“I should lie and tell them I’m a lesbian,” she said. “They don’t know what gray ace is anyway, probably.”

Which was true. Devi dated, enjoyed romance and hand-holding and all of the sweetness associated with being with another person, but so far, and possibly forever, sex was not on the table. She thought about it sometimes, she’d told me before, but had no intention of acting on it. The interest wasn’t there. Some boys would have probably understood that, but a lot of them were walking, talking boners, so Devi tended to date only among vetted, ace-safe spaces. Which meant a lot of online dating because New England wasn’t a bastion of love and acceptance for the asexual community.

Or really a lot of people. It’s pretty WASPy.

“No go on the lesbian-o,” I said. I sipped my wine and blinked, trying to focus my eyes. The buzz felt pretty good, and it helped me not see whenever Aaron drifted by, but it was a little disconcerting, too. I was looking at the world through a hazy film that dulled colors and made the layers upon layers of noise hard to sift through. “They’d just ask to watch.”

“True, and I love you, but you know, not feeling the sex thing, so.” She grinned. “In another life, we’d make great porn together, though.”

“Our theoretical porn is fantastic.”

We tapped our cups together and drank.

A burst of laughter from the kitchen caught our mutual attention. Despite over a hundred kids milling around from at least four towns, it was Samantha cackling. Again. She’d been performative all night, her new-girlfriend game strong. Aaron joked, she bray-laughed. She clung to his arm. She nuzzled at his neck. She practically dry-humped him every time he sat down. Aaron seemed to enjoy the attention for the most part, but every once in a while, I caught him glancing my way while she climbed all over him.

Like he currently was. He held Samantha close but eyed me over her head while she nibbled on his ear.

“I can’t tell if he’s pretending to be over you or if he’s asking you to save him,” Devi said. “She’s on him like white on rice.”

“I don’t care.”