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The flirty look on Reid’s face faded and she went a little pale.

She stared at me as if she’d never seen me before.

Tilting her head to the side a fraction, she kept looking at me. “Is that how you see me?”

We weren’t pretending to be on a date anymore.

“It’s all true, Reid. You have gorgeous eyes and an amazing smile.”

Then she did something completely unexpected. She blushed.

Reid Hayward blushed.

Her face didn’t go as violently red as mine did. Instead, her cheeks took on a soft pink color and she ducked her head and I was hit with an intense desire to kiss her. I couldn’t stop looking at her mouth as I nibbled on my own bottom lip.

“You can’t say things like that, Sophie,” she finally said.

“Why not?” I asked.

She looked up at me and cleared her throat before she leaned back.

“I mean, you can say things like that to a woman and I have no doubt you’ll get her asking for a second date.” We were back to pretending again.

I tried not to be disappointed.

The rest of my lesson with Reid was fine, but she had pulled back and wouldn’t meet my eyes again.

“Do you want to come to Sapph? I don’t really want to go there when I’m not working, but I think I could suck it up.” She made a face and I could tell it wasn’t something she wanted to do, and I couldn’t blame her at all.

“No, I’m a big girl. I might just go and see the lay of the land. Maybe… Maybe you could help me pick out what I might wear? In order to send signals that I’m available.”

Reid snorted. “Yeah, I can do that.” We had talked about style a little bit and she’d given me a rundown of celebrities and explained butch, soft butch, femme, high femme, and all the other varieties in between.

“A lot of people get stuck on labels and that works for some people, but I prefer a little more flexibility, you know? I feel more like a lazebian. Like, my style is as chill and whatever as possible. Not super femme, not super masc, just kind of in between and comfortable, you know?”

That made sense. Most of the time I saw her she was just wearing distressed jeans and a T-shirt that had seen better days. She looked good, though. It was a look that worked for her.

When I’d first come out, I’d kind of panicked about my wardrobe for at least a week. I’d wondered if I’d have to give up my some of my favorite things. Then Larison had talked with me and told me I didn’t need to do any of that, and I calmed down.

“Do you have time for that?” I asked. She’d been here a lot longer than I thought she would be.

“Yeah, I’ve got enough time. Show me what you got.” I’d put out the cookies and she’d eaten most of them.

“Okay,” I said and went to my bedroom. I pulled out a cute skirt and a top that went together. It was more of a casual look, but it was one of my favorites. Mostly because the skirt was super twirly and had shorts underneath so I didn’t have to worry about flashing my underwear.

I came out and did a little spin because that was what happened when I wore this outfit.

“Cute? Not cute?”

Reid leaned, her arms on her knees and stared at me.

“Reid?” She hadn’t said anything yet.

She blinked and looked up at me. “Uh yeah, it’s cute.” There was hesitation there.

“But?” I asked.

“I don’t know if it’s what you want to wear to Sapph. Do you have something that’s maybe more of an evening look? Something darker?”