Athena started off the conversation by asking if Olivia had been to this restaurant. She said she’d been just three or four times, then Athena told them that she and Lisa lived nearby and ate there at least once a week because of its healthier food choices, but she admitted indulging in a beer or two with dinner. Celeste idly wondered how Athena handled her alcohol, being as small as she was. She was shorter than Celeste and very trim. Olivia had said something humorous and Athena’s laugh was loud, joyful, and infectious. So far, Celeste liked Athena. Halfway through dinner, Athena started focusing her questions on Celeste—how long she’d been at GU, where she’d taught before, where she’d gone to school. All innocent questions until Olivia started asking Lisa the same questions. Celeste thought she’d seen a look of plotting pass between Olivia and Athena, but she couldn’t be sure. Lisa had been fairly quiet during the dinner, and Celeste wondered if she wasn’t having a good time or if she was shy or if she just didn’t know what to say. Celeste found that odd since she was so vocal during games, and she didn’t have a problem talking when it was just the two of them.
After they finished dinner, Celeste asked if Lisa and Athena wanted to join them to go see the giant Christmas tree in the traffic circle park.
Athena answered without asking Lisa. “Yeah, that would be great. We were just talking about that earlier.”
Lisa scrunched her eyebrows together. “We were?”
Athena elbowed Lisa in her ribs, causing Lisa to flinch. “Yes. Remember when I was telling you I’d like to go see the decorations and walk through the neighborhood to see the decorated houses?”
“No.”
Athena’s eyes grew wide and she spoke slowly. “Well, I did.” Athena looked back to Celeste and Olivia. “She’s usually not this forgetful.” Athena laughed nervously.
Lisa shrugged and smiled. Celeste laughed and put her arm through Lisa’s when Athena and Olivia walked ahead of them. Celeste leaned in close and quietly inhaled Lisa’s scent. Whenever she smelled cedar wood or sage, she thought of Lisa. It was woodsy, slightly masculine, and Celeste could picture Lisa in a log cabin with her flannel sleeves rolled up, faded jeans, and boots, stoking a fire. Speaking of stoking a fire, Celeste was feeling very warm all of a sudden. She spoke softly into Lisa’s ear. “I think our friends are up to something.” Celeste could feel Lisa shiver when she spoke. She had an urge to evoke another shiver from Lisa.
“I have no idea why Athena is acting so strange tonight. I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”
Celeste found Lisa adorably gullible. Did she really not see their friends conspiring to get Celeste and Lisa to spend more time talking to each other? Or wait. Maybe they weren’t actually doing that and it was all in Celeste’s head. Just then, Olivia and Athena turned to get a peek at Celeste and Lisa then quickly faced forward again. Uh-huh. They’re conspiring.
“I really enjoyed dinner tonight.”
Lisa turned her head slightly to look at Celeste. “I did too. I wanted to tell you that you look very pretty tonight.”
Celeste blushed but was pleased with the compliment. She had stressed about what she was going to wear. She knew it wasn’t a date, but she still wanted to look nice.
“Thank you. That’s very sweet of you to say. You look pretty handsome yourself. I love this jacket.” Celeste caressed the soft, supple leather that covered Lisa’s arm, and she felt that shiver again.
Lisa stood a little taller and prouder after Celeste’s compliment. Despite what others might think, Lisa didn’t have a lot of experience with women. She’d had a girlfriend in college and in her early to mid-twenties, but once she started coaching, she started fully concentrating on that. Not to say she didn’t date now and then, but never during a season. She hooked up with a woman occasionally when she was on vacation but hadn’t met anyone she thought would want to be with a coach and all of the time it took up. Especially at the higher levels when there was more traveling for recruiting, trips, games, and tournaments.
To be honest, Lisa was extremely attracted to Celeste, but it wouldn’t be fair to start something with her when she knew she wasn’t planning to stay at GU for long. It might be this year or next, but she had her ear to the ground, listening for possible head coaching vacancies at the Division I level.
