Page 44 of Semantics

“She just came out and told you that?” Sarai asked.

“Yes,” Violet said. “And I got all flustered, obviously, because, of course, I would. I think anyone would at hearing that. I left, but before I did, she told me that she was going to be at that same bar last night and that she was meeting someone. She said she was only telling me that so that I could avoid her by not going there if I wanted to, but it felt more like she was testing me somehow.”

“Oh, interesting,” Sarai said. “Like she wanted you to meet her there?”

“Yeah, like that. So, I thought about it, and I considered not going, but then, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I ended up there, staring her down from another table before I left. She followed me out. We kissed. Then, we went back to her place, and I spent the night.”

“That’s it? Where are the details?” Arlowe asked.

“I’m not going to tell you what we did, Arlowe.”

“Was it good, at least?” Enya asked. “Let us live vicariously here. I think it’s been a while for all of us.”

“Well, all of us except Violet now,” Arlowe noted.

“It was… the best sex of my life,” she revealed with a little smile. “The hottest sex, the most orgasms I’ve ever had, and just about every other good thing about sex – if you can think of it, it probably applies.”

“Damn. Really? Stella is that good in bed, huh?” Sarai asked. “Makes me wish I’d hit on her back in school before I knew she was for sure into women. Maybe I could’ve had a night like that with her.”

“Hey!” Violet said before she could stop herself.

“Oh, wait. Are you two, like, dating now? Should I not have said that?”

“We’re not dating. We had one night. It was great.”

“You’re not going to see her again?” Enya asked.

“I don’t know. We didn’t really talk about it, and I had to leave this morning.”

“You ran out on her again?” Arlowe asked.

“Not like that. We left things in a good spot.”

“So, it could happen again if you both want it to?” Enya asked.

“I guess so, yeah. She does, I think.”

“How do you know?” Sarai asked.

“She texted me earlier today that she’d be up for it again.”

“Why are you sitting here with us, then? Text her back,” Arlowe encouraged.

“It’s not that simple. It’s not like we actually like each other. It was more about getting all that anger out from before. It would probably be bad if we did it again.”

“You won’t know unless you go for it, though,” Sarai argued.

“Either way, you should at least text her back. Don’t ghost her,” Enya suggested.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“What are you going to say?” Sarai asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, picking up her phone. “Probably just that I don’t think we should do it again and that I hope she understands.”

But something in Violet told her that she wouldn’t be sending that message at all.

CHAPTER 14