Taking a Shot at Love Read online

  “I think I’m just going to eat these for dinner.” Lisa went to grab the tin, and Celeste turned away from her and replaced the lid.

  “You will not. You are to share these with Athena after dinner.”

  “Ooh, bossy. I like it.” Lisa raised an eyebrow.

  Celeste took a step closer to Lisa, not much space between them. “I can do bossy if that’s what you like.”

  Lisa whimpered. Actually whimpered. She could be in real trouble with this one. She better watch her step. “Come on in. Dinner should almost be ready.” Lisa opened the door and allowed Celeste to enter before her. “Hey, Athena. I’m back.”

  Athena called out from the kitchen. “Have you calmed down yet? I don’t understand why you just don’t ask her out. You two obviously like each other.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lisa whispered to Celeste as they walked into the kitchen. “Are you going to need some help pulling your foot out of your mouth, Chang?”

  Athena turned around and saw Lisa and Celeste standing there with smiles on their faces. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, yeah? Who are you apologizing to?”

  Athena hugged Celeste hello. “Celeste, of course. I don’t care if I embarrass you.”

  Lisa uncorked the wine Celeste said she liked and poured her a glass. She grabbed a couple of beers out of the fridge for her and Athena and raised a toast. “Happy Christmas Eve.”

  “If you guys want to go have a seat, I’m almost done with dinner, just another five minutes.”

  “Come on, Celeste, I’ll give you a tour of the house.”

  The tour was quick because the house was fairly small. Just two bedrooms and one bath, a little over a thousand square feet, but Lisa wasn’t complaining. It was nice to be in university housing and having to pay only utilities. By the time they were done with the tour, Athena had the food on the table and they were ready to eat. Once they finished dinner, Lisa cleared the table and started dishes while Athena and Celeste sat at the table and talked. The table was just out of the kitchen so Lisa was able to be a part of the conversation.

  “Athena, your name is beautiful. I’ve never met anyone with that name, and I think I’ve only heard it before in Greek mythology. She was the goddess of wisdom and war, right?”

  “Yes. It’s believed that she’d been born from the head of her father, Zeus. The story goes that he had a terrible headache, he took a sword and cut his own head in half, and Athena popped out fully grown and armored.”

  Lisa shook her head and wiped her hands on the towel. “Mr. Chang named her that because he had a huge headache when Athena was born. Now she’s my headache.”

  Celeste and Athena laughed, but Lisa caught Athena slyly giving her the middle finger. Lisa had the tin of cookies in her hand and three small paper plates.

  “Come on, let’s go sit in the living room and watch the movies.”

  Athena chose to sit in the recliner, leaving the couch to Lisa and Celeste. They put a few cookies on their plates and settled back to watch the movies. Lisa and Athena sang along to the cold/heat miser song from The Year Without a Santa Claus. Celeste clapped her approval when they were done.

  “Just how many times have you two seen this movie?”

  “I think almost every year since I was about five years old.” Lisa grabbed another cookie and ate half of it.

  “Same,” replied Athena.

  “That’s unreal. This is the first time I’ve seen this movie.”

  Lisa saw Athena’s wide-eyed expression and was sure it was identical to her own. “How is that possible? I mean, it’s a Christmas classic.”

  “I don’t know. My parents and I always watched It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. In fact, I never watched any type of cartoon when I was growing up.”

  “What? No Bugs Bunny?”

  “No Tom and Jerry?”

  “No Scooby Doo?”

  “No, none of them.”

  Lisa grabbed her head like she was trying to stop it from exploding. She reached over and patted Celeste’s leg. “I’m so sorry you had such a deprived childhood. Your parents should have been arrested for neglect.”

  Celeste covered Lisa’s hand and Lisa felt the warmth envelop her. “I assure you, I had a wonderful childhood, but I am realizing that I did miss out on some essentials.”

  Lisa jumped up from the couch and started rooting around in the cabinet below the television. “Ah, here it is.” Lisa held up a DVD case and came back over to the couch. “I’m loaning this to you. Don’t lose it.”

