Bring Her On

by Chelsea M. Cameron

  We already love her so much, K. She’s ours. I know she’s ours.

  They had her name picked out, Marissa Isabelle, and her birth mother had agreed to it. Now they had to wait two weeks and bond with their little baby and (hopefully) come back to Maine with her.

  My emotions were so close to the surface that all the pictures Dom sent me made me cry all over again. I could barely concentrate on work, so I went for a long walk instead and watched comfort movies with the cats, and had a late lunch at The Trap and filled Lou in on what had gone down at Nationals.

  “Any news on that girl you had your eye on?” Of course she asked me about Echo.

  “Maybe,” I said, stabbing a shrimp with my fork. Susie made a dynamite shrimp scampi that I ordered every time it was on the menu.

  “And?” Lou asked.

  “And we might be dating? I’m not even really sure. It’s very murky right now. I’m supposed to see her for dinner tonight.” Echo had picked the restaurant, an authentic Mexican place that was known for its bottomless margaritas and guacamole they made at the table in a real stone mortar.

  “So it seems like you’ve let it go,” she said with a smirk.

  “I mean, there wasn’t much to let go. I built a grudge on something so small. But over the years it just kept growing and I don’t know. I’m bad at grudges, I guess.” I twirled some pasta with my fork, and succeeded at splattering sauce on my shirt. At least it wasn’t the shirt I planned on wearing for my date later.

  “I think that’s a good quality to have. Some grudges are important, but some aren’t. They’re not worth wasting your time and energy on.”

  “I guess.” I wiped my shirt off. “I feel like I still don’t know anything about her. We’ve barely spent any time together. I keep waiting for something bad to happen. For some awful secret to come out.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t have an awful secret.”

  “That’s what my mom would say. I don’t know.” There was no way to know if this thing with Echo was going to work if we didn’t try it. That was the hardest part.

  “I have a good feeling about her, and my good feelings are never wrong,” Lou said, and then went to pour drinks for a couple who waited at the other end of the bar.

  I’d never been more nervous for a date in my life. Not even my first date, which happened when I was fifteen. My parents had driven us to the movies and we’d been too shy to even hold hands.

  Echo and I had agreed to meet at the restaurant and I was jumpy and shaky the whole drive. I was the first to arrive and spent the time waiting for her arranging my hair and making sure there were no stains on my shirt. I’d stacked my fingers with just about every ring I owned and I could barely bend my fingers, but the metal soothed me.

  I was fiddling with my thumb rings when someone tapped on my window and I almost died from shock. It was Echo, trying not to laugh at my shock.

  “Don’t do that to someone,” I said as I hit the button to roll the window down.

  “Sorry,” she said, but she was still holding in a laugh. “Do you need a minute?”

  I narrowed my eyes and put the window back up and opened the door.

  “No.”

  Once I calmed down, I had a minute to appreciate her outfit. Holy shit, she was so fucking hot. Her hair was pulled back into a loose braid down her back and she wore this white gauzy dress thing like an escaped nymph. A nymph that enjoyed bodybuilding on the side.

  “You look incredible, holy shit.” She did a little twirl and laughed.

  “You look hot, Kiri. Seriously.” I’d decided to be daring with a button down that dipped really low, and had foregone a bra to show a little extra skin. My leather shorts hugged my ass and made me feel like a badass. Plus, they had pockets big enough for my phone.

  “Thanks,” I said. Echo grinned at me and then pulled me close and stroked my face.

  “You’re so sexy, I don’t even want to take you into that restaurant. I want to take you right to the backseat of my car,” she said in my ear, and then kissed me deeply. I stood there, completely under her spell as we made out against my car.

  Echo made me feel like kissing was new, something I’d just discovered, and not a thing I’d been doing for years. She pulled away with a groan.

  “I want to get you into bed, but I’m also starving.”

  As if it heard what she said, my stomach rumbled.

  “Sounds like I’m not the only one,” she said, taking my hand. “Come on.”

  The restaurant smelled of hot peppers and freshly fried chips. We got seated and both agreed that we needed margaritas.

  “Less than two weeks of school and I’ll be free for the summer,” Echo said, raising her frosty glass. I clinked it with mine, trying not to slop the frozen drink over the side. I’d have to be careful not to get wasted on this thing.

  “Cheers to that,” I said. “What do you do when you’re not in school?”

  “I do random catering jobs, like for weddings and stuff, and then I sell my dollhouse furniture and pick up odd jobs here and there. Sometimes I weed gardens. I like to be outside in the summers, and if I get paid while doing it? That’s even better.”

  I found her completely fascinating. Way more fascinating than I was.

  “When was your last relationship?” I asked as I chomped down on the complimentary chips and salsa.

  Echo used a spoon to put just the right amount of salsa on a chip. “Uh, two years ago? It was brief. Just weren’t right for each other. You?”

  I told her that my last date had been more than a year ago and my friends had been trying to set me up.

  “Mine do that too, all the time. I can’t make them understand that just because someone else is a lesbian, doesn’t mean we’re meant to be together.” That sounded so familiar that I burst out laughing.

