“You said you need a few things, Lily.” Eva, weighed down by several bags, complained as Lily led them out of the stationery store.
“I didn’t specify how many ‘a few’ was.”
Eva glared, and Lily leaned on her toes to press a kiss to her cheek. “Come on, I’ll buy you a coffee to make up for it.”
Eva was still grumbling when Lily pulled open the door of the coffeehouse.
“You can go back to my place if you want. I’ll be—”
“No. Fucking. Way.”
Lily whirled around at the unexpected interruption and swallowed when she came face-to-face with a wide-eyed Mei.
“What are you two doing together?” Mei’s eyebrows creased into a frown as she looked between Lily and Eva. This was not the Wednesday afternoon Lily had expected.
“Uhm…” Lily’s mind went blank.
Lily hadn’t seen Mei much over the summer, but when they had met up Mei had been eager to hear all about Lily’s new girlfriend.
A girlfriend Lily had neglected to mention was Eva.
And it wasn’t like she wanted to keep it a secret. Lily wasn’t ashamed of Eva. But she hadn’t known how Mei would react, and she and Eva hadn’t really talked about being open about their relationship at work, and—
“Lily?” Mei was still waiting for an answer, and Lily knew Eva was letting her take the lead.
“We’re together because we are together,” Lily said, reaching down to slip her fingers through Eva’s. “Eva is the woman I’ve been seeing.”
“I knew it!” Mei’s voice was loud enough to draw the attention of the people sitting at the nearby tables. “I said there was something there and you denied it! I can’t believe you lied to me. Actually…” Mei glanced toward Eva. “Maybe I can.”
“I’m going to order,” Eva said, because they were next in line. “Caramel macchiato?”
“I’m supposed to be paying.”
“It’s fine.” Eva waved her off, and Lily wondered if she just wanted an escape. “Do you want anything, Mei?”
Mei looked at Eva like she’d grown a second head. “No, thank you.” She waited for Eva to walk away before adding: “I don’t trust you not to poison it.”
Lily elbowed Mei sharply in the side. “Stop it.”
“I’m sorry, have you suffered a blow to the head?”
“No.” Lily took Mei’s arm and steered her to a table at the back of the coffeehouse. “Look, I’m sorry I lied, okay? I didn’t want to say anything until I knew what was going on between us, and then…then I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“How the hell did this start?”
“I didn’t lie about that.” Lily might not have been forthcoming with all the details, but she’d used some of the truth when Mei had asked her how things were going. “We did start messaging on CuteMeet, and I had no idea who she was. At the same time, in real life… we annoyed each other, but there was a spark we couldn’t ignore, too. So when we found out we’d already been talking it just made sense to try and make a go of it.” An abridged version of events, perhaps, but Mei didn’t need to know every detail.
“It was the D.C. trip, wasn’t it?” Mei shook her head. “I knew there was a reason you looked so happy when you got back.” Mei glanced toward Eva where she waited for their coffees. “And are you? Happy with her?”
Lily answered without hesitation. “Yeah, I am. I know based on what you’ve seen of her it doesn’t make sense, but…we’re good together. We balance each other out.” The summer months had been some of the best of Lily’s life.
“Oh, God.” Mei scrunched her nose. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
“What?” Lily squeaked, because that was a step she and Eva had yet to take.
“It’s written all over your face.”
Lily looked at Eva again, who had now collected their coffees and waited a few feet away, not wanting to infringe on Mei and Lily’s conversation. Eva still had Lily’s bags slung over her arm, her hair and her blouse rumpled from Lily’s wandering hands before they’d left the house, and when their eyes met, Lily felt her heart beat faster in her chest and knew Mei was right.
