Knox: Fuck. At least text me back and tell me where you are.
For someone who was done with me, he sure texted a whole heck of a lot.
Naomi: It’s this awesome place called None of Your Business. Stop. Texting. Me.
I slid my phone over to Sloane. “Here. You’re in charge of this.”
Lina held up her phone to show us a text.
Knox: Where the fuck did you take her?
“See?” she said. “Fear.”
“I don’t think I’m going back to work today,” I said.
“Hey, Waylay’s hanging out at the museum in D.C. with Nina and her dads. There’s no better way to spend a fall Saturday than getting blitzed.”
“What’s a Waylay?” Lina asked.
“My niece.”
“The niece Naomi didn’t know about because her estranged twin sister sucks,” Sloane added. She twirled the tip of her braid around her fingers and stared blankly at the football game on the screen.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“I’m fine. I’m just sick of men.”
“Amen, sister,” I said, raising my glass at her.
“My sister, Chloe’s mom? She’s bi. Every time she dates a man who pisses her off, she ends up dating nothing but women for like twelve months. She’s my hero. Makes me wish I didn’t like penis so much.”
Joel set a Bloody Mary with a floating stick of bacon in front of Sloane and didn’t bat an eye at the word penis.
I winced. “Please don’t say penis.”
“My experience with Knox’s equipment is almost twenty years old. So I can only imagine how much better he’s gotten with age,” Lina said with sympathy.
“You know, with this whole guardianship, maybe it’s just better to focus on being a parent figure and forget about being a woman with…”
“Sexual needs?” Sloane filled in.
I picked up my wine. “How many glasses would it take to forget about sex?”
“Usually around one and a half bottles. But that comes with a hangover that cuts you off at the knees for three days, so I wouldn’t recommend,” Lina said.
“He really made me believe,” I whispered.
Joel lined up the shots in front of us, and I stared at mine.
“I know he said things wouldn’t go anywhere. But he made me believe. He kept showing up. Not just for me, but for Waylay too.”
“Back the truck up. Knox Morgan? Spent time with your kid? Willingly?”
“He took her shopping. He showed up at her soccer game and got her to stop swearing. He told her that strong people stand up for the ones who can’t stand up for themselves. He picked her up at a sleepover. Watched football with her.”
Lina shook her head. “He’s so fucked up.”
“All men are,” Sloane said.