Not that Eva had expected her mother to be inside the house. That was a surprise she could have done without. She and Lily hadn’t properly talked about what they were doing yet, and she was going to get the third degree.
“Yes, she’s from work. She kindly agreed to give me a ride back here, and I invited her inside for a drink as a thank you. That’s all.”
“Hmm.”
Eva felt her mom’s gaze on the side of her face as she filled a glass with some lemonade. “What?”
“It doesn’t sound like something you’d do.”
Because it wasn’t, but Eva wished her mother wouldn’t point that out. “I can’t believe you invited her for dinner.”
“It’s the polite thing to do.”
“Polite has nothing to do with it. You want to be nosy—”
“I wouldn’t have to be nosy if you’d just tell me things.”
“You’re not entitled to know everything about my li—”
“Oh, so there is something to know?” Her mother raised an eyebrow, and Eva heaved a sigh.
“No. Do you need help with dinner?”
“It’s all handled.” Her mother rolled up her sleeves and wheeled to the stove. “You go. Talk to your friend.” With the emphasis she put on the word she may as well have been wiggling her eyebrows, and Eva ground her teeth, snatching the glass of lemonade from the counter.
Lily was sitting on the couch. She had one of Franklin’s toys in her hand, the other end in his mouth, his tail wagging as he tried to pull it free.
“I’m so sorry,” Eva said, closing the living room door behind her. “I didn’t know she’d be here. Or that she’d extend a dinner invitation.”
“It’s okay. Unexpected, but okay.” Lily released Franklin’s toy to accept the glass of lemonade from Eva. He dropped it at her feet and sat waiting for it to be thrown, his tail swishing across the wooden floor. “He’s even cuter in person,” Lily said, kicking the toy to the other side of the room. Franklin scurried after it.
“Yes, he is.” Eva sat beside Lily on the couch, and Franklin took it as an invitation, leaping into Eva’s lap with his toy in his mouth. “I suppose we have you to thank for all of this, don’t we?” Eva rubbed the top of his head. “What if I’d have had something else as my profile picture?”
“Depends what it was. You said your friend set up the profile for you, right? What picture would you have used if you did it yourself?”
“I wouldn’t have ever set it up myself,” Eva said, scratching behind Franklin’s ears. “So I don’t know.”
“Well, I’m glad you did,” Lily said, her voice quiet, her gaze on the glass in her hands.
“Me too.” It was getting easier to admit things, now Eva had opened the floodgates. Where would they be, if not for the app? Would things be different? Would they have gone their separate ways after Winter Formal, agreeing to never speak of it again, or would it have progressed to something more, quicker than they’d managed?
Eva wasn’t sure, but she didn’t think she’d change a thing. How could she, when Molly had meant so much? How could they have ever had something meaningful, if Eva didn’t feel like she could share all the deepest parts of herself?
“Do you want to get dinner tomorrow night?” Eva said, tongue feeling heavy in her mouth. “Without my mother there to act as a nosy chaperone?”
“Like…as a date?” Lily’s eyes were wide and hopeful, and Eva’s heart felt like it did a somersault in her chest.
“Yes. I…I feel like we started this all wrong.” Or backwards—they’d seen each other naked, but they’d yet to share a meal. “And I know I’ve done a lot wrong, so I’d like to start fresh. Do things properly.”
“I’d like that.” Lily shuffled closer on the couch, her gaze flitting down to Eva’s lips, and Eva leaned forward, meeting her in the middle.
It was brief, chaste, a world away from the fiery kisses they’d exchanged the night before, but no less perfect, filled with the promise of what was to come.
“As long as I can choose the restaurant,” Lily said, her breath on Eva’s lips. “You’re bound to pick somewhere pretentious.”
Eva huffed out a laugh, lost to another kiss.
* * *
