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“You should talk to her,” Ellie announced as we were putting things away for the night.

“I don’t think she wants to talk to me.” Bren was sending me big red signals and I wanted to respect them.

“I still think you should talk to her. If you don’t, then you can’t figure it out. Maybe she needs a friend.”

Bren absolutely needed a friend, but was I the person to fill that role? Especially when I was hiding these other more intense and romantic and sexual feelings for her?

What a mess. What a sticky, messy mess.

I blew out a breath and risked a glance over at Bren. She was just standing in front of her table and staring straight ahead as if she had mentally checked out. Something was definitely wrong with her.

“Wish me luck,” I told Ellie as I crossed the short distance between me and Bren.

“Hey,” I said softly. “I know you’ve been avoiding me, but I was just curious why.”

My voice trembled a little as I spoke, and I didn’t miss that she flinched when she heard my voice.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and I took a deep breath. Shit. I wasn’t going to get through this.

“I just don’t…” she looked up at the ceiling and then glanced at me. “Fuck.”

The tears I’d been trying to hold back dripped down my cheeks and I hurried to brush them away. God, how embarrassing.

“I’m sorry. For whatever I did,” I said with my shaking voice. “Everything seemed fine and then today you look like you hate me.”

Bren reached out with both hands and then froze.

“I don’t hate you. I wish I did.” She whispered the last part.

“Why?” I’d missed something that had happened with her.

She opened her mouth to say something and then grabbed her phone instead. She typed out a message and then looked up at me.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Check your phone.” I’d had mine on silent all day.

There was a new message from Bibliofile.

Hey Honey Beait said.

“What?” I asked, looking up at Bren.

“I’m Bibliofile,” she said, but the words weren’t making sense to my reality.

“You can’t be Bibliofile.” That wasn’t possible.

“You can check my message log. Or send me a message back.”

I decided to do that.

Bren?

It’s meshe responded in the Bibliofile chat.

“How? I don’t…” I trailed off, at a complete loss for words.

“I know,” she said. “I have no idea how it happened, but I got that message you send Biblio last night and I knew. That was why I went to the bathroom. Because I flipped out a little. I’m sorry.”