“I think it might’ve been the people we went with,” Lily replies. “But it can be fun. If you’re with the right people.”

I don’t say anything, because my experience with RVing is probably not like most people’s.

Less than two minutes after getting into the truck, my phone rings. I’m surprised to see it’s Darren. We don’t have a lot of phone conversations when he’s away. I bring the phone to my ear.

“Charlene? Is everything okay? Are you all right?”

His concern is even more surprising than the out-of-the-blue phone call. “I’m fine. Why?”

“Oh. Okay.” He exhales a long breath. “Okay. That’s good. I received a message from the alarm company that was . . . concerning. I wanted to make sure nothing happened and you were safe.”

I hadn’t realized Darren would be contacted if my house alarm went off.

“I’m fine. I put in the wrong code one too many times, and it went off. Sorry if I worried you.”

“As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters. It sounds like you’re in a car. Are you driving?”

“I’m with the girls, and I’m not driving.”

“Ah. That’s good. Okay. Well, I won’t keep you, then. Maybe, uh, we could talk later? Or I’ll text if that isn’t convenient for you.”

My stomach flips. Darren doesn’t usually suggest phone calls unless we’re making a plan to see each other and texting will take too long. “I’d love to talk. I can message when I’m home and see if you’re around?”

“That would be perfect. Have a fun day with your friends.”

I finger my pearls, smiling at how formal and awkward he can be when he’s unsure how to approach a subject. It’s endearing. “Okay. I will.”

“But not as much fun as you’d have with me.”

I laugh. “Of course not.”

I end the call with a smile.

“Everything okay?” Violet asks.

“Oh yeah. Darren got the message from the alarm company and wanted to make sure I’m okay.”

“He gets alerts when your house alarm goes off?” Lily asks.

“He’s the one who had it installed, so yeah. I guess he wanted to make sure I’m safe.”

“That’s sweet, isn’t it?” Sunny smiles. “That he wants to make sure you’re taken care of when he can’t be with you.”

“Yeah.” I roll the pearls over my lips. “It is.”It takes half an hour to get to the convention center, and another twenty minutes to find parking. Violet is absolutely shocked when Lily manages to back into a spot without hitting anything. Most of the time when we go out as a group we don’t allow Violet to drive because she’s so bad at it. She can manage to drive in a straight line, but parking, backing out, and turning all seem to be a challenge for her.

We hand our tickets over and head inside. I’ve been to plenty of sex shops to buy lingerie, and sometimes toys and fun stuff. But in the past I’ve tried to avoid these kinds of sex conventions because of my mom’s job, so it’s new, even for me.

Lily meanders from display to display, checking everything out. Poppy’s face is an interesting shade of perma-red, and Sunny, well, I think this whole experience is going to scar my poor friend for life. At least I tried to shield her from it, which is more than I can say for the rest of them.

Violet is . . . Violet. She stops at a table with strap-ons and picks one up. “Can I test this out?” she asks the guy manning the booth. He looks like he probably watches a lot of internet porn and doesn’t often see the light of day.

“Uh, test it out how?” he asks.

“Like, can I try it on? See if it fits?”

“Oh, yeah. For sure.” He nods at her boobs. Although to be fair, she is wearing a v-neck Chicago shirt with the logo stretched across her chest. On the back is Alex’s last name and jersey number. She has a lot of Alex-inspired gear.

She tosses one at me. “You should try this on, too.”

I snort and roll my eyes. “I’m good.”

“Oh come on! Aren’t we in your favorite playground right now? Have a little fun!”

Before I can protest, Lily grabs it from me.

I think the guy manning the booth is going to have a coronary watching the two of them fasten each other with strap-ons. In fact, pretty much every guy in the general vicinity has stopped what they’re doing to watch.

“You really can’t take Violet anywhere, can you?” Poppy asks with a smile on her still-red face.

“Not really, but she’s definitely entertaining.”

As soon as Violet has Lily’s strap-on in place, they have a dick sword fight, which draws more attention—the kind where people take pictures on the sly that are for sure going to end up on social media.

I drag Vi behind a display of dildos suctioned to the wall, and Poppy does the same with Lily.