  “My friends are all queer, but they do the same thing. Do your cheer parents try and set you up?” I found myself leaning closer to her, as if I needed to be as near to her as possible without actually sitting on her lap.

  “Oh my god, yes.”

  The two of us commiserated about the horrors of being set up until our entrées came, and before I knew what had happened, we’d been talking for nearly three hours. Our serve kept coming to ask if we needed anything else in an effort to turn the table over. Even though it was a Tuesday night, the place was packed.

  “I think we’re getting the hint that we should take this somewhere else,” I said, leaning close to her. I was buzzed just enough from the margarita and her cheeks were pink from the alcohol.

  “And where might that be?” she said.

  “Your place? It’s only fair since you’ve seen mine.”

  “Sounds great.”

  I agreed to follow her to her house, but she’d also given me the address in case I lost her and needed to use my GPS.

  Echo’s place was in a town called Holland, and it was much fancier than Corsica, that was for sure. Probably due to the lab that attracted scientists from all over the world. Echo’s apartment was in a swanky building that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a city, but it was smack dab in the middle of a smallish town.

  I parked next to her in the lot and looked up at the building.

  “Wow, this is really nice.”

  “That one is mine,” she told me, pointing out a balcony on the second floor. There was a bench and a barbecue and several potted plants on the balcony.

  “You ready?” she asked, squeezing my hand and then leading me to the entrance.

  “Yup,” I said.

  “You ready to meet Murphy?” I’d forgotten about her cat.

  “Yup,” I repeated.

  “You a little nervous?”

  “Yup,” I said for the third time. Why was this so nerve-racking? Echo had seen my place and I hadn’t been flipping out about it then. Why was this different? I couldn’t put my finger on the reason.

  “It’ll be fine, come on.”

  A horrible sound greeted us when Echo u
nlocked the door. It was unlike any cat sound I’d ever heard, but there was a little hairless blob at Echo’s feet, making the noise.

  “Oh, I know, you are such a sad kitty,” Echo said in a high voice as she picked up the blob. The sound stopped.

  “This is Murphy and he’s kind of an asshole sometimes, but that’s why we get along,” Echo said.

  “He’s so wrinkly,” I said, reaching my hand out tentatively to the hairless cat. He blinked wide blue eyes at me. How could something so strange also be so cute at the same time?

  “He is my wrinkle king.” She kissed the top of his head and then walked through the apartment. “I need to feed him. You can make yourself comfortable.”

  I took stock of the apartment. It was clean and cozy. Less decorated than mine, and fewer tchotchkes, but I liked it. She favored a more subdued color palate, but sprinkled throughout the space were pops of red, which was clearly her favorite color.

  The apartment was nice, and clearly new construction. Stainless steel, granite, white walls, and black matte fixtures. No frumpy lamps like at my place. Katie said I had the decorating instincts of a grandmother.

  “What’s your verdict?” Echo asked as she came back toward me. I was still in the little entryway. I hadn’t made it to the living area yet.

  “I like it. Fancy.”

  “I’ve been here about two years? The place I had before this was a complete disaster. I wouldn’t have let you come over if I was still living there. Would you like anything?” She slipped off her shoes and I did the same, leaving them on the little rug beside the door.

  “Would I be a total dork if I asked for some tea?” I said, going to sit on her couch. It wasn’t white, but it was close to being white and I envied her the hairless cat. No dark hairs left on the furniture like at my house. Maybe she was onto something.

  “You would not be a dork because that’s what I was going to have,” she said. Echo brewed some water in the kettle and brought over two mugs, both with the logo from Heartwood High School on them.

  “It’s weird having you here,” she admitted.

  “It’s weird being on a date with you, to be honest. I mean, I know we did a date in Florida, but this feels more official.”

  “I know. We never really dated, did we?” She pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and put it over her legs.

  “No, we just kind of locked eyes and then fucked when we had a spare moment.” That made her laugh.

  “Are you still mad at me?” she asked, dunking her teabag in and out of the mug.

  “I mean, I’m still a little hurt. I don’t think that feeling is ever going to go away. It hurt, because I had real feelings for you then.” I had real feelings for her now, and I couldn’t untangle which feelings were from which time.

  “I had real feelings for you, Kiri. I did. Things with my parents . . . Let’s just say that they were not supportive when I came out and I haven’t talked to them in over four years.” Holy shit, that was awful.

  I compulsively squeezed her hand.

  “I’m so sorry. That’s awful.”

  “I know,” she said, wiping a few tears. “It is what it is. I’ve moved on. I’ve been in therapy over it. They’d rather throw their only daughter away than admit that they were wrong, and that’s something they’ll have to live with. I have good friends, who are dying to meet you, by the way, and one of my co-workers has sort of stepped in and I spend Christmas and Thanksgiving with her family every year. I’m not alone, but it still hurts when people are asking me what I’m doing on a holiday and wonder why I’m not visiting my parents.”

  I had no idea about any of that. It made my heart ache for her.

  “Do you need a hug?” I asked, setting my tea down on the coffee table.

  “Okay?” she said as if she wasn’t sure. I leaned over and gathered her in my arms. She was so strong, but even strong people needed someone to lean on sometimes.

