Page 87 of Semantics

“I’m not,” Violet replied quickly.

Stella met her eyes then and saw something in them. She could tell that Violet wasn’t telling the truth; at least, not the whole truth.

“Keep the wine. I’ve got to go. Good night, Stella.”

“Yeah, good night.”

Stella didn’t walk her out. She waited until she heard the door close and went out to lock it behind Violet as she looked out the window and watched her drive away. Then, no longer hungry, Stella turned off the stove, blew out the candles on the kitchen table, and left the napkins and everything else to deal with later. Walking back into her room, she sighed because she’d ruined it. When she flicked off the candles, she wanted to call Jen, but she didn’t want to ruin her friend’s date, so she decided to start a bath, added some bubbles to it, went back out to the kitchen, and popped the cork on the bottle of wine that Violet had brought. She poured herself a glass and, a few minutes later, slipped under the bubbles and into the water.

Stella knew that Violet felt something for her. They no longer hated each other, sure, but it was more than that. Still, Violet couldn’t admit it, and Stella wasn’t in the business of convincing women to go out with her, so instead of doing that, she soaked in her tub, dried off when she was finished, and walked back out to the kitchen to grab a snack. Deciding on Davy’s ice cream, she carried the tub to her bedroom with a spoon and heard her phone ping. She hoped it was Violet, apologizing or maybe asking to talk, but it wasn’t. It was Jen.

“Hey. Your date’s over already? It’s only nine o’clock,” Stella said after she dialed Jen instead of texting her back.

“It’s not over yet. She’s in the bathroom. The dinner was amazing, though, and we’re about to go to a late movie. She’s crazy hot, and I’m thinking about making out with her during the movie and asking her to go back to my place. I need you to tell me not to.”

Stella laughed a little and asked, “Why?”

“Because it’s a first date and I want another one. I don’t want to put out right away.”

“Okay. So, don’t.”

“Right. Okay. But she’s really hot, super funny, and–”

“Jen?”

“What?”

“How about if you want to have sex with the woman and she wants it, too, you do that. If you think you should wait, you wait. Okay? Don’t worry about it being a first date.”

“Yeah. I guess. Hey, real quick, before she gets back: I texted because I thought you said Violet would be there at nine. Is she running late or something?”

“Um… Yeah. She’s on her way now.”

“Okay. Well, have fun and pray that I have some fun, too.”

“Yeah, I will,” she replied.

CHAPTER 25

The plan had been to go to Stella’s place, have multiple orgasms, stay the night merely because she would be too tired and sore to even think about driving home, and leave early before morning sex had a chance to take them into a breakfast in bed and showering together again. The plan had been to prove to everyone, including herself, that she didn’t actually want anything other than those orgasms from Stella Ross. The plan hadn’t been foolproof, but she’d pushed all thoughts of wanting a relationship with someone out of her mind. She’d focused on the present and only the sex while she’d driven, and she’d had that focus and intent right up until the moment that Stella had opened the door and looked comfortable and sexy at the same time. Stella had looked like she’d been ready for a night in with her live-in girlfriend, not like she had been ready for a night of multiple orgasms.

Seeing the pans on the stove and lit candles that made Violet think of the fall and winter they’d shared in Amsterdam, despite being mortal enemies back then, had had her worried that Stella might have had other ideas for the night, but noticing the cloth napkins had pushed her over the edge. Violet hadn’t seen cloth napkins at the dinner table since the last family dinner with her parents, which was awkward, as they always were these days. Then, the bedroom had been set up like a romantic comedy’s big first-time sex scene: candles everywhere, and Stella had even had her phone set up on a speaker, which meant that she’d been about to turn on some R&B playlist for them to slowly make love to, and that hadn’t been what Violet had gone over there for.

“Oh, hey,” she said.

“Um… What are you doing here?” Arlowe asked. “And why are you coming in through the side garage door that we never use?”

“We don’t use it because there’s usually something blocking it, but Stella moved the chair out of the way earlier, so it was available. I chose to use it.”

Arlowe smirked and said, “You didn’t expect to see me out here. You’re trying to sneak in.”

“I was here not that long ago, and you were in the living room.”

“I was, yeah, but I had more work to do. I needed to get you stuff for the deck. I know you’re going crazy about it, so I thought I’d just finish everything I owe you tonight. I didn’t think you’d be home until tomorrow morning, so I was going to tell you then.”

“Well, thank you,” Violet said and sat down in her desk chair next to Arlowe.

“Vi, what happened?” Arlowe asked, turning to face her.