  “Looney Tunes Golden Collection.” Celeste turned the case over and read the back.

  “It’s all of the best Looney Tunes cartoon shorts. No kid should ever go through their childhood without watching these. The funny thing is, they’re even better as an adult.”

  “Okay, I’ll be sure and watch it during winter break. Thank you.”

  They’d finished watching the movies then Athena announced she was heading to bed. She hugged Celeste and said good night to Lisa. Lisa and Celeste remained seated and with the remote, Lisa turned the radio on to Christmas music. They sat silently looking at the lit Christmas tree in the corner adorned with decorations Lisa’s mom had given them a few years back when Lisa and Athena started being roommates. They tended not to overdo it with decorating since it was just them. There were two decorative stockings hanging from the fireplace mantle and some wrapped presents under the tree.

  “Would you like another glass of wine or some hot cocoa?”

  “Oh, no. I should be going. Let you get to bed so Santa Claus can come down the chimney and deliver your presents.” Celeste stood, then Lisa stood and faced her. She took a step closer and began playing with the hem of Celeste’s sweater.

  “You know, your perfume has been driving me nuts all night.” Lisa leaned in and started kissing Celeste’s neck and inhaling the sweet citrus smell on her skin. She tasted Celeste’s neck with the tip of her tongue and Celeste quietly moaned.

  “Oh, you’re driving me a little nuts, too.”

  “Yeah?” Lisa continued her assault on Celeste’s neck then sucked her earlobe into her mouth. “You like that?”

  Celeste wrapped her arms around Lisa’s neck and rubbed her breasts against Lisa’s. “Yeah, I love it.”

  Lisa moved her mouth to capture Celeste in a frenzied, passionate kiss. “Come to bed with me?” Lisa was breathless and had difficulty getting the words out.

  “What about Athena?” Celeste asked as she ground her pelvis into Lisa’s. There wasn’t any space between them, and Lisa liked that just fine.

  “Athena’s in her own bed.” Lisa grinned to let Celeste know she was kidding. “Come on, she won’t know if that’s what you’re worried about. Come on, Celeste. I want to feel your naked body under mine.”

  Lisa started making her way toward her bedroom, and Celeste hesitated at first then went willingly. Lisa closed the door behind them and leaned back against it. There was a little light that came in through the blinds, just enough for Lisa to see Celeste’s heaving chest. Lisa closed the distance and they removed each other’s clothing before lying down.

  Lisa laid her body over a naked Celeste and kissed her while grinding her sex against Celeste’s. Their make out session in the living room got Lisa hard and wet, and she couldn’t hold back. She didn’t want to. She slid her hand between them and discovered how wet Celeste was. She easily slid two fingers deep inside her and thrust in and out while grinding against Celeste. It wouldn’t take long for either to come.

  “Oh, God, Lisa. Harder. You’re going to make me come.”

  Lisa did as Celeste commanded and she dug her nails into Lisa’s ass, pulling her in tighter. Celeste cried out and Lisa came right after, nearly collapsing on top of Celeste. They lay there breathing hard until Lisa rolled off and they started laughing softly.

  “That was incredible.”

  “It sure was. God, Celeste, you’re so incredibly sexy.”

  Celeste scooted cl
oser to Lisa and kissed her. “You’re pretty sexy yourself, Coach.”

  After about twenty minutes of basking in the afterglow, Celeste got up.

  “Hey, where you going? Come back to bed.”

  Celeste pulled her sweater over her head and brushed her fingers through her hair. “I’m not spending the night and risk running into Athena in the morning. Did you tell her about us?”

  “Sort of. She caught me coming in the morning after I left your house, and she asked if we had slept together. I told her we did, but I didn’t give her any details and I told her not to tell anyone.”

  Celeste looked at her with raised eyebrows. “That surprises me. Why didn’t you tell her? I know she’s your best friend.”

  “Yes, she is, but what happened between us is our business. I’m not the type of person to kiss and tell.”

