Vanessa pouted and suddenly refused to meet William’s eyes.
“No,” she finally muttered.
“It’s actually nice seeing this happen to you,” William said once the server returned with their coffees and left again. “You’ve always been a bit of a player.”
Vanessa reached across the table and slapped his arm. She wanted to protest against the label. She even opened her mouth to protest against the label, but then shut it again.
Begrudgingly, Vanessa had to admit William had a point. Even though she would hardly have classified herself a player, her romantic history did not include a lot of long-term girlfriends, especially considering her age. But that hadn’t been because she was channeling Shane McCutcheon. It was simply a matter of wanting to feel something that she’d been waiting to feel all her life.
Something like what she was feeling with Megan, a woman she first met twenty-one days ago.
And, God, it bothered her that she knew that number! What was she, sixteen-years-old?
Chapter 30
When the doorbell rang, Megan rushed to open her front door, excited, and this time it was not just about laying eyes on the gorgeous woman she knew was on the other side.
As soon as Vanessa stepped in, Megan pulled her close for a deep kiss, forcing Vanessa to drop the bags she was carrying.
“Looking for a repeat of that night I took you right at the front door of my place?” Vanessa murmured when they broke for air. “Because I can totally make that happen.”
Megan smiled.
“Maybe later. Right now, I have some news to tell you.”
“Oh?” Vanessa began. “Good or bad?”
“Definitely good,” Megan told her. An idea came to her then. “Ooh! I should pour some wine!”
Vanessa raised her eyebrows.
“Oh, wine-worthy good news, huh?”
Megan felt like she was buzzing as she took Vanessa’s hand and led her into the kitchen. A minute later, she had poured two glasses of white, handed one to Vanessa and took a deep breath.
“I came out to my parents today. Well, and Molly,” she said.
Megan almost squealed with delight at the expression of pure surprise on Vanessa’s face. It had been worth it to not text her the moment she left Marcano’s and instead wait to tell her in person.
“What!” Vanessa exclaimed. “No way!”
“Way!” Megan confirmed, clinking her glass of wine with Vanessa’s.
“Sweetie, that’s…I mean, I take it from how bubbly you are that it’s wonderful, right?”
“Totally!” Megan said gleefully. Wonderful couldn’t begin to describe it, she thought. Ever since leaving La Jolla, Megan had felt like a new woman, a lighter woman, a free woman.
Vanessa pulled her in for a congratulatory hug.
“How did they take it?” she asked.
“They hate it!” Megan said, laughing.
Vanessa’s face fell and her eyebrows knitted in confusion.
“Hate it? Then why are you so happy?”
“Because I don’t care!” Megan said, which was one-hundred percent the truth. She filled Vanessa in on her ruminations while driving to La Jolla earlier. She then recounted what had happened at Marcano’s.