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And now that’s exactly what they were doing.

Shit. She’d thought that a flirting midterm was a brilliant idea; that it would be a fun night, where Avery would try to flirt withher and she’d flirt back and give her critiques and that would be all. But now she was in much deeper than she’d planned to be.

And the worst part was, she wanted to stay right there.

“But I liked them both a lot, and it was a really fun night,” Avery continued. “It’s been a while…a long time, really, since I enjoyed a night out in a big group like that. It felt nice to be in a group where everyone was friends, everyone was relaxed with one another, no one was trying to, like, make an impression or one-up one another or edge someone else out of a circle. Sure, there was some interpersonal conflict and history that I could feel but didn’t know the details of, but it wasn’t a big deal.”

Now Taylor felt even more guilty for mentally being such a bitch about her friends on Tuesday night. Next time they all went out, she’d buy the first round, as an apology that none of them would ever know they were getting.

“Yeah, it’s a good group,” she said. “We’ve all been through a lot together, and we know one another really well. So even when people have little spats, it blows over quickly.”

Avery picked up her drink and took a sip.

“Yeah, it felt like that. Usually when I’ve been in a big group, it’s either for a work thing, where I’m organizing it or networking the whole time, or it was a party with Derek and his friends, where I never felt like I fit in, and I was always trying to be the perfect girlfriend or whatever.” She shook her head. “God, I can’t believe I stayed with him for so long.”

Taylor patted her knee. She let her hand linger there.

“That’s okay,” she said. “There’s no point in beating yourself up for it now; the important thing is that you figured it out, and you moved on.”

Avery smiled at her, long and slow.

“I definitely have moved on,” she said. She curled her thumb around Taylor’s. “And I’m feeling great about it.”

Taylor was feeling pretty great about it right now as well. She realized she’d been holding herself back from flirting with Avery—reallyflirting with Avery—for weeks now. And it felt so good to finally be able to flirt like hell with her. Finally, she got to caress her hand like this, lightly, so lightly, and think about touching her like that all over her body. Finally, she got to see that heavy-lidded look in her eyes that told Taylor that Avery was imagining how she’d touch her like that elsewhere. Finally, she got to let her glance linger on that red bra strap, and at the tiny hint of red lace she could see under Avery’s dress when she moved. Finally, she got to let the attraction she felt for Avery run free.

And if she was a good judge of women in general and Avery in particular—and she was—she was almost certain that Avery was just as attracted to her. She knew Avery was attracted to her; obviously she knew that, she’d known it for a long time. But there was a difference between being attracted to someone, in a general sense, and wanting to act on it. Did Avery want to act on this? Right now, in this second, Taylor thought she did.

She probably wouldn’t, though. Because Avery was smart, and acting on this attraction between the two of them wasn’t the smart thing to do. Plus, Avery’s whole thing was that she wanted to flirt in general, yes, but she also wanted to date women, plural, to sow her wild oats or whatever she’d said.

And Taylor couldn’t act on this. Even though right now, in this second, she really wanted to. She felt protective of Avery and how new she was to this. Taylor didn’t want to take advantage of her.

Also, by this time, she knew Avery well enough to know that if anything happened between the two of them, Avery would want too much, more than Taylor could give her. Taylor didn’t want tostart something she couldn’t finish, at least, not in the way Avery would want. That wouldn’t be fair to her.

And the bet! How could she forget, even briefly, about that fucking bet with Erica? Erica would be all smug and say,I told you so, about how Taylor couldn’t even make it a few months. And she absolutely did not want to organize a baby shower; what a nightmare that would be. She must be really getting carried away to forget about the bet. Absolutely nothing could happen tonight.

She had to change the subject, ask Avery about something different, something boring, so that she could still do this, but not make it quite as dangerous for herself.

“How’s the garden stuff going?”

Avery’s face lit up. Damn it. She looked too excited for this to tamp down Taylor’s roaring libido.

“It’s good! Beth and I are both having a lot of fun with it. One of us is at the garden almost every day, and we’re usually there at the same time at least twice a week, always on Sundays. This is so dorky, but we’re always texting each other pictures of what the garden looks like when one of us is there alone and updating the other one about our plants and stuff. Our first cherry tomatoes ripened this week, and it was so exciting. Even though we didn’t plant the tomato plants, we’ve taken care of them for a month, so they feel like ours. And, I don’t know, there’s something about being outside, smelling the plants and leaves, getting my hands in the dirt, but I always come home from the garden in such a good mood.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe that everyone who preaches about how great the outdoors is for your mental health is right. How depressing.”

Taylor laughed, and Avery laughed with her. Partly at what Avery said, but also because it felt really good to see Avery looking so happy. Taylor didn’t credit herself with this change in Avery; ofcourse it wasn’t because of her. In a way it might be because of their flirting lessons, but only because Avery had thrown herself into them and worked hard at opening herself up to people.

“I’m really proud of you,” Taylor said. Avery looked at her sideways, and Taylor squeezed her hand. “That seemed like it came out of nowhere, didn’t it? It’s just…you’ve come a long way. Not only with the flirting, with everything.”

Avery looked away for a moment, and Taylor wondered whether that had sounded condescending, if she’d crossed some sort of line. But then Avery looked back at her, and Taylor saw that her eyes were full of tears.

“Thank you,” she said. “That means a lot. I…I feel like that, too. I’ve been really trying to push myself out of my comfort zone, and it’s been hard, but good. I’m glad you can see it, too.”

“I definitely can,” Taylor said. “I hope—

“TWO VODKA CRANBERRIES. TWO. VODKA. CRANBERRIIIIIEEES.”

Taylor and Avery both turned and stared up at the man standing far too close to them and shouting far too loudly at the bartender. Taylor looked around to see that the bar was a lot more crowded than it was when they’d arrived. She leaned in closer to Avery.

“You want to get out of here?”