She flails some more. “About your sexual…habits?”

“Habits?”

“Jesus, Lance, I’m trying to diplomatic, and you know how hard that is for me. You were a Mathlete. You’re not an idiot. Use your brain! Does she know about your reputation with the hockey hookers?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“But does she believe them?”

“I don’t know. You believed the rumors about Waters when you first started dating him.”

“Yeah, but he perpetuated them all the time, so of course I believed them. It was only when they became an actual issue that he started defending himself. I know people blow things out of proportion, Lance, but in your case—”

She has a point, even though I don’t want her to. “Not all of it is true, but that’s not something I’m going to have to talk about.”

“Not on the first date, no.”

I run my hands over my thighs. “But you think I will eventually?”

She blows out a breath. “Forget I mentioned it for now. Let’s focus on getting you through the first date and then we can go from there. Where are you taking her for dinner?”

“I was thinking about Spiaggia, downtown. I made reservations and asked for a private table.”

“Ohhh, that’s nice. You must really like her.” She does that tappy thing with her fingernails. “Ever take Tash there?”

“No. We didn’t go out on dates. We just fucked.” I look down at the counter, unwilling to see her pity.

“Are you over her?”

“What?”

“Tash? Are you over her?”

I line up the oranges in the fruit basket so I don’t have to look at Violet. “I’d be fine if she stopped calling.”

She touches the back of my hand, and I pull it away, hiding it under the counter.

“Why do you want to go out with this Poppy girl if you’re still hung up on Tash? Is that really fair to her?”

I run an anxious hand through my hair. “I like her, and she’s different. Even when things were okay with Tash, I never felt settled, but Poppy—she’s like…all this goodness wrapped up in one person. I want to have that.” I look down at the counter. “I want to deserve to have that.”

“Well, you deserve it. You just have to work for it since this girl isn’t a hockey hooker and won’t throw herself on your dick. My advice is to bring her flowers at the very least. And don’t pick her up in your Hummer. That thing is big enough to have an orgy in.”

“Good point.” I can definitely do flowers again. “Should I take her out after dinner?”

“Take her out where?”

“I don’t know. To a club?”

“No. Definitely not. You want to avoid reminders of how you completely forgot who she was and don’t remember her ever being at your house. Stay as far away from that scenario as possible.”

“What if she invites me to come inside after the date?”

“What about it?”

“Should I go in?”

“If she invites you, yes. If she doesn’t, I don’t suggest trying to invite yourself. That makes you look desperate. Unless you want to look desperate. Then go for it.”

“Do I want to look desperate?” I don’t think I do, but then I’ve done a lot of screwing up where Poppy is concerned, so it’s possible I do want to. More than that, it’s possible I look that way already whether I want to or not.

“Probably not? But you may want to keep in mind this advice is coming from me, so a second opinion might be helpful.”

“Why would I need a second opinion?”

“Well…Alex kind of stalked me after the first time we slept together, and I didn’t actually mind his stalkery-ness.”

We both turn at the sound of a throat clearing. Alex is standing at the threshold of the room with questions all over his face. Waters and I are close to the same size, but he’s a little broader.

He looks his wife over. “What kind of lies are you telling about me?”

“They’re not lies. You wouldn’t stop calling, and then you started sending my boobs gift certificates and presents. Then you showed up at my house uninvited, and my work, and you pestered me until I cracked.”

Waters smirks. “That’s just tenacity.”

“It’s also called stalking.”

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” He moves her ponytail out of the way and kisses her shoulder.

“Yes. Yes it did.” She looks to me. “But maybe you should talk to Lily about this, too, to be safe.”

“Yeah. I don’t know about that. You’re the only person who knows about this for now.”

“Knows about what?” Waters asks.

“Lance has a date.”

Waters’ eyes go wide. “Like a date, date? Or with someone you met off Tinder?”

“A real date, not a hook up. I mean, I’m not opposed to the hook-up part, but that’s not the reason I’m going out with her.”

“Wow. Uh…that’s great?” He still hasn’t lost that shocked look.

“Let’s see if I can manage not to fuck it up.”

Violet gives me a warm smile. “You’ll do fine. Just remember the flowers and not to be stalkery.”

“Got it all locked up here.” I tap my temple as I push the stool away and stand. “I’m ready whenever you are,” I tell Waters. “We’re picking up Westinghouse on the way, aye?”