The Perfect Holiday

Rebecca didn’t reply. She glanced from me to Molly, shaking her head.

“I don’t believe it,” Rebecca said softly. “The two of you. Really?!”

“I told you,” Molly said, her chin wobbling as she spoke. “Things are good between us.”

I turned to Rebecca. “Molly and I are together,” I said. “We’re in love.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “You, in love,” she muttered under her breath. “I don’t believe it for a second.”

“It’s true,” I said. I gave Molly an encouraging look.

“Yeah,” Molly echoed. “We’re in love, Rebecca.”

Rebecca narrowed her eyes and shrugged. “Whatever,” she said. “Don’t come crying to me when he breaks your heart, Molly.”

“Oh, fuck off,” I said. “You’ve been a huge bitch to me your entire life, Rebecca. I don’t know why this is any different.”

Rebecca inhaled sharply. For a moment, I thought she was going to say something. Then she swallowed hard, grabbed her bags, and left.

“Damn,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe she’s acting like this.”

Molly sighed. “Alex, that isn’t all,” she said quietly. “Rebecca and I had kind of a weird conversation the other day. She asked me if I’d always known that I was straight. I think she was trying to come out of the closet.”

My stomach curdled and twisted at her words. Again, the image of my sister dancing and kissing another girl leapt into my mind.

“Molly, there’s something I have to tell you,” I said slowly, narrowing my eyes. “The other day, I was out and I saw Rebecca. She went into this club.”

“Rebecca went to a club?” Molly laughed. “That’s a good one!”

“No, I’m serious,” I said. I sighed. “I was curious, so I parked and followed her in. It was a gay club, and she was dancing with another woman who looked a lot like you. They kissed, too.” I shook my head and narrowed my eyes. “It sounds strange, but I think maybe she has a crush on you, and she’s jealous of me or something stupid like that.”

Molly’s face went through a variety of expressions. First, she looked like she was going to burst out laughing again. Then her forehead creased with concern and she braced herself with a hand against the couch.

“Oh my god,” Molly said. “That’s…that’s insane, Alex! I can’t believe that,” she added, shaking her head. “There’s no way she has a thing for me. We’ve been best friends for years.” She flushed hotly. “And normally, I wouldn’t tell you her secrets. But I know for a fact that she slept with someone – a man – when we were in college. More than once, even.”

I burst out laughing. “Wow, good for her,” I said. “But she’s never had a boyfriend, has she?”

Molly shook her head. She blushed even harder. “And Alex…sorry, I know this is weird to say, but I feel like I should’ve known as soon as she told me that the sex wasn’t even that good. She said it was really disappointing. I chalked it up to the fact that she slept with some guy in a frat and he wasn’t good in bed, but wow, it makes so much sense now.”

I blinked. The idea of my sister nabbing some fraternity dude was almost as funny as the idea of her dancing at a gay club.

“Holy shit,” I muttered. “That’s fucking insane.”

Molly nodded. “Tell me about it,” she said, rolling her eyes. She sighed. “I feel so dazed. Maybe I should lie down for a while.”

“No,” I said. “You should probably come with me, Molly. I don’t know – maybe you should stay with me for a while, until all of this calm down. I have a feeling Rebecca isn’t going to be thrilled about the news when she gets home, and I don’t want her stressing you out.”

Molly sighed. “Alex, I’m an adult,” she said. “I can handle my own problems, okay?”

I shrugged. “Hey, I’m just trying to be the overprotective boyfriend, but if you’re sure,” I said, glancing around. “Look, you should at least come out for a few hours. What if I bring you over to the firehouse and introduce you to the guys? I think they’d get a kick out of meeting the woman who captured the heart of Alex Travers.”

Molly blushed and smiled. “Okay,” she said, biting her lip. “As long as they’re going to be nice to me.”

“Why wouldn’t they be nice?”

Molly shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said nervously. “I’m just shy, Alex. You know that.”

I chuckled. “I know, but I promise – everything’s going to be fine, okay?”