Page 19 of Convergence

“That I was thankful nobody has talked to us about my quarantine induced browser history, and for big booty bitches. But I guess I can say I’m thankful for the grumpy asshole who made us dinner and the pretty girl who picks out good wine.”

I raised my wine glass, and the guys followed suit “To big booty bitches and Nate’s horrifying Pornhub search history,” I said cheerfully.

“Jesus,” Ev muttered but smiled, eyes twinkling around his glass as he drank.

Nate laughed and drained his wine. “Ugh, I could sleep for days after that.”

“Absolutely not, we’re running at 6,” I demanded, and cleared the plates. “Now help me clean up. Ev, you go lay on the couch like every other suburban mom in America right now.”

Our phones chimed.

Daisy: Hey nerdies I got you an Instant pot on a black Friday sale. And a recipe book so you have no excuses to not eat real food. I need you all healthy!Kiss emoji

“I’m still eating cereal,” Nate said and helped me clear the dishes and put away leftovers.

After we finished cleaning up, we piled on the couch on either side of Everett and attempted to drunkenly play a few rounds of a racing game on the Xbox. We were laughing at Everett looking at the wrong car the entire time and driving his car into a guardrail for four minutes of a race when our phones chimed again.

It was a picture of Daisy in a huge bubble bath, her boobs barely covered with bubbles. I stared at the picture for a moment, admiring the confidence it took to send. The guys both put their phones down before I did after seeing the picture. It struck me as odd they didn’t linger on the sexy picture- especially Everett. An irrational and unfair feeling of victory swept through me when I realized they were happily spending time with me and not her. Feeling guilty now, I was about to put my phone down when another message came through.

Daisy: um are you three okay? I sure hope you’re not working! Can you send me a selfie?

I held out my phone and leaned into the guys to take a picture. They knew Daisy well enough to know what I was doing and why. Nate leaned into Everett while I did the same on his other side and snapped the picture. All three of us had rosy cheeks, hooded eyes, and an easy smile- clearly drunk. Everett looked comfortable and confident between us, and I couldn’t remember if I’d ever seen him that relaxed.

I sent the picture and picked up the Xbox controller. We played another round of the racing game with only slightly more success before our phones chimed again.

Everett let out an exhale through his nose as he reached for his phone like he did not want to see what Daisy had to say. I thought maybe he was feeling sad he couldn’t see her for the holiday.

Daisy: You guys look like you’re too cozy and having too much fun without memad face emoji. I think you need to really sober up and go to bed. Ugh.Green sick face emoji.

I didn’t know what to reply, but I felt bad for making her upset. Was she upset I was with her boyfriend? We looked cozy in the picture- she was not wrong. But it wasn’t exactly a picture of us in a bubble bath sent to the group chat. What was I supposed to say? I paused. What would I want said to me in this situation?

“Don’t even reply to that,” Everett said grumpily, looking at me with my thumbs hovering over the keyboard before he slid the phone out of my hands. “We should get to bed if we’re going to run before work tomorrow.”

“You both know how I feel about that,” Nate said and stood and put away the controllers.

I tidied up the blankets on the couch before I went up to bed. I still felt bad about upsetting Daisy, despite Everett being dismissive about it. I couldn’t help but think maybe I was missing something, and I was about to lose my only female friend.

Over the weekend, Nate worked late to send information to Daisy after our last day of isolation for another week. He was slower to compile the data, so he drove me and Ev home and went back to the lab. He had been working on it most of the day, so it wasn’t likely he’d be there all night like I had.

I made dinner in our new Instant Pot while Everett read through our plans for the approaching phase of our research at the kitchen island. We shared some red wine together, and Everett played some country music on Nate’s speaker. I was making a beef pot roast with potatoes and carrots and a rich gravy if the recipe and my ability to follow basic directions treated us well. Nate had said he was coming back soon because he had finished earlier than he expected, so I poured the wine for dinner and set the table.

“I ordered the best beef I could get delivered. It's grass fed and there’s no growth hormones or antibiotics used, like the cows we had at home,” Everett said as I carefully unlatched the lid after it was done depressurizing.

“Oh, your farm was organic?” I asked.

“Free range, pesticide free, organic, you name it,” he said proudly. “We sold mostly local and to quite a few restaurants. Only the best quality we could produce. That’s what I want to do with my degree; work with a team to develop safer pesticides, safer antibiotics, safer ways to produce quality food.”

“That’s a wonderful way to use your upbringing in a career and a career to support your upbringing,” I said conversationally as I poked at the roast.

“Thank you, baby girl,” he said warmly. “Mm, that smells wonderful.”

I practically glowed at his words and sipped my wine. There was something about the deep, honeyed timbre of his voice calling me “baby girl” that turned my insides to liquid. I needed to get myself together before I dropped something and took a longer gulp of wine.

A new song came on and it was a slow, crooning country love song I had never heard. I swayed a little to the music as I started plating dinner. The half of a glass of wine was warm in my empty belly and helped me feel loosened up.

“Do you like country music, Eva?” Everett asked, his voice rasping and quiet, and I startled when I realized he was watching me dance.

“I think I like this song at least,” I replied. I wasn’t familiar with the genre, but this music was almost sensual and romantic.

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