“You kissed Cain back?” Ashley asked gently.
“I don’t even know. I guess not technically, because it was over so fast.” Too fast. “But a technicality doesn’t change the fact that I liked it.”
“So, what’s the big deal?” Ashley said loyally. “It’s not as though you and Keith are headed toward an engagement or anything.”
Violet gave her friend a startled look. “You sound awfully confident about that.”
More confident than Violet herself had felt; just a month earlier, she’d assumed that she and Keith were on the path toward marriage. Just a really slow, winding, underwhelming path.
Ashley’s eyes went wide in panic. “I’m so sorry, Vi. I thought—I assumed—”
Her friend chewed her lip, then shifted uneasily, and Violet gave her a gentle, but firm look. “Ash.”
Her best friend leaned forward to set the teacup down. “Okay, first, I swear to God, I would have told you earlier if I had thought you thought Keith was the one.”
“Told me what?” Violet knew her friend’s expressions enough to brace for bad news.
Ashley puffed out her cheeks, then blew out a breath. “A few months ago, I went to Kristen’s birthday party. You, me, and Keith, we were all planning to cab over together, but you had to cancel at the last minute.”
Violet nodded. “Right. I had that nasty stomach bug.”
“Yep. So, without you, Keith and I had no reason to share the cab. He was already there when I arrived. I… I could be wrong, Vi, but he and Erin McVale seemed super friendly. And then they left together.” Her friend looked agonized. “I didn’t want to make assumptions, since it’s not like I caught them making out or anything. But they were a little handsy, you know? I just got the feeling… maybe they went back to her place. Or his.”
Violet rubbed an index finger over the top of Coco’s head, waiting to feel something. Anything.
“You’re mad,” Ashley said on a tortured groan. “I should have told you.”
“I’m actually not mad,” Violet said truthfully. “Not at you, not even at Keith. I’m not anything. But shouldn’t I be?”
“Well, if you thought you were going to marry the guy, yeah, Vi. You should be seething in jealousy or anger right now. The fact that you’re not…”
Violet sighed and confessed fully to her friend. “The other day, I was trying to remember the last time Keith and I had sex. I couldn’t. But then it got even worse: I realized I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d kissed beyond a quick, routine peck.
“And he’s never seemed to mind. Or notice. So, I suppose on some level,” Violet continued slowly, “I knew he was probably getting it somewhere else. From someone else.”
“And what about you?” Ashley asked. “Please tell me you’ve gotten some somewhere.”
Violet hesitated, then shook her head. She’d never been the casual sex type, and even before she and Keith had cooled off, she’d never felt any real punch of lust that kept her up at night.
“Okay, that’s just not right,” Ashley was saying. “Thank God Cain’s come along, and—”
“I’m not going to sleep with Cain.”
“Why the hell not?” Ashley demanded. “You two obviously have chemistry.”
I’m not your guy… I never will be.
“He doesn’t want me. I told you all the stuff he said,” Violet replied.
“The stuff he said after he kissed you. Actions always speak louder than words, babe, especially when it comes to guys. The kiss is the telling thing, not his words. Though if you want to scrutinize them: that crap about you not being able to decide whether you’re falling for your own arm candy creation or you just want to get your rocks off with a bad boy?”
Violet let out a pained laugh. “Yeah. That.”
“Garbage,” Ashley said decisively, picking up a turquoise macaron, studying it for a moment, then putting the entire thing into her mouth. “It’s a classic penile defense system.”
“Do I even want to know what that is?” Violet asked skeptically.
Ashley frowned at her like a schoolteacher. “I’m serious on those romance novels, Vi. They’ll teach you everything you need to know.”
Violet lifted her dog to her face and gave the pup a nuzzling kiss. “Coco, will you remind your Auntie Ashley about that time we wrote her To Kill a Mockingbird book report in eighth grade so she could go to the movies with Benny Gould? She owes us the CliffsNotes version of her romance novel learnings.”
Ashely gave a smug grin. “For the record, I have no regrets over that morally sketchy favor I asked you for. I got my first kiss thanks to you! And I read To Kill a Mockingbird on my own—eventually. Last year.”
“Okay, well, I’m thrilled about your first kiss, but I may have just experienced my last kiss thanks to you, if you don’t help me,” Violet said, taking a large gulp of her tea, then setting Coco on the floor and grabbing a cookie. Then two more.