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Not that she was one of those people who insisted on sitting next to the person she was dating. She’d always made fun of those people when she saw them at restaurants, two people at a table sitting next to instead of across from each other. Did they have to be within touching distance at all times, even for an hour-long meal? Did they really need to snuggle in public that badly? But today was different. She needed to sit next to Avery so she could kick her under the table when Sloane annoyed her, or so Avery could grab her arm to stop her from a smartass comment. Oh well, they’d sit across from each other; they could exchange glances and Avery could kick her under the table if all else failed.

“I hope you already ordered coffee,” Taylor said when she got to the table. She slid in next to Erica, leaving Avery to sit next to Sloane. She almost felt bad about that, but then, Avery would be better at chatting with Sloane than she would be anyway. “Erica, Sloane, this is Avery. Avery, this is Erica, and that’s Sloane.”

Avery smiled at both of them.

“It’s so nice to finally meet both of you, I’ve heard so much about you. Thanks for letting me crash your shower-planning brunch, I can’t wait to help out.”

This is why she needed Avery around. She was so diplomatic.

Taylor was usually good at this stuff, too, but for some reason, Sloane got under her skin.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, too, Avery,” Erica said. “And we did indeed order coffee already, because I know you too well not to.” Taylor rolled her eyes at Erica’s dramatic sigh but gave her a sideways hug. Erica hugged her back and turned to Avery. “I didn’t know how you took your coffee, so I didn’t know what to ask for. Are you a purist like Taylor?”

Now it was Taylor’s turn to sigh dramatically. Avery laughed and shook her head.

“Nope, I take milk in it. Oat milk.” She grinned at Erica. “As I’m sure you can imagine, I’ve heard a lot on this matter.”

“Oh, I don’t have to imagine, I’ve heard it all myself.” Erica and Avery both laughed, and Taylor glared at them.

“Weaklings and traitors, both of you,” she said under her breath. That just made them laugh harder. Good, honestly. She wanted them to bond a little, and what helped two people bond better than making fun of the person they had in common?

The server came over, and they all ordered more quickly than she’d expected. She’d been certain Sloane would ask a long series of questions about how local the eggs were and if the kale washand massaged or whatever, but she ordered her chia pudding without any delay. Thank goodness, Taylor was already starving, and even though the coffee at this place wasn’t her favorite, the food was great.

“Okay!” Sloane said brightly as soon as the server walked away. “Time to plan for the shower! To start us off, I checked the list of RSVPs before coming here, and so far, we have twenty-one people coming, with ten maybes, and nineteen who haven’t responded.”

“Some of those nineteen are definitely coming,” Taylor said. “They’ll RSVP eventually.”

“I see.” Sloane pressed her lips together, like the concept of not RSVPing immediately was foreign to her. “Next: What does the space look like? I’ve never been to Noble. I thought I’d take over decorations if that’s okay with everyone?”

There was nothing Taylor wanted to do less than deal with baby shower decorations, but she cringed to think about what Sloane’s idea of decorations would be. But before she could object, Avery jumped in.

“Great idea!” Avery flipped open her notebook. “I took the liberty of making a few lists for us, I hope that’s okay?” She looked from Erica to Sloane, and when they both nodded and smiled at her, she went on. “So, we have decorations, food, games, photos, presents, and cleanup. Why don’t we discuss each one a little bit and see who will be in charge of each? But please, let me know if there’s something I forgot to add to the list.”

This must be what Avery was like at work. Clear, organized, and a total boss.

“I’ll take care of food,” Taylor said quickly, before Sloane could take that, too. “And I have a friend who is a photographer, I could see if she’s free to take the photos? She’s great.”

They got through most of Avery’s list even before their food came. Taylor attempted to stay engaged in the conversation about balloons and flowers and decorating onesies. She’d said if she’d lost the bet, she was going to organize this baby shower, and she was going to organize it, damn it.

“As for games,” Avery said, “I think we should discuss those without the guest of honor around, don’t you?” She turned from Taylor to Sloane with a sly smile on her face. “I feel like there should besomesurprises for her.”

Erica pouted.

“Hasn’t Taylor told you that I hate surprises?”

Taylor elbowed her.

“I told her, but sorry, you can’t be in control of everything. We’ll discuss the games over text, right, Sloane?”

Sloane smiled and nodded, before she turned to Erica.

“But don’t worry, we won’t make you do anything humiliating.”

“Oh yes, I forgot to say that,” Avery said. “Absolutely no sniffing a poopy diaper or measuring your belly or anything like that. I promise.”

“Sniffing a poopy diaper? Measuring her belly? Excuse me? What the fuck usually happens at baby showers?” The other three just laughed at Taylor’s outrage.

“See, this is why I knew I could trust you to do my shower, despite everything,” Erica said. “Those are some very popular baby shower games.”