She looks over my shoulder.“No joke.Damn.I like it all.I vote mimosas and pastries.”
“Sounds great!At least to start with.If you’re hungry after that, we can move onto the charcuterie board.I also have fixings for deli sandwiches, or we could make nachos.”
She gives me a look of concern.“Madison, how much did you think I eat?”
I frown, feeling my face growing hot.“I don’t know—I was super anxious about having someone over.I know I went overboard, but I didn’t want to fuck things up.I don’t want you to think I didn’t want you to come over, because I do, more than anything?—”
“Hey.”She throws her arms around me.“It’s okay.I’ve been super excited to meet you, and I was a little nervous, too.Let’s get some snacks and chat, okay?”
I nod, immediately reassured.My social ineptness isn’t throwing her off yet.And thinking back to what Eliza said about me showing vulnerability, well, it looks like I just did that, and the world didn’t fall down around me.
We grab champagne, orange juice, fruit, and a box of pastries from V’s Cafe.I thought we would sit on the couch in the living room, but somehow we end up at the little bistro table I set up in the kitchen.
“Okay,” Danica says, pouring a healthy amount of champagne into each of our glasses.“Tell me about your guys.I’ve met Damiano briefly, but I don’t know Seth well at all.”
I tell her about Damiano and Seth, including how great they’ve been throughout the past few months as I’ve been going through some shit.She shares similar stories about her and her husbands, Edmund and Troy.
“And the sex is apparently amazing?”she prompts.
I grin, remembering our time at the movie theater.“It’s fantastic.Having all their attention on me?I thought it would be overwhelming, and it nearly was at first.But now…I don’t see myself with anyone else, doing anything different.It’s perfect.”
Danica sighs and smiles.“Same.”
“I can’t tell you what a relief it is to finally have someone to talk to about all this.”I pop a blueberry in my mouth, chew, and swallow.“I can talk to the guys, but it isn’t the same as confiding in someone who isn’t in the relationship, you know?”
“Yeah.”Danica’s laughter is bright.“I sure as hell can’t talk about sex with my friend Leah.We used to confide in each other about everything…until she started dating my brother.”
“Oof, I’m sorry.”But we’re laughing.
After a few more minutes of sharing how we met our guys, I say, “So, one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you—besides needing a friend who understands—is that I wanted to ask what it’s likelivingwith two guys.We’re talking about taking the next step and moving in together.”
“What it’s like?I think it’s just like a normal couple relationship, except it is harder to get time to yourself.One of them is almost always there.”
That probably won’t be as much of a problem for me, with the guys working such long hours.If I end up creating a zombie lore podcast, I’ll be working from home, but I’ll have most of the daytime to myself.
“I have my own room at our place,” Danica continues.“It definitely helps.Also, they’re good at picking up after themselves, sharing chores, and so on, but sometimes you just want the only messes in the house to be the onesyoucreated, you know?”
“Oh, I know.”My frustrations when living with Hugo and Felix, before I inherited this house, are still fresh in my mind.
Danica takes a sip of her mimosa.“But overall, it’s a dream.I’m living with the two men I love most in the world.They dote on me.It was strange at first.But it didn’t take me too terribly long to get used to it.”
I laugh.“I imagine it’ll be the same for me.Although they’re so overprotective sometimes, it’s insane.”
“Yeah, that’s a whole other thing.I imagine for some women, it might be suffocating.But when I yell at them because they’re being dominating dickhead dictators, they’ll back off a little.”She grins.“If you can’t speak up for yourself, you’ll get railroaded into doing whatevertheythink is best.Although, sometimes they come up with some really,reallygood ideas.”
We laugh together, and I wonder when was the last time I laughed like this with another woman, as a friend.I can’t remember ever doing this.
Despite the overabundance of snacks in the house, we get the idea to bake cookies.Danica loved the ones catered at her wedding, and I have the recipe.Even when we aren’t talking or gossiping about our guys, things are easy between us.There aren’t any awkward silences or weird pauses.Danica has this magical ability to make me feel comfortable.
“This was so much fun,” she says as we pack up our cookies.“I don’t want this day to end, seriously.I haven’t let loose like this in a while.Do you have plans tonight?”
“None,” I say, pleased.“What do you have in mind?”
We go out to dinner, ordering a ride to get there and back to my place.It’s a blast, and throughout dinner we come up with more plans of things to do together.
When we get back to my place, Danica asks if she can leave her car.“I had that drink with dinner, and better safe than sorry.”
“Oh, for sure, you can leave it here.”
