Page 9 of All the Things We Said

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“A truth universally acknowledged,” Bouchra said.

“Thank fuck we don’t have to sit around and wait to be chosen by a man anymore,” Vicky said.

“I know. Ew.” Kaira shuddered.

“Except most rich men seem to just want a trophy wife or a subordinate, deep down,” Mathilde added. “Their entitlement is so ingrained. A rich lesbian, on the other hand, she wants someone as successful as she is.”

“A lesbian wants an equal,” Lily said. “A true partnership built on love, trust, shared values, and respect.”

I nodded, wondering what else Lily thought about things.

Bouchra leaned forward. “That’s why so many women are like fuck this, if he can’t make me happier than when I’m alone, if he expects me to clean his grubby house while he sits around playing video games or whatever, I’m done dating them.”

“I’ve noticed a lot more formerly straight women on the dating scene. It’s like they’re flocking to the sapphic world,” Nell said.

“More for us then, right?” Lily grinned.

By the sounds of it, Lily was single like Nell and me.

“I’ve turned many a straight girl,” Vicky said.

Mathilde gave her a hard stare.

“Hey, you were one of them.”

Mathilde exhaled. “Then they obviously weren’t straight.”

Kaira stood, stretching her arms out.

The venue had thinned out considerably. The music lowered and the stage was empty.

“Shall we go back?” Kaira said, yawning now.

“Yep, on that,” Vicky stood. “We might be better walking back to the house. The queue for taxis was a nightmare last night, being that there are hardly any.”

The seven of us strolled along the waterfront promenade which would take us to the foot of the steps leading up to our villa. Lily walked beside Nell. They talked enthusiastically. We came across a trampoline, however, and immediately found ourselves throwing our shoes off and piling on it.

“Oh my God, this is so cool!” Kaira bounced the highest, exclaiming in her delight. “I’m having a second wind.”

We jumped around like little kids, bumping into each other and laughing. Not sure I would have done this sober. It was all kind of hazy and so much fun.

Lily masterfully balanced herself, to my left. Her core strength clearly showing up for her. The rest of us wobbled about like daffodils in the wind.

I bounced into Lily by mistake. “You’re the only one of us who looks remotely in control of themselves right now.”

“Nah, I’m just worried about pulling another muscle or something. Been there too many times to go through it again.”

“I get that.” I held onto her waist in an effort to steady myself, acting way bolder than I felt.

Lily smiled. “I wish I could not worry about that stuff though.”

I put another hand on her waist now, feeling a jolt of electricity go through my body, making me feel even more unsteady.

“Are you okay there?” Lily looked into my eyes.

“Yep, just getting my balance and blatantly leaning on you.” I took a breath. “Do you want to try and bounce together?”

We looked at each other for a moment as this energy ran between us.