Stars Landing [Book 3]

Chapter 34 - Second Date

Rhea ran into Tegan's arms and hugged her tightly, wailing like a wild woman. It had been too long since she saw her friend. More than three weeks to be exact, which was a lot of time apart. Although Rhea had an amazing time in Montreal with her wonderful boyfriend, she was happy to be back in the city. Sera moved from behind Rhea and joined the girls as they embraced one another in the living room.

"You're glowing!" Sera told Tegan.

It was her first night back from the Penthouse, the group chat had explicit instructions on how Tegan and Sera needed to drop everything they were doing and come straight home. Rhea had instigated it.

"What is that on your neck?" Sera pointed. "A cute new accessory?"

Rhea moved the girl aside to get a better look at the jewelry Tegan was wearing. It was a necklace with a pair of gold plated stars dangling from it. Grabbing a hold of the delicate piece, Rhea saw one star had a T on it and the other a C. "Oh, it's so cute!" she gushed. "And it has your initials."

Tegan laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, about that. Christian actually gave it to me."

Sera's mouth dropped to the floor. "He got you a present? What the hell happened? You better start talking or I'm going to call him myself and demand answers!"

"We can talk about it later," Tegan brushed things off. "Rhea must be exhausted, we should let her get settled in."

"Fuck that noise!" Rhea exclaimed dragging her friend to the couch. "Tell us every-single-detail young lady! Don't miss a beat with this story."

"I second the motion!" Sera shouted, sitting on the opposite side of Tegan. "Should we get popcorn for this?"

"Forget the popcorn!" Rhea glared. "Let's start with once upon a time..."

-

Christian took me to a Blue Jays game on Saturday. Originally we planned to just have dinner, but then he texted saying Jon got him some kickass seats that he couldn't pass up. I felt a little overdressed because he asked me to wear something nice, so I showed up wearing my LBD. Turns out, they go pretty well with a Blue Jays cap.

I was nervous about hanging with Christian, because even though he asked me out as a friend, six months ago he said he would prove to me that we could be something more. I felt like I was moving backwards instead of forward, so I kept my heart at bay and told myself that no matter what happened, I wouldn't end up in his arms.

I couldn't.

After the game was over, we walked around with no destination in mind. Eventually our hunger got the better of us, which prompted Christian to take us to our dinner destination. I had no idea he reserved the entire dining area at Toula, which overlooked the CN Tower and Lake Ontario. It was a really elegant place, the perfect spot for a couple who were celebrating their anniversary. Which obviously we weren't. I was fighting the butterflies in my stomach when the waiter poured us champagne.

"What are you thinking right now?" Christian asked, once the waiter left with our orders. It was easy to decide what to eat, I was quick about my decision when it came to food, but dealing with him was a whole different ball game.

"I'm wondering why we are at this really expensive restaurant," I decided to be honest. "I thought we were going to have dinner--"

Christian exhaled. "If you say 'as friends' one more time, I'm going to get angry."

I couldn't believe him. "I know it's been hard for you to accept our relationship as just...that...but it's not fair of you to have such high expectations of us. I can be the villain. I feel like I have to be and ruin what we have."