I don’t think she’s eaten anything. Based on how lean she is, and how active, and how incredibly flexible, I don’t think it’s advisable that she misses any meals.
“I’m hungry, but not for this.” I stab some lettuce, so I’m a good role model, and shove it in my mouth, chewing slowly.
She spears a lone leaf and regards me thoughtfully. “What’re you hungry for?”
“You. Come home with me tonight.” I don’t consider the words before they’re out. I just say them. If she was a bunny, the answer would always be yes.
“I-I—” She removes her hand from my leg. “I can’t. What would I tell Sunny’s parents?”
“You don’t have to tell them anything.”
“I’ve been invited to stay with Alex and his family for the weekend. We have some kind of shopping thing we’re doing tomorrow.”
“I’ll drop you off early, then pick you up later, for dinner.”
“Don’t you think it’s kind of rude to take off so I can have my brains screwed out?”
“Is that what you think I want to do?”
“Isn’t it?” She arches a brow.
“What if I just want to talk?”
“In moans?”
I laugh. She’s a funny girl. I really do want to screw her brains out, without having to worry about anyone interrupting, or either of us having to be quiet. “If you don’t feel comfortable coming home with me tonight, you should at least plan to stay over tomorrow.”
“You’re determined to get me back into a bed.” She stabs another piece of lettuce and takes a bite.
“The bed isn’t the most important part; it’s the getting you naked again part.” I trail a finger across the back of her dress from shoulder to shoulder.
She shivers. “I can’t do a sleepover. My flight’s super early on Monday. I have to work in the afternoon.” She looks at me, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “You could crash here tonight.”
“I haven’t been invited.”
“No one’ll notice.”
I spend the rest of dinner trying to get my hand up Lily’s skirt while she tries to eat. It’s next to impossible because of how close we’re sitting together. It’s a good thing I’m a lefty and she’s a righty, otherwise I’d have to leave more space. She excuses herself to the bathroom, and I think it’s going to be the perfect opportunity to follow her out for a quickie, but Sunny goes with her.
I’ll never understand why girls have to go to the bathroom in packs. It doesn’t make sense. And it’s messing with my ability to get back inside Lily. Whatever. I can wait until after dessert. Post-food there’ll definitely be an opportunity to disappear again.
Sadly, by the time dinner’s over, the girls have all vanished over some Violet-related emergency. Miller, Lance, and I are standing around, drinking beers while we wait for them to figure out what the problem is. Miller keeps getting texts from Sunny and passing his phone to me. Despite the fact that they’ve been dating nearly six months, Sunny still uses a lot of text slang, and that doesn’t work for Miller.
The short forms combined with numbers and missing vowels make the messages difficult for him to read. Most of the time I send him voice memos. It’s way easier. He’s got a memory like a steel trap if he’s told the information rather than having to read it.
“Says something about the moops.” I pass the phone back.
“What are moops?” Lance asks.
“Violet can’t handle dairy; it gives her problems.” Miller hands me his phone again. There are more messages from Sunny.
“Problems?”
“It goes right through her,” Miller says.
Lance pulls a face. “That’s nasty. Why would she eat dairy if it makes her sick?”
“She does it to punish herself or something. Girls are messed. I don’t get it. I also don’t understand why she’d eat dairy today of all days. Maybe it wasn’t intentional.” He rubs his head as I scan the new texts. They keep coming in. The last one is personal, and pertains to activities later in the night, so I message her back and let her know it’s me reading because of all the slang. She sends back an oops and a blushy face.
“Violet’s broken out in hives. Also, Sunny’s looking forward to cookie-eating later.”
Miller snatches back his phone. “That’s not gonna happen if we can’t get Violet under control. I wanna know who gave her dairy.” Miller looks worried, which has been his expression most of the night. “I think I need to talk to Waters. He’s gotta stop pushing the wedding crap on her. They’re living together. He needs to back off a little and give her some damn breathing room. She’s obviously not ready for this shit.” He drains his beer and sets it on the closest table. “I’mma go find him.”
“I’ll come with you.” It’s more to keep those two off each other than anything else. Miller’s protective of Violet, even though they’re not related by blood. He’s like that, though, super loyal. He doesn’t let anyone mess around with the people who’re important to him.
“You coming or staying?” I ask Lance.