They arrived to the center of the traffic circle and wandered around with some other people looking at the decorations. When they got to the tree, Lisa pulled out her cell phone.
“Celeste, why don’t you and Olivia stand in front of the tree and I’ll take your picture?”
Lisa snapped a few, then Olivia offered to take a picture of Athena and Lisa. They threw their arms around each other’s shoulders, and Athena made a goofy face in some of them.
“Okay, now Lisa and Celeste. I want a picture of you both.”
Lisa looked at Celeste, who looked like she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. Finally, they stood next to each other with a respectable distance between them.
“For heaven’s sake, act like you like each other.”
Lisa and Celeste moved closer, and Lisa slid her arm behind Celeste’s lower back and rested her hand on her hip. It felt intimate but natural to have her hand on Celeste’s hip, and she pictured them walking down a street or the beach with her arm around Celeste, just as it was now.
Athena broke the daydream and the mood. “Hey, let’s go to O’Hara’s for a drink. My treat.”
Lisa looked at Celeste. “We better take advantage of that. Athena’s such a cheapskate, who knows when an offer like that might come around again.”
Celeste laughed and hooked her arm through Lisa’s again. “In that case, let’s go have a drink.”
They walked back toward the restaurant until they reached the pub. It was a dark hole in the wall joint that smelled like beer and decades-old cigarette smoke.
“Coach!” The greeting was so loud that Celeste startled.
“Hey, guys. How’s it going?”
They walked up to the bar as the bartender was wiping it down with a white damp rag. “How did the game go last night?”
Athena piped in. “We won, of course.” The bartender held up his hand and Athena gave him a high five.
“Still waiting to see you at a game, Connor.”
“I know. You should schedule them on days I don’t work.”
Lisa winked at him and pointed. “Maybe you shouldn’t schedule your work days on our game days.”
“Ooh, Coach got you there, Connor.”
“Anyways, what can I get ya?”
Olivia and Celeste ordered glasses of wine while Lisa and Athena ordered Guinness on tap. Since Connor was a true Irishman, he knew how to pour a proper pint. Athena handed over the money, and they took their drinks over to a table to continue their evening.
Athena set her drink down and asked Olivia if she wanted to dance, and she obliged. Celeste and Lisa watched them for a minute before they said anything.
“Is Olivia gay?”
Celeste stopped mid sip of her wine and set down her glass. “No, she’s been married for twelve years to a great man named Carl. Why?”
“I’m worried that Athena may be barking up the wrong tree with her. She’s been flirting with Olivia all night.”
“No, she hasn’t.”
“Sure, she has. They’re completely ignoring us.”
Celeste laughed and placed her hand over Lisa’s. “They’re trying to give us time alone. I know that Olivia is very interested in you and I getting together, and I think she’s hoping if they’re not around, that we’ll stare into each other’s eyes and fall madly in love with each other.”
Lisa rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Now that you mention it, Athena said we should get together, as well. She was pretty hesitant in coming tonight even though I told her we agreed to go out as friends.”
“What a bunch of busybodies.”
Lisa threw her head back and laughed. “To be honest, I am very attracted to you, but during basketball season,
I don’t have much time to go out. Besides, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here.”
“What do you mean?”
Lisa tried to downplay what she just said. She wanted to keep quiet about it because she didn’t know what would happen, but now Celeste was curious. “Eh, I don’t want to talk about it tonight, but I’ll just say that other coaching opportunities at larger universities might come up.”
“Oh, I see.” Celeste picked up her wine and took a sip while she turned away from Lisa to watch Olivia and Athena dance. Lisa noticed Celeste got quiet after Lisa told her that, but what else was she supposed to say? At times like this, she’d wished she didn’t feel so awkward with ladies in a social setting. Was that ever something she’d get over? Maybe she was destined to spend the rest of her life single, or married to basketball.
Olivia and Athena came over and asked them to dance. Athena took Celeste’s hand and Olivia grabbed Lisa’s. She reluctantly followed Olivia to the small dance floor, and the four of them danced together for two songs. When the next song was a ballad, Olivia and Athena gently pushed their respective partners together. Celeste was about to go back to the table when Lisa grabbed her hand.
