The blonde looked at Zee, then nudged her with her elbow. "Stop it!" she whispered loud enough for me to hear.

Zee shifted her eyes from mine, and I closed my own, just trying to enjoy the hug from Hollie while ignoring everything else. Fuck, who am I kidding? My mind was racing, my heart was thumping, and my core was throbbing at the memories that she'd instantly invoked within me. She was wearing black skintight jeans and a matching black cropped tank top that didn't help my gaze either!

Hollie finally broke the hug, stepping back with a smile as the little kittens twined around her legs. "Let me introduce everyone! These are my roommates, Raquel, and Zee." She pointed to the blonde first, then the gorgeous Cuban that I was trying not to stare at again. "Girls, this is my mom, and those are my sisters Gracie and Jashanna." I was happy to hear her referring to Jashanna as her sister already, but she'd been fully onboard with the plan when we explained it to her, so I wasn't too surprised that she had.

"Sisters are off limits, Zee," Raquel said with another nudge. "No trying to get them into bed. This isn't gonna be Fort Lauderdale all over again." Yeah, that made me think I'd been right in my assessment of her being a player back in the day.

Zee just shook her head before she dropped her gaze as her cheeks flamed red. "I know that. Give me a little credit."

"We're together anyway," Gracie told them. "We were dating before mom adopted Jashanna. But yeah, we're off limits! Oh, and those are Swiftie and Karma." She pointed to the kitties that were coming to investigate the newcomers as she and Jashanna were both grinning ear to ear at the scene unfolding between everyone. I was trying my best not to be flustered, but it wasn't easy.

"I'm so happy to meet you all, and I'm glad that you came down for the weekend. Just let me know if you need anything, okay? Hollie, why don't you get everyone settled in," I suggested. "Dinner should be ready soon, and then you can all hit the pool."

"Raquel, you can crash in my room if you like," Jashanna told her. "I'll show you where it is."

"Zee, take the couch," Gracie added. "Nobody ever sleeps in Nana's room, but the couch is super comfy."

My daughter was brutal. Yes, it was true that nobody slept in Elizabeth's room, because we always kept it open for her. But she'd conveniently placed Zee on the ground floor with me while everyone else would be upstairs. The couch would be less than fifty feet from my bed, with my door cracked open for the kittens to visit. I didn't know if I wanted a good night's sleep, or to hear Zee calling me mommy while I tried out my new toys with her.

Fuck. Is both an option?

Hollie, Jashanna, and Gracie all led Raquel upstairs with her bag, leaving Zee alone with me as we stood staring awkwardly in the kitchen. Gracie even threw me a wink as she disappeared, the little stinker. Zee stepped closer, and opened her mouth to say something, when the timer went off to remind me to flip the burgers. Her mouth snapped closed in frustration, and I smiled softly at her.

"Hold that thought," I whispered. "I think we need to talk." I opened the door to the deck, and then quickly flipped all the burgers on the grill. The scent of the sizzling meat added to the things my brain was trying to figure out, but I took a deep breath and went back inside to deal with the more pressing matter at hand.

Zee was waiting by the door, opening it for me when she saw me turn to come inside, and she tentatively reached out a hand for mine as I stood next to her. I reached out the rest of the way and entwined my fingers in hers. She breathed out a sigh of relief and then beamed at me. "Is this going to be a mess?" she wondered. "I don't want your daughters to hate you or think this is weird."

I just snorted lightly and smiled. "Gracie and Jashanna already know. They've been looking forward to you getting here. Didn't you see them recording us when we saw each other? I have no idea if they told Hollie, but I think it's only a matter of time before she knows too." I breathed out deeply. "I won't apologize to them for whatever happened between us. That was a night I'll never forget, and I wouldn't want to. Don't worry about that, okay?"

She gave me a tentative smile and a nod. "Yeah. But what about more? Can there be more? Is that why they wanted me down here?"

I nodded towards the couch, then pointed beyond it. "Gracie wanted you alone on this floor with me because she and Jashanna obviously want us to try something. Maybe we could have a talk? Honestly, this whole thing is so surreal that I need to process everything that's happening right now, you know?" Just seeing her so close and feeling her hand in mine made me want to crush her against me, then take her right to my bedroom. But then I had a flashback to Raquel telling her that it wasn't Fort Lauderdale, which made me pull back a little. Her hand tightened quickly on mine in response.

"Yeah. A talk might help. I know it was just a lot of sex that night, but I can't tell you how much that affected me." I could see the sincerity in her eyes, and knew I owed her at least an honest conversation. "Not just because of the sex..." Her voice trailed off as we heard the thunder of four sets of feet coming down the stairs, and we pulled away a little.

