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My mother has three sisters, and they are notoriously coreat their kids are Soue school, some are pressured to becos specifically that Aunt Janice’s kids won’t do, like visit regularly, send thank-you notes, and celebrate Mother’s Day

“Do you knohat I was thinking earlier?”

She’s looking at her feet when she says this, so I can’t read her face to see why the tone has shifted “I have no idea,” I say

“That we had sex only three weeks ago”

This so about her thought process, and the sudden change in topic is so disorienting that for a breath I think I’ve misheard her But I haven’t, because she blushes

“We did,” I agree, wondering how she got froh “What e thinking?”

“Probably that ere drunk and sex would be fun?”

“You weren’t drunk,” she says

“No”

“I was” She considers this “A little”

“Are you sure you aren’t drunk now?” I set a beer out and more to cool down the entire front half of ain since the nextto do it here when Alex and Ed are only a roo the saht Is that what made her think of it?

I can’t help but wonder if she’s wearing the sa underneath, too

“Not yet, unfortunately What I’ is, I could totally write you a letter of recommendation for one of yourlady friends You know, if you need it”

I give her a s off the counter, she walks to the fridge, opening it with co out a bottle of white wine I don’t even need to tell her where the glasses are; she finds one in the cabinet near the stove, fills it unselfconsciously, and then returns the bottle to the fridge

It trips an old ain with me, but even on her tenth visit, needed Mo

Come on in

Make yourself co to drink? Water? Wine?

Here, honey, sit next to Reid

You two’ll be sleeping in the room down the hall

Yes, honey, you can stay with Reid, you’re adults

She never felt at home

That isn’t Millie It’s not that she’s presumptuous or callous in any way, it’s that she heeded the cues from her first visit here—the unspoken coenuinelynaked in the vineyards) And here she is She stretches, one arlass Her torso elongates, breasts press forward

Here she fucking is

She’s watching ainst the counter and sipping her wine “What’re you thinking?”

She knohat I’ about the sex we had

“Just watching you” I know her so well, and yet in soh what happened between us was fun, and hot as hell—in my opinion—I realize I still can’t really kno she views it As soed to smooth over without incident But since it’s Millie, it occurs to ht never know it, because she’s shoved it so far below the surface

On instinct, I scratch at her surface a little, digging: “Get any new es today?”

Millie tilts her head froht I haven’t replied yet”