Page 168 of Knot So Social

“A date,” I say before the others can chime in.

“A d-date? What—?” Willow stutters to a halt. Her back grows rigid. “No. Not outside. Never.”

I curse my clumsiness. “An internal one, here. Wine, cheese, movie, whatever we choose. But we take you out. In, I mean.”

She blinks at me like I’m speaking another language. “A date inside the house? Is that even a reward?”

"Absolutely." Clearly she has no idea how much we want to spend time with her.

After chewing on her lip for a moment, she nods. “Okay, then. One date per module. But—” She holds up one finger. “All three of you need to complete the same module before you get the reward.”

I laugh internally. “Deal.”

Jeremy and Alessandro echo right after me.

With a clear reward dangling in front and our day empty, all three of us get down to business. While I fill in the survey, Willow works furiously on her laptop. A few minutes later, when I click through to a new page, the website’s theme colors change from pink and plum to a lovely shade of sage green with white and gold accents. Classy, and not so in my face with the feminine.

“Nice touch,” I say. “Did you just come up with that?”

She traces her keyboard for a moment. “It’s . . . your scents.”

I look back at the colors. The green’s easy—Jeremy with his aloe and rosemary—but I’m not certain on the rest. “The white and gold?” I ask.

“White is for Alessandro. He smells like sea salt on the breeze. Makes me think of sea foam washing up on a sandy beach too.”

“So, the gold’s for me?”

Willow nods. “Sunshine warming stones, clay, terracotta. Summer heat."

So that’s how she sees my scent, as something beautiful and warming. Nothing to be hidden away.

“Nature has the best color palettes,” she adds shyly.

Taking in her sparkling blue eyes and the loose blonde plait hanging over her shoulder, I have to agree.

I turn back to my studies. Even though we mostly focus on reading, it’s a companionable process. Mouse buttons click, Alessandro asks for explanations of words, and Willow asks for our feedback on phrasing changes. Feels like one of those intimate study groups with people you’ve been friends with for a long time.

The content itself, while easy enough to work through, challenges me. I never thought too much about the future; maybe because lately whenever I made plans Tracey would twist them toward her own goals. But to answer questions about what I want for the future, what family and time-freedom means to me, makes me face how much bigger the world is than what I’ve been picturing.

Growing my business has consumed so much of my time; hours I never worried about because I assumed that equaled success. But Willow’s Boss School asks me what my definition of success is. Feels like a trick question at first, until the modules unpack the concept.

“Well, that’s one done for me,” Jeremy announces, standing and stretching his arms behind his head. “You lads better not take too long.”

“How’d you get done so fast?” I grumble, craning to look at his screen.

“Maybe because I’m smart.” Jeremy pokes his tongue at me.

I roll my eyes, which makes Willow giggle.

Jeremy leans his hip on the back of his vacant chair. “Actually, to tell you a secret, I had to do some super study cram right before meeting Willow. Was pretty easy getting back in the groove. Since I’m done, how about I make lunch for everyone? Or is it closer to dinner?”

I check my watch and discover it’s already 4pm. We were so engrossed that no one noticed, or cared, about the time. My stomach rumbles.

“Merda,” Alessandro mutters, letting out a deep sigh. “This might take me a long time.”

“Don’t stress,” Willow reassures, getting up from her seat. She limps around the table and pulls out a chair by him. “We’ll all help you. Are you having trouble reading something?”

Maybe this is one reason she stipulated we all do the modules together.