I belatedly went out and checked the burgers again, bringing cheese with me to put on top of them after realizing I had never set the timer with Zee's distraction. I took a moment to try and calm myself down as I let the cheese melt on the burgers that looked to be almost done. My heart was pounding, and I didn't know what to do here. Gracie and Jashanna were young, and while they probably thought they were really helping me out, I wasn't so confident in that. Mind altering sex wasn't the best basis for a relationship, and I wasn't sure what else there could be between Zee and I. She was only 22, and I didn't know what we might have in common. But then again, wasn't that what dating was for, to find that out? Maybe if we talked it might become clearer? Fuck! But she was almost certainly a player, and I already promised myself I wouldn't fall into that trap again after Elliot. Or maybe she wasn't, and Raquel was just a bitch. But I didn't need to have my heart broken either way.

When I brought the burgers in, Gracie and Jashanna were making the salad, as promised, and they both gave me giant smiles while the college girls were setting the table. I got all the buns on a plate, already regretting that I'd forgotten to toast them because my mind wasn't all there, and brought them to table with the fries and the sauteed mushrooms. Everyone already had their drink, so I went back and got a big glass of red wine, because I had a feeling that I'd need it for this evening and joined everyone at the table.

"How is school going for you all?" I asked, trying to start a conversation with the college girls. I may have talked to Hollie on the phone, but I was sure there were things she never mentioned. Plus, I didn't know anything about Raquel at all, and what I knew about Zee wasn't fit for a dinner conversation. Maybe dessert though.

"It's going well," Raquel quickly told us. "I love it up there, even if the nightlife isn't like Fort Lauderdale."

"Oh, you're from Fort Lauderdale too?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me with a frown. "How did you know Zee was from Fort Lauderdale?" Raquel asked.

Oh, yeah, me and my big mouth. Oh, wait! "When you first got here, you said something about it not being Fort Lauderdale, so I assumed she was from Fort Lauderdale. Or is it just you?" Nice cover Demi. Maybe I should just stay quiet and not fuck this up.

Her eyes widened, though I wasn't sure if it was because she hadn't expected me to hear that or remember it. "Sorry, I was too loud. I just didn't want Zee to go after your daughters, cuz she had a reputation. We went to high school together there, but I didn't know she was going to FSU."

Zee shot a glare at Raquel, then dropped her eyes once more. I had little doubt that she was embarrassed about that, but I wasn't exactly surprised. The last comment made me realize that while they were roommates, they were hardly friends. I had to make Zee feel a little better because that was a shitty comment though.

"Everyone gets reputations in high school, so I wouldn't worry too much about it." I saw Zee give me a little glance as I kept going. "When do you all graduate?"

"I graduate next spring. I just have to keep my head down and power through these last two semesters." Raquel looked proud at that, and I guess she had reason to.

"How about you, Zee?"

She turned to look at me, a worried look on her face. "I finish classes this semester, then I just need an internship in the spring to graduate."

Raquel snorted, then covered her mouth. "Yeah, a whole year late. I'm sure you'll be fine though." My impression of Raquel was rapidly declining to the point where I was going to put a bug in Hollie's ear about not having her back. Ever. Nobody needed to be that rude and bitchy, especially when she just met us.

"Mom!" Hollie said quickly, ignoring Raquel's comment. "You should have Zee do her internship with you! She does computer science and business. That would work, right?" Normally I would scoff at that, but Hollie was a good judge of character, and if she thought Zee would be a good intern I'd at least entertain the thought. 

"Yeah mom! I bet you could teach Zee a lot if she was under you!" Gracie piped up. Was she smirking when she said that? Yes, very much. Luckily, nobody but Jashanna could see it. I might kill my youngest daughter later though. This could be a real nightmare, or amazing. I didn't think there could be much in between.

I focused on Zee again, who had a hopeful expression on her face. "Do you have a resume?"

She nodded quickly. "Yeah. I have it in a pdf file. It isn't fancy, because I'm still working on it. Is that going to be okay?"

"That's fine. I'll get it from you after dinner and we can go over it and talk about what you'd like to do. Normally we do one or internships per semester, usually from someone going to USF because it's close, but since I'm an FSU alum, I could make an exception."

The smile on her face made it all worth it. "Are you serious? You'd do that?"

I nodded. "I won't say yes right now, but I bet if I look at your resume that you'll get it. I know internships are pretty competitive, and this might make things easier. If Hollie thinks you're good, I trust her."

"Oh my God, thank you so much for the chance. That's all I want is one shot." Somehow, I had a feeling that she wasn't just talking about the internship right now. What the hell was I getting myself into? Was I going to regret this?

"I think I can give you that shot."