  “How about Athena? Does she have loose lips?”

  “Nope. If I tell her to keep something private, she’ll take it to the grave.”

  Celeste finished dressing and sat on the bed next to Lisa. “If you want to tell her, you can. But please ask her not to tell anyone. Not that you or Athena would do it, but my last girlfriend spread rumors about me after I broke up with her and a few of her friends told some stories as well. I’m not ashamed of what we’re doing, but I do like to keep my life private, especially on campus.”

  “I completely understand. I feel the same way. If it comes up again, I’ll tell her, but I won’t volunteer anything.” Lisa lightly rubbed Celeste’s back. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay?”

  Celeste smiled. “No, I should get going. I’m going to Olivia’s tomorrow, and I still have a few things to do in the morning.”

  “Okay. Let me get dressed and I’ll walk you out.” Lisa threw on a sweatshirt and sweatpants, as well as her slippers and walked Celeste to her car. Before she opened the door, she put her arms around Celeste and kissed her again. “Drive carefully and I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Good night. Merry Christmas, Coach.”

  Lisa waved as Celeste drove away. “A merry Christmas, indeed.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Celeste had never done this before, had a friend with benefits. And because she’d only had one girlfriend in her life, she didn’t know how to act or what to expect. Was it okay for her to call Lisa and ask her to do something? That sounded an awful lot like a date. But it had been four days since she’d seen her and talked to her, and Celeste found she was missing Lisa. Was it actually Lisa Celeste was missing or the sex? Because sex with Lisa was off the hook as the kids would put it. Being a college professor made her privy to the latest “hip” lingo. Maybe a little of both? Or a lot of both. She was trying not to get emotionally involved because they’d both agreed they’d stay just friends. She also didn’t want to come off as needy or like she was attaching herself to Lisa. It wasn’t like Celeste didn’t have any other friends, but to be honest, they weren’t Lisa. Her musings were interrupted by her phone ringing. She was pleasantly surprised to see Lisa’s name on the screen.

  “Hi, Coach. I was just thinking about you.”

  “Good thoughts, I hope.”

  “Good, sexy thoughts, actually.”

  “Oh, my.”

  Celeste found she enjoyed teasing and flirting with Lisa.

  “I just pulled into a Thai place to pick up dinner, and I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me? I can bring it to your house.”

  “That would be great.”

  Celeste gave Lisa her order and rushed through her house to straighten it up. She opened the door to her “pole room” and threw some of her shoes in there before Lisa knocked on the door. She brushed her hands down her body to straighten her clothes. She opened the door to find Lisa standing there holding a large paper bag containing their food, and Celeste thought she was going to faint. Lisa stood there looking amazing. She’d cut her hair short. Like, really short.

  “Oh, good God.”

  “What?” Lisa looked concerned.

  “You cut your hair.” Celeste loved the look. She didn’t know how it was possible, but Lisa looked even more amazing, more butch, and Celeste felt her heart rate increase. She had an urge to run her fingers through her now two-inch-long hair. “It looks fantastic. When did you get it cut?”

  “Just this morning. My players gave me all kinds of crap about it at practice today.”

  “Why would they do that?” Celeste thought it was mean-spirited for the young women to tease their coach, and she felt very protective of her.

  Lisa placed her hand on Celeste’s shoulder and kissed her cheek. “It’s okay. It’s what we do as athletes—we tease each other. But I am their coach, an authority figure, so I made them run some sprints for disrespecting me.” Lisa laughed.

  “Ooh, you’re so mean.”

  “It’s good to be the coach,” Lisa said while smiling and slowly nodding.

  “Come on in.” Celeste led Lisa into the kitchen and pulled down two plates from the cupboard, and Lisa scooped out the food from the containers while they discussed what they’d been up to for the past four days. Celeste didn’t care what they talked about, she just liked that Lisa was there. Celeste was miraculously able to hold some sort of conversation with Lisa, but she felt herself often just staring at her. She couldn’t find words of how good Lisa looked with short hair, how sexy she looked. She had some sort of gel that gave it some volume and some areas a little spiky. Lisa now looked like the type of women Celeste fantasized about. Celeste thought about Lisa getting out of the pool with her short hair wet and slicked back. Whew. That image was almost more than she could take.

