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This is too weird!

“I don’t know. Maybe? If we had met at a bar or something one night? Who knows?”

Seriously? Would I have?

She decided to get hers and Chloë’s mind off that particular track.

“What you gotta understand is that women my age are typically a bit more careful when it comes to getting involved with younger women. At least I am.” She cringed inwardly at the use of the phrase, women my age.

“Buuuut you’re with Megan, and she’s practically my age.”

Shit, good point!

Vanessa sighed.

“True,” she conceded. “But Megan and I aren’t going anywhere, trust me. Maybe if there was a chance that her and I could, I would question the wisdom of getting involved with someone as young as her.”

Jesus, what was she on about? She had no idea why she was saying what she was saying because she knew damn well that if there was a possibilit

y of having a normal girlfriend-label relationship with Megan she would take it, despite the age difference. She had known that the first time she had laid eyes on Megan. And it was especially true now knowing how good their sexual chemistry was.

She wasn’t going to tell Chloë what else she was thinking. That Chloë’s problem pulling these older women might have to do with the fact that Chloë kind of presented herself as a direction-less party girl who was perfectly content being an assistant manager at a coffeeshop, a professional dog-walker or a whatever-the-hell-she-was at an Amazon warehouse. Megan, on the other hand, had a white-collar job, certainly a 401k, owned a condo and her car wasn’t a hand-me-down from her parents. In other words, Megan at twenty-six was doing some higher-level adulting than Chloë at twenty-three was.

But Vanessa didn’t want to tell Chloë all that. It was bad enough they were in the middle of a conversation brought about because Vanessa was apparently now the ambassador for all older women on planet Earth. Let LeeAnne, Chloë’s mother deal with the mom-type stuff.

“Just be careful, okay?” she said, putting her hand over Chloë’s again. “A lot of women my age might only look at a twenty-three-year-old as a temporary plaything. I don’t want to see you getting hurt. Now, can we please stop talking about how old I am and why you and I never hooked up?”

Chapter 20

Megan spent the morning in the same shorts and tank that she’d had on when Vanessa left. She did some housework, continued work on her graphite drawing and then made herself scrambled eggs for lunch, which she accompanied with a pear. At one o’clock she decided to head to La Vida Mocha.

She opted for wearing a cute sundress and equally cute ballet flats that were awesomely comfortable. The thought did cross her mind that she was more dressed up than usual for a trip out to a coffeeshop. Normally, shorts or yoga pants with a simple tee or cami top was more her speed for such an outing, but today she just felt like she wanted to look special.

When she stepped into La Vida Mocha, carrying her leather messenger satchel, she instantly felt nervous. Abby’s friend, Chloë, was working the counter wearing a polka-dot mask, helping two teenage girls. Vanessa was nowhere to be seen.

Should have texted to tell her I was coming!

Megan didn’t know if what Abby had told her was true, that Chloë had been “crushing” on her at the engagement party, but if it was true, Megan didn’t know what to do if Chloë started flirting with her. But Chloë was one of Vanessa’s good friends, right? So presumably, Chloë knew Vanessa was involved with Megan. But what if Chloë was the type of girl who didn’t care about such boundaries and flirted with her anyway?

Seriously, I should’ve texted!

Megan considered retreating to an open corner table she saw until Vanessa made an appearance, but Chloë had already spotted her, apparently recognizing Megan despite Megan’s mask and tilting her head up in a nod of greeting before continuing to help the two young women. So, Megan blew out a breath and approached the counter just as the teenagers stepped away with their drinks.

“Hey,” Chloë greeted her. The smile that was hidden behind her mask reached her eyes.

“Hey,” Megan replied. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You too. It’s good to be back here; I wasn’t digging the warehouse work.”

Right. Abby had mentioned something about Chloë working in a warehouse. Was it for Amazon, or Walmart, or…?

“Yeah, bills suck,” Megan said instead.

“Vanessa is in the back, by the way, just doing some paperwork. She should be out in a sec.”

“Oh, sure…whenever,” Megan said in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. “I’m just here to chill out and do some drawing anyway.”

“No way, you’re an artist?” Chloë asked excitedly. “That is so cool! Can I sit with you later to see your stuff?”