Page 97 of Derivation

“Are you lying?”

“No,” she said and laughed a little as she pulled them on their street. “I think I just got really tired.”

That was still a little lie, but not a total one. Gabi was exhausted. Work had been hard, and on top of that, she had been working on the smart glasses and trying to find opportunities to be with Sarai in some way, at least, throughout the week without giving it away that they were going on a date in a few days.

“We’re almost home,” Sarai said. “Want to steal some of Arlowe’s ice cream and hang out on the sofa, or are you too tired?”

“I am not too tired for that,” she replied quickly.

Sarai smiled at her, and Gabi parked her car in the driveway after noticing that Violet’s car was gone now. She took Sarai’s hand after they got out, and as they walked up to the front door, she had no idea what she should do when they actually got there. Normally, she’d say good night at the door or see if the woman she was on a date with would invite her in, but Sarai lived here, too, so she merely unlocked the door and motioned for Sarai to go inside first.

“Hey, perfect timing!”

Gabi closed the door behind them and turned to see Arlowe and Enya on the couch.

“We just started a movie.”

“You’re still up?” Sarai asked.

“It’s not late. How was your date?” Arlowe asked.

“It was going well,” Sarai said.

Gabi got nervous again in that moment, and she couldn’t shake it for some reason. It was awkward. This wasn’t how her first date with Sarai should end, but she didn’t feel comfortable asking Enya and Arlowe to watch their movie elsewhere or at another time. She also didn’t know what to do because she didn’t want to join them, and she didn’t want the date to end just yet, either.

“So, you two are dating now? I guess it is kind of weird, huh?” Arlowe asked.

“We still need to talk about that,” Gabi said, internally smacking herself after the words unexpectedly came out of her mouth.

“We do?” Sarai asked.

“No, I… I meant that we have some talking to do.”

“Right,” Sarai said.

“Arlowe, maybe we should give them a minute,” Enya suggested.

“They have bedrooms.”

“Arlowe!” Sarai yelled.

“Okay. Yeah, fine. We’ll watch the movie in my room. Come on, Enya.”

Gabi stood there, realizing that she’d been the one to mess up their night in more ways than one at this point, and she wanted to run. She wanted to sprint to her car and drive away, or go to her bedroom and lock the door behind her.

CHAPTER 26

Sarai walked into the kitchen, opened the freezer door, pulled out the container of ice cream that she was definitely stealing from Arlowe, and set it on the table. Then, she went to the cutlery drawer, pulled out a spoon, and sat down in her usual chair at the table, waiting.

“So…” Gabi began when she walked in.

“Do you always end your sentences with so?” she tried to tease by repeating Gabi’s question to the influencers from earlier.

“Technically, I both began and ended my sentence with so.”

When Gabi sat down next to her, Sarai opened the lid on the ice cream, stuck her spoon into it, and pulled out a bite for herself.

“We have some talking to do, I hear?”