But Marley’s the one who answers. “No offense, but I’m never introducing my partner to Knight. I need to have boundaries. Knight certainly doesn’t.”
Knova narrows her eyes. “What does that mean? He hasn’t done anything inappropriate, right?”
Marley rolls her eyes. “Depends on what you mean by inappropriate. The other day, he sent me pictures of his feet.”
Sofia groans. “You, too? I told him it was fine.” To the rest of us, she adds, “He stubbed his big toe on the kitchen island and convinced himself that he’d broken it. It didn’t even bruise. It was fine!”
“Well, apparently he wanted a second opinion.”
“And a third opinion,” Violet says. “He texted me, too. Context would have been nice. All I got was a picture of his foot and a text saying, Does this look normal?”
“That sounds like my brother.” Knova sets her glass back on the table. “Anyway, Minerva, like I was saying, sometimes we need a break from the guys. I’ll let you know when we get together, and you can decide if you want to come, okay? We craft, we play board games, sometimes we go to wine tastings… nothing too intense.”
“Oh.” I press my hand to my chest. “You don’t have to include me. That’s really nice, though.”
“We want to include you,” Violet insists. “No pressure, but I’d really like to see more of you.”
I can’t help the smile that creeps onto my face. I keep my head down so that my hair covers my profile. These pretty, intelligent, funny women… like me? I feel like I just got invited to hang out with the cool girls, except that all the cool girls I grew up with were mean and backhanded. Everyone here is so nice.
“I’d like that,” I say.
Knova claps her hands. “Then it’s settled. And on that note, Dot has to go make a very important phone call involving a pair of vibrating panties.”
Dot’s blush deepens. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s like I handed you blackmail material.”
“I beg to differ. Brilliant ideas should be shared.” Knova gets to her feet. “Who’s walking back to the condos?”
Violet, Knova, and I stick together, while Marley and Dot get rides back to their place. I lag behind, fiddling with my phone. I’m getting better service out here, but I still can’t connect to Kepler’s baby cam.
“Good night!” Violet holds out her arms to me when we reach her condo, which is more like a two-story rowhouse in this development. “Can I get a hug?”
“She’s snuggly when she’s drunk,” Knova stage whispers.
“I’m not drunk!” Violet exclaims. I’m not sure where the line between tipsy and drunk lies, but she’s definitely feeling the tequila. She’s nowhere as near as drunk as Frankie used to get, but she’s also a lot nicer. Frankie’s a mean drunk, and she used to blame her bad behavior on the alcohol. Funny, how a nice person like Violet is still nice even when she’s got a few drinks in her.
It’s almost like the rotten parts of Frankie are rotten all the time. Go figure.
“You can hug me,” I say. “Thank you for asking.”
Violet throws her arms around me and gives me a big squeeze, like I’m a tube of toothpaste and she wants to get the last minty goodness out of me. “I really like you, Minerva. I hope you and Tristan work out. And if you don’t, we’ll still be friends, right?”
“Right.” I pat her back awkwardly. I’d try for a hug, but it’s hard when she’s got my arms pinned to my sides.
“Promise!” She blinks up at me.
“Stop squeezing her, Vi.” Knova tries to shoo Violet away.
“I’m not letting go until she promises to be my friend!”
“We’re friends, no matter what.” Those words have never left my mouth before. Nobody’s ever asked me to promise I’ll stick around. Violet’s name is definitely going in the green section of the whiteboard.
Violet releases me at last. Knova waits until she makes it safely through her front door before heading across the street to her own.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Knova tells me. “We do want to get to know you better. I know how it is when you get stuck in your own head, but we mean it.”
I cock my head.
“What?”
