They’d become almost habitual. No, theyhadtotally become habitual. Lily had changed, and everyone on campus noticed. Lily still went out, she still flirted with the women who wanted to know if the rumors were true (they were), but she always went home alone. This was incredibly confusing to her circle of friends, who started asking if she was seeing someone seriously.
The question had brought Lily up short but then a realization sunk in: it had been a while since they’d seen her go home with anyone. And that was because it had been a while since shedidgo home with someone, physically at least. This was unusual, and so of course they would notice.
The truth was though, Lily didn’t quite know. Sure, they texted throughout the week in a group chat about mundane daily detailsand spiced things up over video calls, but things remained how she was used to them: stringless.
Lily had squashed her friends’ suspicions by telling them she had nothing worthy to report. And there wouldn’t be anything except a steamy romp over winter break, Lily was sure of it. Sure, she hadn’t been out on the prowl lately, but classes were really hectic for her and she needed her sleep. Besides, Maya had had adifficult few weeks due to more fallout from her parents’ divorce, and she and Hanna were trying to be there for her.
OK—she had a bit of a fixation on what had happened over fall break. But that was likely because it had been her first impromptu threesome,andit had included Hanna McAvoy of all people. Lily just figured she needed it to happenagain.She would use this break to get both girls out of her system.
Lily walked over to the fridge, opened it, and pulled out one of her family’s ciders. She cracked the lid off and took a long swig. She wasn’t an awkward person, but she felt a little out of her depth. Normally, women came to her. Normally, she had all the moves down. Normally, she didn’t go to bed alone unless that’s what she wanted. And tonight that’s not what she wanted.
“Fuck, I feel drunk.”
Lily spun around at Hanna’s voice and found her moving into the kitchen. Her long black hair was wet, her pale skin was still flushed from the heat of the shower, and her curvy body was outfitted in a stretchy cotton tank and a pair of stretchy shorts. Hanna was also braless, Lily noticed.
“Want help with that?” Lily said, holding up her cider.
“Ugh, actually, that will probably help me double down on the sleep,” Hanna said as Lily moved to hand her a cracked cider.
“What will?” Maya entered the kitchen, her lean frame outfitted in a matching pair of fuchsia and purple striped silk pajamas. Of course Maya wore matching pajamas. Maya’s voice sounded so tired, and Lily was just thinking that the drive must have been long when she noticed the dark circles under Maya’s eyes and her slightly pale coloring. In fact, in the relief of the kitchen light, Lily thought Maya looked whatever was a level up from exhaustion. She felt a slight pang in her chest at the thought that the drive with Hanna had likely not been the only reason.
“Ohhh cider.” Maya’s voice was almost monotone and her brown eyes hardened as she scrutinized the bottle in Lily’s hand. “I better not, I am already so tired.” As if coming back to herself, she added, “But after sleep I know I’ll be way more excited to be here. Right now I can’t get excited for anything other than bed.” She chuckled.
“Same, so excited for this break,” Hanna said, way more upbeat. She held her cider up and Lily followed her gesture before turning to grab a glass, filling it with water, and handing it to Maya so she could join in. Maya smiled weakly at her, and they clinked a cheers.
“To a steamy break so hot the snow melts,” Hanna said mischievously.
“Says the girl sleeping down the hall,” Lily said as she took her sip, the flavor of apples bursting over her tongue.
“Well, after that drive I do needsomesleep,” Hanna said, smiling.
“And temptation is a no-go right now, when I have nothing to give but yawns,” Maya said, taking a long drink of her water. “Hanna, be careful with that stuff, we’re already tired,” she cautioned, which Lily found odd. Maya sometimes mother henned, but she didn’t mother hen that hard.
Hanna frowned, caught off guard, then playfully rolled her eyes. “Chill Mom, I’m a big girl.”
“Don’t we know it,” Lily added, trying to defuse whatever small tension Maya had injected into the moment.
They sat in silence, sipping their drinks, glancing at one another like kids with crushes in high school. Surprisingly, the silence wasn’t uncomfortable, at least not to Lily.
“Got it, got it, sleep now, play later,” Lily said finally.
“And play we shall,” Hanna said.
“But sleep now, I’m going to bed before I can’t make it there,” Maya yawned out.
“Same,” Hanna agreed.
“My room is the closest,” Lily said, part playing, part hopeful. She knew they wanted to sleep but she had been waiting so long for them to arrive, the thought of waiting a whole other night before she could have her girls was suddenly so disappointing.
“Sleep now,” Maya pushed on, moving towards her guest room.
“Play later,” Hanna said, following her.
“Fine, fine, let me know if you need anything, but you should have everything in your rooms. Each has its own bathroom,” Lily disappointedly called after them.
“Rich people are so ridiculous,” she heard Hanna mumble and then Maya softly laughed.
“I’m not rich yet, but I will let the older Blake women know how you feel!” Lily joked—but she wondered if this was something Hanna and Maya had talked about on the way up, if they’d been talking abouther.Lily tried to shake the thoughts from her mind before they could take root, but that was hard to do now that she was once again in her kitchen, alone.
