“You must be Camila,” the woman says, smiling widely and easily.
“Yeah. Hi. Nice to meet you,” she says, reaching for the woman’s hand.
“Nice to meet you. Come in. I’m Alejandra. Isabella is finishing up in the back. Or I guess Ella to you. I forgot there was a time she refused to go by anything else.” Alejandra giggles.
“Who is it, Ale?” a voice calls from behind her.
“Bels’ friends,” Alejandra calls back, and the door opens further.
Camila stills, heart skipping as Valeria comes into focus.
“Camila?” she says, blinking in surprise as her smile grows into one that makes the doorway look like it’s glowing.
For a few seconds, Camila forgets what words are, and she just stares at Valeria while her heart does a little flip, excitement tangled with nerves, and she has to remind herself to blink.
Valeria looks ... absolutely stunning out of her uniform. She’s wearing a black sleeveless vest top over acid-washed barrel jeans. Her blond hair falls loose around her shoulders, layered with bangs that frame her face perfectly.
Camila seriouslyregrets not changing right now.
“You know her, too?” Alejandra asks Valeria, and she nods.
“Yeah. She’s the friend I told you about. The one I invited who couldn’t make it.”
“Oh, small world.” Alejandra eyes them both carefully.
“Come in, come in.” Valeria reaches for Camila’s hand and pulls her in. Camila takes a hesitant step forward, letting herself be led further into the house.
Nerves take over her body. She half expects Valeria’s girlfriend to be in the kitchen, some invisible gravity she’s been bracing for and wishes she’d had time to prepare for.
But the only two people she meets are Lily—Ella’s girlfriend—and Clara—Alejandra’s girlfriend.
“You made it!” Ella says as she walks in from what Camila assumes is the backyard.
“I did. Thanks again for the invite.”
“How do you know Isabella?” Valeria asks, and Camila’s cheeks warm at the memory of her and Ella standing awkwardly outside of her hotel room after stopping each other mid-hookup. Camila definitely doesn’t want to explain any of that, so she settles for the most technically accurate version. “We met at a conference.”
Ella and Lily chuckle, shaking their heads, which tells Camila that at least Lily knows the truth.
Valeria turns to them and smirks. “Ah! You’rethatgirl from the conference.”
Camila bites her lip as her entire face heats.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Lily says, mercifully interrupting. “Valeria has told us so much about you. How’s your cat?”
“She’s great, thank you,” Camila says, more than happyto change the topic. “Valeria’s been amazing. She’s answered every tiny question I’ve thrown her way.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Valeria says with a casual shrug.
“Do you want something to drink?” Clara offers.
Camila nods. “Sure.”
“Red or white?”
“Whatever’s open is perfect,” Camila says, remembering the bottle still in her hand. “Oh, and I brought this for you.” She hands the bottle to Ella.
“Thank you!” Lily and Ella chime together.
