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“She is really that annoying,” I said, hoping that would work and almost choking on a gulp of sauvignon blanc, and spilling a few drops down the front of my new pajamas that I’d bought specially for tonight.

Katie pulled a huge tray of nacho fries out of the oven, and we descended on them as if we’d never eaten food before.

“But you’re not going to sabotage her or anything, right?” Katie said, almost unhinging her jaw to fit as many fries in as possible in one bite. I admired her commitment.

“No, I would never do anything like that. I mean, I’ve thought about it in my wildest fantasies. I’m not a total bitch.”

“You have to be a little bit of a bitch. Otherwise we wouldn’t want to be friends with you,” Penny said, bumping my hip with hers.

“Damn right, let’s toast to that.” We each picked up a fry and tapped them together before chomping down. “Thank you so much for having me over. I really needed this.”

We moved from the kitchen to the living room, and I stared having anxiety about dripping salsa all over their white couches. Seriously, who had white couches? Not me. I had three cats.

“So, we had an idea,” Katie said, as Penny absentmindedly stroked her hair and I tried not to be jealous because Katie had someone to absentmindedly stroke her hair and I didn’t.

I’d been in a dating dry spell for longer than I’d like to admit. Sure, I’d been on a few here and there, but there wasn’t a whole lot of a lesbian scene in Corsica. If I wanted to really quench my thirst, I’d have to head out for a night in Portland, and I was usually working or too tired for that. My last serious relationship had ended before I’d moved to Corsica, and I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to dive into something serious and get my fucking heart broken, again.

“We wanted to go on a trip, along with a few of our friends. Somewhere tropical, where we can sit on the beach and get drunk and read, and we want to invite you to come,” Katie said.

I had to set my wine down so I didn’t spill it in excitement. “Everything you’re saying right now is making me happy.”

“Great!” Katie said. “It’ll be us three, and then one of Penny’s friends from work, Stacia, you know her.” I’d met her at their various wedding festivities almost two years ago.

“And then my sisters, and Oliviana.” The last was Penny’s sister. I’d met and adored them all. It was a great group.

“Have you decided where we’re going yet?” I asked.

Penny messed around on her phone for a few seconds and then my phone popped up with a notification.

“There’s a group chat. Get your suggestions in now!”

Even though I was sitting right there with them, I started adding to the chat, basically calling out any warm place I’d always wanted to go.

“Oh, Hawaii. Can we go to Hawaii?” Katie said, pouting at Penny.

“Do you have any idea how long it takes to fly there?” Penny shuddered. “No thank you, I can’t stay trapped in a tin can with other people for that long.”

“Dammit,” Katie said.

The others joined the chat and we discussed the pros and cons and finally settled on Key West, since we wouldn’t have to deal with leaving the country, and we’d still feel like we were getting away.

We toasted again and finished the rest of the nachos, moving on to the gluten free chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting that Penny had made.

“The only thing that would make this better is if a hot girl was giving me a neck massage,” I said, licking frosting off my finger.

Katie and Penny shared another one of their looks and then came at me, wiggling their fingers. I laughed and ducked out of their way.

“No, that’s not what I meant! Not that both of you aren’t hot. I want my own someone.” They fell back on the other couch as we all laughed together and I poured myself a second glass of wine.

“I need a new hobby for when cheer season is over. I usually just stay in my house and work myself into the ground, but I don’t want to do that this year.” Once Nationals were over, I had most of the summer off from coaching while my kids were on their summer break. Tryouts couldn’t happen until September, so I’d spend most of my summer prepping for the new season, but there was only so much I could do without knowing who was going to be on the squad the next year.

“You should join our book club. It’s basically like this, but with more people,” Penny said, leaning back against Katie. They were a very expressive couple, and were always wound around each other. It was lonely sitting on the loveseat perpendicular to them by myself. They didn’t even have an animal that I could force to cuddle with me.

“What kind of books do you read?” If I was joining a book club, then I was actually going to do the reading. I’d do the talk shit and drink wine, but I also wanted to discuss books.

“We vote on it every month. It’s been mostly new stuff, with a few classics mixed in. All genres,” Penny said.

“Cool, if you don’t mind me joining?”