  “I'm sorry your parents suck. I’m sorry they can’t see how amazing you are.” I rubbed her back and stroked her braid and held her. This was the first time she’d ever felt fragile in my arms.

  “Thank you,” she said, through tears. “I don’t like to cry during dates, but here we are.”

  That made both of us giggle a little and I pulled back to look at her face.

  “Will me taking my clothes off make it better?”

  “I’m not sure, but you should try. I’ll let you know.” I stood up and unbuttoned my shirt, flinging it over the back of the couch.

  Echo stared at me and then turned her head to the side, considering.

  “I’m not sure, can you show me a little more?” I flipped the button on my leather shorts and then shimmied them, along with my underwear, down my legs, kicking them under the coffee table. I did a slow turn.

  “How about now? Feel better?”

  Echo stood from the couch and walked toward me. Her hands dragged down my body, coming to cup my ass.

  “Much better.”

  Sixteen

  You were seen, just so you know Dom texted me the next day when I was on my lunch break.

  What do you mean?

  Denise saw you with Echo at dinner. You are not as sneaky as you think you are.

  Freaking Denise. She was one of the cheer moms who’d had two kids on the squad and was regularly a pain in my ass. Her oldest daughter had graduated last year, and her youngest was a junior now. Somehow, she seemed to know everything about everyone, which was probably because she worked as a nurse at the local hospital. I didn’t remember seeing her at the restaurant, but I’d also had my attention fully on Echo and in my margarita glass.

  What did she say? I asked.

  Why was Denise talking to Dom about me? He should be in baby bliss, not dealing with petty gossip.

  She told Callie, Callie told Heath, you know how it goes.

  Callie worked at the hospital too and was Heath’s sister. I should have known that was how it would get back to Dom.

  She just doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut I said.

  No, she doesn’t. And all of Corsica knows about it by now.

  Cool, awesome, great.

  I should have expected this to happen. Echo and I weren’t trying to hide anything. I just hoped Denise hadn’t seen us making out in the parking lot.

  No doubt all my cheerleaders knew about it, and I hoped none of them, or their parents, thought that I was betraying my job at Corsica. That had been a consideration.

  I messaged Echo. So one of my moms saw us and now everyone is going to know.

  She responded right away. Yup, one of my parents saw us too. Maybe we should have just stayed at your house and not gone out in public, but the cat is out of the bag now. How do you want to handle this?

  I mean, what was I going to do? Stop dating Echo? No way. I wasn’t going to live my life by what other people might think. Fuck that.

  I don’t care what they think. I want to keep dating you if you want to keep dating me and we’ll deal with what comes. Cheer season is over, so what are they going to do about it?

  She had to go back to her class, but I thought about it for the rest of the day. I was going to see everyone on Friday for the celebration banquet and I knew that I was going to have to answer some questions. At least I had two days to prep my statement. Probably something along the lines of “it’s none of your fucking business” but with less cursing.

  I missed Echo. I had seen her less than a day ago, but we’d been sending texts back and forth and had another date planned for this weekend. She’d showed me the little office she had where she worked on her dollhouse furniture with itty bitty tools that I would break or drop if I tried to use them, and now she wanted to show me another one of her hobbies: ax throwing.

  There was a recreation center in her town that had archery and ax throwing and I could tell she was really excited about it. I was flipping out a little about it, but then I decided it would be fun if Echo could stand behind me and teach me how
to throw the ax and I could pretend to be helpless and then we could go back to her place and fuck all night. Ideal date, really.

  Maybe it was better to get the fact that I was seeing Echo out sooner rather than later. I hoped people would be supportive, because I knew they wanted to see me happy. Echo made me happy, and that was that.

  Echo was making me more than happy. We could talk about literally anything and she was one of the funniest people I’d ever met. The raccoon story wasn’t even the most hilarious story that had ever happened to her, and she would get me laughing so hard I struggled to breathe and had tears streaming from my eyes. She was also still a pain in my ass, but I enjoyed it more now. Mostly.

  I’d defend our relationship if I had to. That realization that we were in a Relationship, with a capital R, was sobering. When had that even happened?

  Are we in a relationship? I asked her.

  I mean, yes? What else would you call what we’re doing?

  That was a good point. I guess I just hadn’t said that exact word yet, or thought about it in those terms. There hadn’t been time. I was still kind of recovering from Nationals exhaustion and getting back to work and then this thing with Echo. It was new and bright and confusing and great, but all the best things were.

  So I can call you my girlfriend? I asked. Somehow, we had not talked about this in the myriad other topics we’d covered.

  I mean, I’ve told all my friends that you’re my girlfriend so I hope so. Unless you don’t want that label? I should have checked, sorry.

  This conversation was blowing my mind a little. She’d called me her girlfriend in front of her friends?

  Wow, okay, yeah. You’re my girlfriend.

  Glad we got that sorted out she said with a laughing emoji. Speaking of my friends, do you want to meet them next weekend? I didn’t want to throw you at them all at once right away.

  It seemed fair, since she’d met mine already.