“Dance with me.” It wasn’t a request.
* * *
Damn it, Celeste felt good in Lisa’s arms. A little too good. Lisa had her right hand on Celeste’s left hip, and Celeste’s right hand was in Lisa’s left. Lisa pulled her closer into her body, and Celeste felt the heat immediately between them. She wondered if Lisa felt it too. God, she smelled good. The mixture of Lisa’s cologne and her leather jacket was intoxicating. Celeste’s left hand was on Lisa’s right shoulder, and she could feel the hardness of Lisa’s muscles under her hand.
Celeste had been taken aback when Lisa said she’d go to coach at another school if the opportunity came up. And why wouldn’t it? She was great with her team and they were winning. Celeste would be sorry to see her go though. The more she got to know Lisa, the more she liked her. Celeste was sure they could’ve become better friends, and she’d miss her when Lisa left the school. Celeste didn’t see the allure of working for a large university, especially now that she’d had a taste of working for a small private university. She liked being able to know her students, the faculty, and she liked feeling like she was part of the community. She wondered what drew Lisa to coaching for a large university. Celeste had to keep thinking about things like that because if she didn’t, she’d think too much about how good she felt dancing with Lisa and being held so close to her body. She’d had an undeniable urge to get closer, to be like a second skin to Lisa, but she worried that Lisa would feel the pounding of her heart through her chest. Celeste also feared that Lisa would place her hand on her fat roll above her waist and would be grossed out. Celeste looked and felt better since she’d lost her weight, but with that weight loss came extra skin and stretch marks, as well as some leftover fat rolls. She already knew how Jackie felt about them; she’d told her the night they’d broken up.
The insults that Jackie had spewed had done some damage to Celeste’s self-esteem. She’d felt that all of the counseling and lessons in self-love and self-respect gathered into a ball and rolled down hill. After she broke up with Jackie, Celeste went right back to work on having a positive body image, but she still had periods of doubt, like now that she was in a gorgeous, fit woman’s arms. She felt herself grow warm and she was sure she was blushing. She was just thankful that it wasn’t very light in the bar so that Lisa would notice.
Speaking of noticing (not), the song morphed into a faster tune, but she and Lisa were still dancing slowly. Lisa spoke into Celeste’s ear, and she shivered throughout her body.
“The song is over.” Lisa said it but she didn’t back away in an effort to stop dancing so Celeste did.
“Thanks for the dance, Coach.” Celeste and Lisa walked back to their table with Lisa’s hand on the small of Celeste’s back. Even though she knew better, that small gesture made Celeste feel protected, safe, and if she was being honest, a lot aroused. She had a vision of walking into an event on Lisa’s arm and being the envy of the women in the room. Okay, it was time to call it an evening. Celeste’s mind was a jumbled mess, and she didn’t trust herself not to say or do something she’d regret.
“Well, everyone, I think it’s time for us to go.” Celeste gave Olivia a look that expressed she better not challenge her on that. “I had a really great time and I hope we can do it again.” Celeste started to put on her jacket, but Lisa grabbed it and held it for Celeste to slip her arms through the sleeves. That awkward moment came again, and Celeste wasn’t sure if she should shake Lisa’s hand or give her a hug. She went for something completely different and a little bold for her—she took her hand then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. She left a smudge of lipstick on Lisa’s smooth skin, and Celeste wiped it off with the pad of her thumb. For someone who said they just wanted to be friends, Lisa was sending off mixed signals. While her words said “friends,” the aroused look in her eyes said “lovers.” Celeste caught one more shared look between Olivia and Athena before they left the bar.
As they were walking back to the car, Celeste nudged Olivia. “What’s going on with you and Athena? Don’t think I don’t know what you two are up to.”
Olivia opened her mouth and looked like she was going to deny it, then she just shrugged. “Look, Athena and I agreed that you and Lisa would make a striking couple. And Athena told me that she thinks Lisa is attracted to you.”
