“There’s no way Alex picked out this stuff,” Sunny says through a fresh round of sniffles.

“Buck helped out, and so did Charlene and I, because you know how boys are.” Violet’s smile says it all.

“How did you find the time to do this?” Sunny can’t stop the tears.

Violet hugs her again. “Alex hired someone to decorate. All I did was oversee the furniture decisions and make sure everything didn’t end up Chicago team colors.”

“You guys are the best.”

When Sunny stops crying, we resume the tour. In the bedroom at the far end of the hall, I lose the battle and join the emotional breakdown brigade. Turning to Sunny and Violet, I motion to the room, but I don’t have words, so I keep gesturing, hoping they’ll get what I’m not able to say.

“I wanted to be prepared for whatever you decide,” Sunny says softly. “And you need a room here no matter what.”

“Where did you get all these?” Along one wall are skating pictures. Of me. As a teenager on the brink of moving from competitive to Olympic trials. I never did, of course, but the images are beautiful—movement captured in still form.

“My mom used to take them all the time.” Sunny rubs my back and puts an arm around my shoulder. Her smile is sad. “I don’t want to do this without you.”

Being here in this gorgeous house, knowing Sunny’s staying and I have to go back to Guelph at the end of the holidays, makes me seriously evaluate my options.

“Okay. This is way too premenstrual for me,” Violet says. “We need more drinks!”

“Totally!” Charlene agrees.

We end up spending way longer than we intended to at Sunny’s new place, partly because we polish off the rest of the champagne. Violet only has one glass, but she’s paranoid about driving Alex’s car, so we hang around in Sunny’s living room while Violet caffeinates herself and the rest of us keep drinking.

It isn’t until everyone’s phones start pinging that we realize it’s late afternoon.

“Oh, shitballs!” Violet jumps to her feet. “We gotta go! The guys are already on their way back to the house!”

Charlene, Sunny, and I chug the rest of our drinks and leave them on the coffee table.

“Why is winter so painful? Why are there so many zippers!” Violet says as we scramble around each other, trying to get our boots on.

“Our bags are still in the trunk,” Sunny says as we climb into the backseat.

“You’re staying at Alex’s tonight anyway. We’re all gonna be too drunk to go anywhere.”

“But I wanna sleep in my new bed.”

“They’ll be plenty of opportunity, trust me.” Violet pulls out and tears down the street.

She’s a freaking menace on the road. Sunny and I white-knuckle it all the way to Alex’s. I get a text about halfway there. It’s from Randy:

I can’t wait 4 pussy prison.

Other phones start dinging ten minutes later. Sunny checks her messages. “They’re already at Alex’s, Vi.”

“Fuckerdoodles.”

“I can always tell Alex I asked you to pick us up in the fun car,” Sunny suggests.

“He won’t believe you, and I can’t lie.”

I’m actually kind of interested to see how this is going to play out. Alex has a temper sometimes. I can’t see him getting super pissed about the car, but then maybe it’s a bigger issue than I realize. Or Violet’s being dramatic. Either option is possible.

We pull into the driveway, and Violet hits the button for the garage. She creeps in, checking the side mirrors a million times. The car jerks as she hits the brakes repeatedly, inching forward until she taps the garbage can in front of it.

She puts the car in park and cuts the engine. Shrugging out of her coat, she flails around. “I’m so sweaty.” Then she opens the top two buttons on her black-and-red plaid, fitted button-down shirt. “Watch how it’s done, ladies.”

Alex opens up the door to the garage as Violet gets out of the car. “Hey, baby!” she exclaims. “We totally lost track of time. I’m so glad you’re home!”

She runs over to him. It’s awkward; she’s got her shoulders back and her chest pushed out. She nearly trips up the three steps on the way to meet him as he comes down. She falls into him, throwing her arms around his neck. She’s practically popping out of her shirt.

“Hi, baby.” Alex isn’t looking at the car anymore. His eyes are right where Violet wants them. He runs his hands down her sides and stops at her ass.

Maybe they’ve forgotten we’re all here.

I look at Charlene and Sunny. As usual, Sunny’s focused on her phone. Charlene is grinning. I open my mouth to ask a question, but she puts her finger to her lips, signaling for me to wait.

Violet kisses the bottom of his chin, because that’s as high up as she can reach, even on tiptoes. “I missed you.”

Alex makes a noise, but dips his head and kisses her lips. “Me too. I hate being gone more than a week.” He rubs his nose against hers. It’s so sweet I want to gag. “You know I don’t drive The Colonel in the winter, baby.”

“I changed purses and couldn’t find my keys. I’m sorry.” Violet pushes away from him and his eyes go back to her rack. “Oh, the buttons on this shirt are the worst. I’ll put these away until later.” She winks.

“I can help.” Alex sticks his finger into her cleavage.