Page 61 of Allured By Her

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Tenley said, but she wasn’t unfriendly.

Everyone else swarmed over, eager to see a new face, so Tenley got introduced to a lot of people at once, but she smiled and laughed and shook hands and charmed absolutely everyone. Shocker.

At one point, she snagged my arm and said, “I’m absolutely starving, come get food with me?” in my ear.

Tenley reaching for me made my heart thump hard in my chest.

“Let’s go get some food,” I said and we beelined for the table. I handed her a plate and she piled it high.

“This all looks amazing,” she said, scooping dips onto her plate and then adding carrots and chips and cucumber slices. “I didn’t have dinner before I came and now my stomach is angry. I get so busy working sometimes I forget to eat. That’s one of the reasons I go to the coffee shop. I can stand up and go right for the counter and get something quick so my blood sugar doesn’t crash.” I hadn’t thought of it that way.

“I’m happy to help your blood sugar not crash,” I said, putting two brownies on my plate and balancing things out with a few cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.

Someone else had brought little caprese skewers and there were always tons of crackers and an assortment of cheeses. We didn’t mess around with the snacks at book club. Even if you haven’t read the book, you wouldn’t go home hungry or thirsty.

“Drink?” I asked Tenley.

“Absolutely yes,” she said, and I handed her a cup of pink wine, and then selected one for myself. She followed me back to the chairs and took the one right next to me. There was quite a crowd here tonight, so Tenley and I were pretty close. Lark took the spot on my other side, but she leaned close to Sydney as they shared their plates.

“Are we ready to get started?” Joy asked as she stood in front of her chair. Ezra sat next to her with the discussion questions on Joy’s tablet, and a bottle of water for Joy. While the group was informal, there still was a structure, and each meeting had unique questions and discussion.

“Is there anyone who wanted to introduce themselves?” Joy asked, staring right at Tenley.

“Hi,” Tenley said, waving. “I’m Tenley. I think I know quite a few of you already, but this is my first book club meeting ever, so please be gentle with me. I did read the book, so hopefully I’ll have something interesting to say.”

There were a few chuckles at that, and Tenley shared her beautiful smile.No wonder she was so popular in high school. There was just some sort of extra something about her that you couldn’t put your finger on, but you knew it when you saw it and then you wanted to be around it.

“Welcome, Tenley,” Joy said and then asked for people to share their first impressions of the book. A few people spoke about the coziness of the story, how much they liked that the protagonist was an older divorced woman who had children. Quite a few members of our club were older moms who had discovered their own bisexuality or pansexuality later in life. Some were still working on it. No one was required to disclose their label to join, obviously, but many had been drawn to the club in ways they couldn’t put to words and then realized a few months later exactly why.

Tenley had no qualms about speaking and sharing how much she’d like the setting of the cozy coffeeshop and she said she enjoyed seeing how the protagonist’s friends supported her, but she still struggled with coming out, even with a lesbian best friend.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she spoke. She was magical. Funny and witty and bright. I’d known all this, but it was really on display at book club. She piggybacked off comments others had made and her observations deepened my own understanding and enjoyment of the book.

We took a break to refuel and Tenley joined me in line for more snacks.

“You’re starting off strong with book club. Are you sure you haven’t done this before?” I asked.

“I mean, I do talk about books with my author friends,” she said, leaning in and whispering so no one would hear about her being an author. “I guess this is a little bit like that, but with more structure. I’m enjoying it. Everyone seems so kind.”

“They are. And I’m pretty sure everyone adores you already,” I said.

Tenley grinned. “Of course they do. I’m adorable.”

She certainly was.

* * *

Eventually people started drifting out after the conversation had moved from our current book to the suggestions for the next one (which were also sent out via email for anyone who missed the meeting), and then general discussion and the airing of grievances. What was a book club without that?

We officially broke for the night and I always stayed to help put away chairs and pack up leftovers and clean up. The bonus to helping was getting to take home some delicious desserts and dips, which didn’t hurt.

Tenley hung around, chatting with anyone and everyone. She wasn’t helping, but she wasn’t leaving either.

“I feel like I’m buzzed off book club,” she said to me as I piled a plate with some of Layne’s brownies.

“Are you now?” I said, laughing. She was practically dancing on her toes.

“Yes, it’s just so good to be with other people talking about books in person. I don’t know,” she said, her face going a little red as if she was ashamed of her enthusiasm.

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