Sutton cleared her throat, “Charlotte? Um . . . are you there?”
The motions on the phone stilled, and after a moment – and a muffled curse coming from Charlotte that made Sutton smile – she was face-to-face with her. Charlotte’s hair was a bit mussed, as opposed to the perfectly styled look she’d had on television earlier, and her face was washed free of makeup.
Sutton’s heart skipped a beat in her chest at the slow, wide smile that immediately appeared on Charlotte. “Sutton, you’re here.”
Okay, definitely not an accidental call, then. That much was more relieving than she could properly say – than she should properly say. But it had been a long week of herself initiating texts or calls, to almost no avail.
“I am,” she answered slowly. “Where are you?” She asked as Charlotte continued to walk – she could see the slight blurring of the background behind her, this time keeping her face onscreen though.
“My apartment. I just got home for the night, actually. I was taking off my coat when I started the call, so I apologize for that.” Charlotte sighed, humming softly under her breath, as she spun the camera so that Sutton could see for a fact that Charlotte had indeed just entered her bedroom.
The humming was abnormal and Sutton’s eyebrows furrowed together slightly in a bit of confusion. Still, she shrugged. “It’s all right. I’m – I’m glad to hear from you,” she told Charlotte, truthfully, quietly. And she huffed out a light laugh as Grace sat up farther, nudging her face lightly to see the source of light, Sutton’s phone.
As Charlotte turned her phone back to her face, her smile quickly disappeared. It was instead replaced with a wide-eyed look of what Sutton thought was shock; she’d never seen that before on Charlotte’s face. “Sutton, what is that?”
Her tone was teasing but also carried an underlying tone of genuine alarm, as if she couldn’t decide which one to use, and Sutton couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh before she managed to cover her mouth – remembering that she was at her parents’ house and it was after midnight. “This is my dog, Grace. I told you about her. You look big but you’re just my baby, aren’t you?” She cooed softly at Grace, who wagged her tail at the tone and rubbed her face against Sutton’s.
Charlotte watched with a tentative smile, even though her eyebrows remained doubtfully raised just a bit. “If you say so,” her teasing was more pronounced now, but even so a bit apprehensive.
“I do,” she nodded, before she pointed at Charlotte and Grace followed her lead. “This is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Grace. Aside from Regan, my best friend growing up.”
And those large brown eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she leaned in closer to the camera and cleared her throat. “Nice to meet you, Grace.”
Her tone that wavered somewhere between serious and playful as she greeted her dog made Sutton’s heart flip-flop in her chest. It hadn’t been long since they’d spoken, not really, but she had missed her. She looked down at her comforter, letting this feeling of utter relief wash through her.
When she dragged her gaze up to the camera, Charlotte was staring right back at her, eyes dark, and the corner of her mouth tugged up in her typical smirk.
Well, almost like her typical smirk – it was a bit deeper, almost lascivious, and . . . were her eyes a bit glassier than usual? Added in with the late-night FaceTime call that had started out so imbalanced as she’d walked, the previous quiet humming under her breath, and –
It dawned on her in that moment. “Are you drunk?”
Her mouth dropped open a bit in surprise. She’d known from months ago, back in the very beginning before they’d met, when Charlotte had given her tips and stories about picking up and hooking up with women, that it wasn’t as though Charlotte never drank.
However, in the months that they’d been talking, Charlotte hadn’t had more than one glass of any alcoholic drink at a time. Well, that was in public. She’d maybe have two when she’d had dinners and nights in with Sutton a few times, but not even enough to really be tipsy.
Charlotte shook her head, tsking for a moment. “Don’t be ridiculous, darling, I’m not drunk.” She grinned, mischievously. “Though, I might have imbibed a bit; Caleb and Dean were awful influences after the debate.”
Her eyes narrowed in confusion. Not that she didn’t think Charlotte deserved to celebrate and she’d assumed that she was, but Charlotte had been so staunchly against imbibing, against being anything but her top-functioning ability at all times, that Sutton wondered if this was related to Charlotte’s other strange behavior.
She would make an awful detective.
Grace nudged her again before jumping off of her bed and leaving the room through the cracked-open door.
Charlotte chuckled softly. “I apologize, is Grace against alcohol?”
Sutton rolled her eyes playfully back. “No, but she’s used to being asleep already.”
“Did I call too late?” Charlotte asked as she stationed her phone on what Sutton thought was her bedside table.
“No, it’s okay,” she was quick to say. “I’m actually glad you called. I wanted to tell you how amazing you were tonight.”
The smile she got in response was almost dazzling in its sincere joy. It wasn’t a look Charlotte wore often, and it was beautiful.
“I’m glad you were watching. I wanted to call you when I got your text before the debate.” Charlotte paused after speaking, her eyes widening at her own admission.
But warmth flowed through Sutton, helping to soothe all of the sadness she’d felt in the last few days. “You did?”
Charlotte huffed out a breath at herself, sounding frustrated, before she shook her head. A thoughtful frown pulled at her mouth as she stood from her bed, leaving her phone where it was, and walked to her dresser. “I felt – less nervous than anxious, I suppose, and I wasn’t a fan of that.” Charlotte sighed, sounding a bit far away – and not because of the bit of distance between them, either. “Before I even realized it, really, I was thinking that I’d like to hear your voice.”
She couldn’t quite discern her tone, certainly not thro
ugh this FaceTime call when Charlotte wasn’t even facing her, but . . . it made that small glimmer of hope burn brighter in her stomach. “Yeah?”
“Mm.” Charlotte confirmed, the short sound seeming pensive. In the way one’s voice got when they’d been drinking. Not quite enough to be drunk, but enough to be noticeable.
“Maybe because we haven’t spoken much lately,” she hedged, trying to keep her voice light, but also just wanting so much to know if there had been anything behind it.
Charlotte reached up to take off her earrings, and it was sort of mesmerizing in a way. With the camera on her phone directed toward her back, her dress showed the way her shoulder blades moved with her now that the light, sleek blazer she’d been wearing earlier was gone.
Her silence in the next few moments was not comforting at all, and Sutton bit her lip as Charlotte turned back to face her. The look on her face was serious, and she tilted her head as she looked at Sutton.
“That’s probably it,” was all she said, though, before shaking back her hair and undoing it so that all of those luxurious curls fell down her back and shoulders. “I’ve gotten used to you being here, so it was a comfort to hear from you before I went out there.”
It should be unfair to look so good doing anything. Instead, it just made her admire Charlotte more, and her throat went dry.
“I’ve . . . gotten used to having you here, too,” she told her, thinking about all of the little stories she had, things that she had wanted to tell Charlotte about in the last week.
She stared at her in contemplation. She knew more about Charlotte than most people, and sometimes she was still a mystery to her. Like, if she’d wanted to talk to Sutton in the last few days, why hadn’t she called? Or answer Sutton’s calls with more than cursory responses?
How could Charlotte make it sound like she missed her when she’d been the one to create the distance?
So, even though she knew it sounded very girlfriend-esque, she couldn’t help but ask, “Did I do anything wrong before I left?” She bit her lip, hating that she sounded needy but wanting answers. “Or did I do something to upset you?”