Annette’s lips twisted as she slanted them to the side. “Sure, go ahead and believe that, but you’re right, your mom would die if she knew you ever touched him. I can practically hear her lecturing you about bad boys with bad tattoos and bad intentions.”
“Ah…yeah, and that’s not even the worst part. After his mom left, I went down to the basement apartment, and when he didn’t answer, I opened the door and went in.”
“Why?”
“Because it sounded like a real shit show down there. Loud music, profanity, banging…I don’t know.” She tried to mind her own business, but every fiber in her being pleaded with her brain to check on him and in the end, her brain lost. She was dangerously and hopelessly attracted to him.
“Hm,” Annette said, raising one of her perfectly arched eyebrows.
“Basically, one thing led to another and we…” Violet’s eyes darted around the room as heat flooded her face. She lowered her voice to a faint whisper, “…had sex.”
Annette’s foot tapped against the floor, and Violet thought she’d die if she waited one more second for Annette’s judgment.
“So. What’s the problem? This isn’t high school. You’re twenty-five years old. You can date and do what you want with whoever, whenever. You act like one questionable decision is a stain on your life. Get over it.”
“He kicked me out in the morning with the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ line.”
“Oh crap, that’s the worst,” she said, moving her head slowly from side to side. “It’s better when the guy just comes out and tells you he’s not interested in anything else.”
“Are you speaking from experience, because I always get the ‘it’s not you’ line, which makes me think it is me. Before I never cared, but when Alec said it, it stung.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not, but really you shouldn’t let it get to you. You’re beautiful, smart, and caring to a fault. If he’s stupid enough to use the ‘it’s not you’ line, then fuck him. He’s an unoriginal idiot.”
“You’re probably right, but you know me. I don’t have one-night stands—ever—and I feel really dumb for misinterpreting the situation. For some reason, I thought we had a connection and his behavior this morning took me off guard. It’s like a switch flipped in his brain and he couldn’t stand being around me any longer. It was a real mind fuck.”
Annette stood up. “Have you eaten breakfast?”
“No. When he kicked me out, I couldn’t stick around knowing he was wandering around in the basement of my house probably contemplating how to avoid me for the next two weeks until his lease ends. I took off in my car and showed up on your doorstep.”
“Then it’s settled. We’re going to breakfast and it’s going to include bottomless mimosas, so put your party hat on. You won’t even remember his name by the time you polish off one of those egg white omelets that taste like cardboard.”
Violet grinned, pushing her body out of her chair. She could do this. So what. She made a mistake. Big fucking deal. Annette was right. She didn’t have to be perfect all the time. Nobody else seemed to hold themselves to such high standards and she didn’t have to either, at least not today. She had her entire life to demand moral perfection. “That sounds perfect.”
“Let’s go.” Annette grabbed her purse off the entry table. “But I’m driving.”
“I’m not that bad of a driver.”
“Oh please,” Annette said. “You can’t even talk while you’re driving. You’re the quintessential distracted driver.”
Violet rolled her eyes even though Annette had a point. She couldn’t even make conversation or listen to music while she drove. Her thoughts always drifted off to other things. “I’m better now,” Violet said, even though it wasn’t the truth.
“Sure you are, sweetie, but I’ve already had one trip too many in the ditch with you and I’m adverse to spending the rest of the weekend in the hospital. God knows, going to the hospital on the weekend is like serving a mini-prison sentence.”
Two days after getting her driver’s license, Violet accidently drove them into the ditch near her parents’ ranch and Annette never let her forget it. “Whatever,” she protested. “I just got my driver’s license a couple days before and you weren’t hurt.”
Annette laughed her deep smoky laugh that reminded Violet of their childhood slumber parties, sneaking sips of her dad’s bourbon in the barn, and a million other stupid pranks. “Not too bad, but I don’t hold it against you. You can’t be good at everything. Your inability to drive is charming…when I’m not forced to be in the car with you.”