Page 5

Bryce knew what was going on, but she’d never say anything because Megan had only told her in confidence that she was in love with Kelsey and had been since they’d all become friends five years prior. It wasn’t just that Megan was in love with her. It was also that Kelsey was straight, and about an hour ago, a guy had bought her a drink, and they’d ended up dancing in front of Megan. Not the junior high school kind of dancing, either. He’d had his hands all over her, and she’d grinded against him. Bryce had tried to distract Megan, but she couldn’t exactly fault Kelsey because the woman had no idea that Megan loved her. Even if she did, though, it wasn’t like Kelsey could control the fact that she wasn’t attracted to women.

“Sean, you ready?” Megan asked.

“Let’s go,” Sean said.

Bryce also assumed she knew whatthatwas about. She had dated Sean for close to two years three years ago. They’d both been hanging on to something that wasn’t meant to be because they genuinely cared for one another, but they weren’t all that compatible in bed, and that had led them to stop having regular sex too early on in their relationship. Afraid they’d lose each other, neither had said anything until nearly two years had passed, and people had started to wonder why they hadn’t even moved in together yet. When it had ended, they’d been determined to remain friends, and things had been fine ever since, with the exception of when Bryce went on dates or showed interest in other women. She hadn’t talked to Sean about it because it wasn’t really worth it; none of Bryce’s relationships had gone far enough for it to matter. But when thatdidhappen one day, Sean would have to get on board because they were clearly not meant to be together, and Bryce wanted to be happy. She wanted Sean to be happy, too, and not give her glares like that just because Bryce was talking to an attractive woman, causing her to have to explain herself to said attractive woman should she notice.

“It was nice to meet you,” Sophie said to Sean before she turned to nod at Megan.

“You too,” Megan replied with her patented, easy, soft smile.

“Yeah,” Sean added and walked around the table toward Megan. “Let’s go.”

“I just got you a beer because I realized when I got to the bar that I have no idea what you drink,” Jill said as she placed a bottle onto the table in front of Sophie.

“Thank you. This is fine,” Sophie replied.

“So, Kelsey, where are you all from?” Jill asked.

“Tennessee, technically. But I grew up in Michigan.”

“Tennessee?”

Bryce turned to Sophie, who was looking at her, askingherthat question.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I moved there for school and ended up sticking around; kind of like you, I guess.”

Sophie nodded and took a drink of her beer.

“Do you want–” Bryce stopped herself and glanced over at Jill and Kelsey, who were talking now. “I mean, do you want to…”

“Talk?” Sophie asked, helping her along.

“Yeah, talk,” she said. “I think there’s an upstairs here.”

“There is,” Sophie confirmed. “It’s usually not as busy as the downstairs because most people are too drunk to notice the stairs.”

Bryce chuckled and asked, “Do you want to go up there?”

“Yes,” Sophie replied with a nod.

“Hey, Kels?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re going upstairs. You okay here?” Bryce asked.

“Yeah,” her friend replied.

“Jill?” Sophie checked, too.

“I’m good. You go,” Jill replied.

Bryce picked up her drink and motioned for Sophie to go first. As they started walking, she couldn’t help herself and placed her hand on the small of Sophie’s back, guiding her, despite the fact that of the two of them, Sophie was the one who actually knew where she was going, while Bryce had only seen a balcony from outside, so she’d justassumedthat there was an upstairs. Sophie didn’t push her hand away, but as they started making their way through the now-dense crowd, Bryce had to pull it away herself because there wasn’t enough room for them to walk side by side. When she then glanced down, to her surprise, she found Sophie’s hand extended behind her, as if Sophie had done this with her a thousand times before. Brycetook the hand and let Sophie guide her through the thick crowd, up a skinny staircase that was sticky with spilled alcohol, and around a corner until they were on the second floor.

Having arrived there, Bryce expected Sophie to drop her hand, but she didn’t. Instead, she just pulled Bryce along around another corner. The entire upstairs was a wide-open space with very few tables and chairs in one section. Where Sophie had pulled them, though, there were two comfortable chairs and a sofa. The chairs were occupied, but the small sofa was miraculously empty.

“Here?” Sophie asked.