“Eh.” Ashley made a disagreeing noise. “I’m not sure he wasn’t due for an internal makeover of his own, and perhaps your meddling in his wardrobe was just the catalyst he needed. I mean, I’m with you—the hair and the scruff suits him. But I don’t believe for one second you haven’t threatened that man’s bachelor way of life. That’s what he needed changed, and that’s why he’s terrified.”
“I dunno, Ash,” Violet said, setting her menu aside after deciding on the grilled cheese with bacon. “He was pretty resolute about where we stand, before and after.”
“Before and after…?”
Violet tried to keep her face impassive, but Ashley wasn’t her best friend for nothing. She made a squealing noise. “You boinked him! Way to bury the lead!”
Violet laugh. “I did not boink him. I mean, I did, but let’s not call it that.”
Ashley’s eyes were wide and delighted. “Tell me everything. I mean everything. It’s been way too long since I’ve had a good… boink. It was good, right? Please say it was good.”
Violet only smiled.
“Ohhh, yeah,” Ashley said, drumming her fingers on the table, then pretending to clash the cymbal. “Okay, but wait, now I’m extra annoyed at him. You guys hooked up before he kicked you out?”
“He didn’t kick me out, he—” Violet chewed her cheek. “Hmm. I guess he kind of did.”
“Okay, okay,” Ashley said, looking around for the server. “Let’s order and then we’ll analyze everything. In detail.”
After they’d ordered and handed their menus to the servers, Ashley crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward expectantly.
“Honestly, I don’t know that there’s much to analyze,” Violet said slowly. “I think I need to just give him time. I’ve known him, what, a little over a month?”
“That was enough time for you to fall in love with him,” Ashley pointed out.
Violet opened her mouth, then shut it. “You can tell?”
“Sweetie, I’m your best friend. I could tell within a week of you meeting him that he was going to steal your heart.”
Violet sighed, a little happy, a little melancholy. “You could have warned me.”
“No way. The discovering’s half the fun.” She reached across the table to squeeze Violet’s hand. “I’m happy for you, Vi. You’re different than you were with Keith. Like, lit from within. Glowy.”
“I feel glowy, but also…” Violet pressed her fist against her chest. “Oh, God, Ash, how do people stand this? This thing I’m feeling: it’s as terrifying as it is exhilarating, and I can’t tell what’s butterflies and what’s nausea. What if he doesn’t ever want me back? What if I just wait and wait and I end up in another situation like Keith? His accessory, waiting in the wings?”
“Okay, first of all, that’s not going to happen. Keith and Cain aren’t even the same species. Second of all, we’ll figure out a plan. Find a way to, shall we say, help Cain along.”
Violet smiled. “I thought you said discovering was half the fun.”
“For my best friend, yeah. But I have no such loyalty to Cain, and I’m not above nudging his reluctant ass. Men are idiots when it comes to this stuff.”
“Or,” Violet countered, “he just plain doesn’t feel the same way back. Maybe he meant what he said and our night together was just scratching an itch, or whatever.”
Ashley shook her head. “If that was the case, if he was indifferent and over it, he’d have come back with you as planned, acting like nothing happened. Instead, he went into freak-out mode.”
“So what do I do? How do I unfreak him out?”
“Well.” Ashley sipped her water and crunched an ice cube. “I have a thought, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Try me.”
“See! Fierce! Okay, so,” Ashley set the glass aside and crossed her arms on the table. “I know I’ve only met the guy once, but from everything you’ve told me about him, one thing has always jumped out at me: you and Cain Stone are the same.”
“Eh. I think you’re off base on that one,” Violet said.
“You have the same issues,” Ashley said, clarifying. “And I say that affectionately, because we’ve all got them. Except me, because I am, of course, perfect.”
“Of course.” Violet smiled. “Okay, so what are Cain’s and my ‘shared issues’?”
She added the last bit with air quotes.
Her friend’s tone was gentle. “You both think you have to be something other than you are in order to be worthy of love.”
Violet stared at her. “Ouch.”
“I didn’t say you are unworthy of love, just that you think you are.”
Ashley leaned forward. “Vi, when we were kids, you were the most fearless, outspoken girl on the playground. Do you remember that? You were the one who took the slide headfirst, who pushed the swing higher and higher, who called out bullies on their crap. And then your parents died, and you changed. And who could blame you? But you transformed yourself into exactly what you thought your grandmother wanted. Someone meek and perfect.”