“Athena thinks Lisa is attracted to me? Are we in the seventh grade now? Will she pass me a note asking me if I want to be her girlfriend? Come on, Olivia.”
Olivia giggled. “Sarcastic much?”
“I told you before, and this will be the last time I say this. I don’t want to date anyone I work with. Besides, she told me tonight that she’s hoping to get a job offer from a bigger school, but keep that quiet. I don’t know if Athena knows and I’m sure her team doesn’t.”
“Why would anyone want to leave Glassell University? This is the best place to be.”
“I know, right? She said this is the first time she’s been affiliated with a smaller school, and I think she wants to coach at a higher level. I mean, I can’t blame her if that’s what she wants, and she’d probably make more money, but if she does leave, I’m not going to follow because unlike her, I love being at a small school. Why should we get involved when her future is uncertain?”
“Well, now that I know that huge piece of information, I promise to leave you alone. But I stand by my opinion in that you two would make a great looking couple.”
Celeste sighed. “I think so too.”
* * *
“That was fun.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And Olivia is a lot of fun.”
Lisa and Athena were walking home from their night out with Celeste and Olivia, and although it was only a kiss on the cheek that Celeste gave her, Lisa was having a difficult time following Athena’s simple comments. Her focus was on remembering how soft Celeste’s lips felt on her skin. If she closed her eyes, she could almost feel them lingering on her cheek. But closing her eyes while walking was a good way for her to trip and do a face plant into the sidewalk. Also, she didn’t want Athena to see how affected she’d been by a simple good-bye peck on the cheek. But really, how simple was it? There was a look in Celeste’s eyes as she wiped her lipstick off Lisa’s cheek. A look that said, “too bad you want to be just friends because you have no idea what you’re missing.” But Lisa already had a feeling what she’d be missing out on by the way Celeste moved her body and hips while pole dancing and while dancing in Lisa’s arms earlier that night. Besides, Celeste was the one who wanted to have dinner as friends. She was being a tease, was what she was doing.
“Yeah, she seemed very nice.” Lisa needed to stop daydreaming of Celeste or Athena was going to torture the hell out of her. The last thing she wanted was Athena telling her she told her so. “Celeste thought you and O
livia were pushing us together. How do you plead?”
“I plead the Fifth, Your Coach.”
Lisa laughed and playfully shoved her. “You can be such an ass, you know that, Chang?”
“Yeah, so you’ve told me before. See? I’m not the only one that thinks you two would be good together. Olivia told me the same thing.”
“And I told you to leave it alone. Why can’t you just mind your own business?”
The night was dark, but there was enough light from the streetlamp to see Athena’s frown. Lisa had seen that look more than a few times—she’d hurt Athena’s feelings. “I’m sorry, buddy. That was a dick thing for me to say.”
“Yeah, it was. I just want you to find someone for you to love and who loves you back. Is that so much for your best friend to ask?”
“No, and I appreciate your concern, but I’m not looking to start something with Celeste, okay? I don’t see you going on any dates either, my friend.”
“Well, Ms. Nosy, just so happens I have a coffee date next Sunday with a woman I met online.”
“What? You didn’t tell me you joined a dating site. When did this happen?”
“Just last week. I didn’t want to tell you until I had a chance to see how it was.”
“Wow. Good for you, buddy. Tell me about her.”
“I will after I have coffee with her. I want to see if there’s anything there before I get too involved.”
“All right.” Lisa slung her arm over Athena’s shoulder and gave her a one-armed hug. “Hey, how do you feel about tomorrow’s game?”
Athena laughed. “Why did you even schedule this game? Us against a Division I school? Are you crazy?”
“Come on. You know it’ll be a good game for us. It’s not like that team is a high-level school, but it helps build up our schedule strength in case we need that extra push to get into the post-season tournament. Besides, you never know, right? Can you imagine how our girls would react if they beat this team? And I honestly think we can win.”
Taking a Shot at Love Page 11