Page 14 of The Stars Over Hollywood

“Drink?” Lara asked.

“Just water.”

They sat down in the living room, and Lara handed her a bottle of water.

“So,” Lara said. “You said that I wasn’t surprised.”

“Yeah.”

“I would have been if you told me a month ago. Well, maybe not. Charlotte always thought you were gay, but I could see the way you looked at Tracy these last few days. More than once. And it was so subtle that I had to question whether I was seeing things, but then when I saw you two dancing… It seemed kind of obvious. Are you two dating or thinking about it? I mean, at least you live in the same place.”

“What?” Hayden nearly choked on her water. “Dating?”

“Yeah. Aren’t you two a thing now? I thought that’s why you were telling me.”

“No. I’m telling you because I’m trying to figure out who I am.” Hayden’s heart skipped a beat. If it was so obvious, had Tracy seen it too? Is that why they hadn’t spent as much time together in the last few days?

Hayden thought that maybe Tracy had been avoiding her, but she’d just assumed it was because of everything Tracy had told her.

“Hayden,” Lara said softly. “What’s going on?”

“Charlotte thought I was gay?” Hayden asked, wiping her sweaty palms over her jeans. Could everyone see it? How had she not?

“Her gaydar is pretty decent, and she thought you might have had a crush on her when you two were working together.”

“Oh my god.” Hayden covered her face with her hands.

“Hey. No. Not like in an annoying way. She was flattered. Honestly.”

“I can’t believe this.” Hayden blew out a breath.

“Forget about Charlotte. What’s going on with you? Are you just realizing all this now? You almost seemed like you had an epiphany on the plane now that I think about it.”

Hayden leaned back against the couch. “I honestly had no idea until I was dancing with Tracy. I don’t know how to describe it. Something just changed. I was so aware of how close we were, of how romantic it felt in that moment, and then I just got overwhelmed. I had to get away. But we had a good talk when Tracy found me a few minutes later.”

“About how you felt?”

“No. Not about me at all, actually. It was about her.”

“So, wait,” Lara said, her eyebrows furrowing. “Nothing happened between you two? No confessions?”

“No.” Hayden shook her head. She wasn’t even sure how to feel about that. Yes, she found Tracy attractive. Extremely attractive, but she didn’t think she had a chance of dating someone like her. She also doubted that Tracy had any feelings toward her whatsoever.

“But you are into her?”

Hayden sighed. “Yeah. I mean, I haven’t seen much of her since then. And now I probably won’t until you guys or Ada and Sydney have some kind of dinner party or something. I don’t know. I said, I’d get in touch about surfing lessons.”

“You should. It’ll be good for you on every level. You can see if there’s something there, between you two, and there’s just something about surfing that I think, if you give it a chance, you might love.”

“I will definitely text her. This’ll be the second time that I’ve said that I would, so I really do need to.”

“So,” Lara said, playfully shoving her shoulder. “You’re one of us?”

Hayden smiled. “I’m very late to the party, but yes. I am. I spent the whole flight thinking about it. That’s why I blurted it out like that. I just couldn’t keep it in any longer. And once I said it… There was no more ‘I think.’ I know. And yes, looking back, I did have a crush on your girlfriend. Past tense, though. I promise. So, maybe I’vegot that older woman problem too.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem,” Lara said with a grin. “Not even close.”

9

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