Free Release the Stars by Harper Bliss

wore jeans and a T-shirt and no makeup. In the Saturday morning light, she looked even more stunning than she had under the moon.
    “No, no, of course not.” Charlie lied.
    “Do you want to come in? Have you had breakfast?”
    This was exactly why Charlie asked Nick to come with her. She could hardly run off twice in fewer than twenty-four hours.
    “Sure, I’ll come in.” She tried to sound confident.
    Once seated at the breakfast bar with a steaming mug of coffee in front of her, Charlie exhaled and tried to launch into an acceptable apology. “Look, Ava, I—”
    “Before you say anything, Charlie, I owe you an apology. I came on too strong and overreacted when you didn’t reciprocate my advances. I was a bit crazy last night. I shouldn’t have let you walk out like that. You were clearly upset.”
    At hearing this, Charlie was finally able to exhale fully and relax a bit more. She had practiced what she was going to say, repeating the words as if she were auditioning for a movie part—the one of uptight, zero-tolerance lesbian. She was in the right town for it.
    “It was my fault entirely. I should have handled it better. I mean, you’re gorgeous. You are also a gracious host, an excellent chef, and a very kind woman. I was thrilled to be invited here again. And I, erm,” Charlie hesitated, “I greatly enjoyed our kiss on the beach.”
    “But you have it in your head that I’m straight, and it freaked you out,” Ava said.
    Charlie wouldn’t have put it that way, but it was accurate enough. She nodded. She was gearing up to say the words she hated to say, but they needed to be said to make this right. “Jo, my ex, left me for a man, and I’m still sort of recovering from that. Getting off with a straight woman is… not something I can do right now. No matter how gorgeous she is, how big my crush is, or how amazing a kisser she is.” Charlie shook her head. “I just can’t.”
    “Why are you so convinced I’m straight?” Ava smiled.
    “It doesn’t really matter if you’re straight or bisexual. It’s clear you’re not a lesbian. I can’t… put my heart on the line.”
    “Just like that?” For some reason, Ava continued to smile. “I’m dismissed?”
    “I understand your skepticism, and I’m very familiar with all the arguments against my reasoning, but I know what I need to do to protect myself from going through what I went through after Jo again. Even though it might cost me greatly.” Charlie was adamant about this, but it didn’t mean her curiosity hadn’t been piqued. “You don’t have to tell me, of course, but, erm, have you ever been in love with a woman before?”
    Ava pondered this, gazing over the rim of her cup while doing so. “In love… I’m not sure.” She looked at Charlie. “I had a fling with Sandra, but we never quite managed to fall in love.”
    “Sandra? She’s a lesbian?” Charlie hadn’t picked up that vibe at all, and Ava’s publicist hadn’t dropped the slightest of hints.
    “Not openly.”
    Charlie expelled a sigh. “What I’m looking for in a woman is really very straightforward. Someone out and proud and secure enough in her sexuality to not leave me for a man. Personally, I think my wish list is quite fair, but someone like Nick, for instance, never fails to give me a hard time about it. He claims I’m too rigid with my requirement that a woman be completely lesbian. He thinks I’m afraid and looking for excuses.”
    “And already, even after only one kiss, you’re convinced that, if we were to embark on… something, I would leave you for a man in the end?” Ava narrowed her eyes. She didn’t say anything else.
    “It’s certainly a possibility.” Charlie looked into the remains of her coffee. “And once it’s in my head, it’s there to stay.” She cut her glance to Ava. “Besides, why would someone like you be interested in someone like me?”
    “What do you mean ‘someone like you’?” Ava put her mug down.
    “You’re