  “Come on, I’m starving.” And not necessarily for food.

  Lisa set her plate on the table “I’m going to wash my hands first.”

  Lisa headed down the hall, and Celeste sat patiently waiting for her to come back. The house was quiet and Celeste was able to hear the water turn off in the bathroom. Another two minutes went by, and Celeste got up to see if Lisa needed anything. She knew Lisa wasn’t still washing her hands since she heard the water turn off. She saw the door to her pole room open. Celeste became upset that Lisa was snooping around.

  “What are you doing in here?” Celeste was a combination of mad that Lisa was in the room without permission and embarrassed that Lisa had her hand on the brass pole that was bolted into the ceiling and floor.

  “You have a pole?”

  Celeste grabbed Lisa by her upper arm and dragged her out of the room. “You shouldn’t be in there. Why are you snooping?” Celeste felt her face grow hot and tears start to sting her eyes.

  “I wasn’t snooping. I mean, not really. I was walking back from the bathroom and I saw the pole in the room. I was curious.”

  “Like I said. Snooping. And that door was closed.”

  “No, it wasn’t, Celeste. I’d never open a closed door in your house.”

  Celeste calmed down enough to think that maybe she didn’t close the door all the way. The hinges were a little off balance so if the door didn’t latch, it would open all the way on its own.

  “Why are you so mad? I think it’s a cool place to work out.”

  Celeste wiped a tear from her eye and willed the other tears to stop. “I didn’t want you to see the pole.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. I thought maybe you’d judge me.”

  “Because you pole dance?”

  Celeste felt her pulse race. How would Lisa know that just by seeing the pole?

  “Celeste, I didn’t say anything because you didn’t mention it first and I wanted to respect your privacy, but I saw you compete in Las Vegas.”

  “You what? You saw me and you didn’t say anything?” Celeste turned away from Lisa, embarrassed to know Lisa saw her dressed in a scantily clad costume.

  Lisa moved closer and placed her hands on Celeste’s shoulders, causing her to jump. She was torn between wanting to be held by Lisa and shooing her out of her house. How did
this happen? How did Lisa happen to be in Las Vegas at the same time as Celeste and see her perform? When did Celeste start caring what Lisa thought? Sure, they were friends, but they weren’t girlfriends. And they’d only known each other a little more than a few months, so why was Celeste getting all worked up? Celeste took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down. She needed to start owning who she was and the things she was good at, and she was really good at pole dancing. She was almost at expert level. She’d worked hard to get to where she was in pole dancing, it gave her joy, it empowered her, and she’d made good friends in her class. She turned around and squared her shoulders. She didn’t have to justify herself to anyone. Pole dancing was nothing to be ashamed of, and it was becoming a very popular form of exercise.

  “What I was going to say was that you were amazing up on that stage. I don’t know if I could find the words to describe what I saw, but I’m going to try.”

  Celeste felt herself relax a little as Lisa took her hands and looked into her eyes.

  “When Athena and I arrived—”

  “Athena was there too?” Celeste’s voice was high and loud and she closed her eyes before taking in another deep breath and letting it out slowly.

  “As I was saying, when we arrived, I didn’t know what to expect. Well, what I thought it would be, I’m ashamed to say. Anyway, with each performance, I got more and more into it. Then they announced your name and you came out looking all hot and sexy. I almost left because I thought it would be inappropriate to watch you dance like that, but you were so fluid and athletic. I was so damned impressed with your performance and so proud of you that I wanted to find you and give you a humongous hug. What you did up there on stage was beautiful and strong and amazing. So, if you’re embarrassed about me knowing you pole dance, don’t be. There’s no way in hell I could do anything like that and I’ve been an athlete most of my life.”