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I sent her lots of videos and pictures of Potato, and even some of the fish. In return, she sent me voice memo jokes from the regulars at the bar, told me her best and grossest bartender stories, and cracked me up with tons of awful memes.
“Hey, so do you want to hang out again? I actually put my foot down and took Sunday off, if you can believe that. I’m trying to get better about not working so hard that I fall asleep in my car when I get home and then have to drag my ass to bed,” she sent as a voice memo, a few nights after she’d come over. The roses she’d gotten me were still blooming beautifully on my counter.
Good for you. Setting boundaries is really good. It’s something I’m constantly working on. I’d love to hang out. The weather’s supposed to be nice. How about going to the beach?
I wasn’t just suggesting going to the beach so that I could see her in a bathing suit. No, I also thought it would be fun to share a tray of French fries and maybe splash her in the water a bit. A fun, chill, sexy day.
“Hey, that sounds great. I honestly can’t remember the last time I went to the beach. I’m not even sure where my swimsuit is.” She laughed. “But I’ll find it.”
We agreed to meet each other in the morning at the beach, before the sun got too hot. I had a momentary image of Esme, wearing a vintage swimsuit and giant sunglasses, licking ketchup-covered fingers as she lounged on the sand. Hot.
I smugly told Linley and Em about my beach date with Esme, and Em asked if she could come over to my cottage for a wardrobe consultation.
“I mean, I want to help, but I also wanted to get the fuck out of my house. Wyatt keeps coming over with Gretchen and being gross, so I had to escape.” She pretended to gag.
“Why is he coming over? He has his own place. That doesn’t make any sense.”
She flopped down on the couch. “This is what I’m saying. I think maybe he doesn’t want to be alone with Gretchen because then he’d have to talk to her. Instead, he foists her on Mom, and Gretchen just does not know when to stop talking. I’ve never seen someone use that many words in my entire life.”
She closed her eyes and lay back. “I need to move out.”
“Then do it. I bet your parents would co-sign a lease for you. Just get out. Have the freedom to walk around naked.”
Em opened one eye. “That does have appeal.” She sighed and sat up. “Okay, enough about me. Show me what we’re working with in terms of beach wear.”
I only had two suits that I really liked the way I looked in, and my cover-up was a simple white gauzy dress that made me feel like a mermaid or something when I had it on.
“Definitely this one,” Em said, pointing to my white and black flower pattern suit. It was honestly the one that made my boobs look the best, so it was a clear winner. I laid it out on the bed with the cover over it to show the final look when I put it on.
“Love it,” Em said. “If it wouldn’t be totally weird, I’d ask if I could come.”
“You know if I didn’t have this seduction plan, I would totally invite you.”
She waved a hand. “It’s okay. I won’t stand in the way of a good seduction.”
I put my suit and cover-up on the top of my dresser. “You should have a seduction of your own.” I raised my eyebrows up and down.
“Ugh, that seems like so much work. Why would I do that when I can just wallow in my loneliness while my brother noisily makes out with his girlfriend in the living room and my mom pretends to ignore it.”
“Oh, gross. I’m glad he never did that with me.” We’d done our fair share of making out, but never like that.
“Yeah, thanks for that. I appreciate it,” she said.
I shoved the image of Wyatt and Gretchen sucking face out of my mind. I didn’t need that poisoning my brain, thank you.
“I mean, I don’t know. Maybe online dating or something. I doubt I’m going to find anyone here.” It was true there weren’t as many queer people in Castleton as, say, in a big city, but we had our fair share. I’d never had any problems, but Em had more sense and higher standards than I did. I was an adult enough to admit it.
She lay herself out on my bed on her back, her feet still on the floor. I laid out next to her on my side.
“Sorry, I’m being gloomy.” She closed her eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay. We all get gloomy sometimes. And don’t worry. You’re literally twenty-two, Em. You’re not dead yet,” I said.
She opened one eye and tilted her head to look at me. “Thanks. That’s a good reminder. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t done anything, and that means I’ll never do anything.”
Em wasn’t crying, but she looked like she might.
“Hey, it’s okay. None of us know what the fuck we’re doing. Anyone who says they do is full of shit. We’re all making things up as we go along. You’re going to be fine. You’re smart and hot and funny. If you want to change something, you have the power to do that.” I cringed a little at my speech. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all motivational speaker on you, but it’s true.”
