Page 16
Story: April (New Orleans #4)
L inden’s bed was smaller than Asher’s, or at least, it certainly felt that way for some reason. She knew they both had queen beds, so it made no sense, but there didn’t seem to be enough space for them both to be in this bed and not touch one another in some way. During sleep, Linden’s hand had ended up draped over Asher’s thigh, and she had woken up to discover it like that when Asher had shifted. Linden had moved and tried to get all the way to the edge of the bed to avoid it happening again, but when she’d woken up a second time around four, she discovered that she’d rolled onto her side, facing Asher, and her hand had been resting on Asher’s hip. Linden had rolled onto her back then and kept her hands at her sides in tight fists, falling back to sleep reluctantly until she’d woken with her alarm.
“Morning,” Asher said groggily.
“Good morning,” she replied, turning to see that Asher was staring at her, offering her a tired smile.
“Need another hour or two?”
“At least. I feel like I haven’t slept in days.”
“That’s my fault,” Linden replied, rolling over to face her. “How about I get breakfast started, and you get some more sleep? I’ll wake you up in thirty.”
“That’s not fair. You need sleep, too.”
“I’m okay,” she lied and smiled. “Just close your eyes, and I’ll have pancakes ready before you know it.”
“Well, if you insist,” Asher said and closed her eyes.
Linden smiled at her again and rolled away. She found herself in her own kitchen a few minutes later, with a bag of whole wheat flour in front of her, along with the other ingredients she would need to make breakfast. Pancakes from scratch weren’t difficult. She’d made them for Asher a few times over the years, and it made her feel like she was doing something nice for her friend whenever she did. Her mom had made her pancakes from scratch every Sunday morning when Linden was a kid, and as she had gotten older, they’d made them together. Now, when she visited, Linden would sometimes make them for her mom, giving her a break after all these years.
She dropped the pancake batter into the pan with a ladle, making sure not to splatter all over the place, and while it sizzled in the pan, she pulled out the bottles of orange juice and maple syrup she had gotten the night before. Then, she started the coffee, which wasn’t Asher’s favorite blend but would have to do, poured them two glasses of juice, went back to flip the pancake, and then put the syrup in the microwave to warm it up. When she pulled the first pancake out of the pan, she added another ladle full of batter and set the ready pancake on a plate, shoving it in the microwave without turning it on just to keep it warm. The whole thing took about twenty minutes before she had the coffee, juice, and enough pancakes for both of them on the plate. Having set the table, Linden decided that she would make them some bacon, too, knowing exactly what would happen the moment the bacon hit the pan.
“Do I smell bacon?” Asher asked as she walked into the room with Linden’s clothes on.
“You do. I thought I would make some. Of course, you only eat healthy food, so it’s not for you.”
“Shut up,” Asher said with a laugh. “I’ll just have one piece. I’ve skipped my workouts this week.”
“You do not need to work out.”
“I don’t need bacon, either,” Asher replied. “You did a whole thing…” She looked at the small, round table in the eat-in kitchen.
“Just juice and coffee.”
“And a whole breakfast.”
“I figured, since we don’t have any client meetings today, we can actually enjoy breakfast.”
“Looks delicious,” Asher noted, looking down at the pan of bacon that was nearly done.
“It is. You should have more than one piece,” Linden suggested.
Asher shook her head and said, “We should eat quickly. I need to get home and change before heading in.”
“Just wear something of mine.”
Linden removed the bacon from the pan and placed it on a paper towel to soak up the grease.
“I can’t wear something of yours.”
“Why not?”
“We’re not the same size.”
“We’re not that far off. You can wear it for one day.” Linden placed the bacon plate on the table and added, “And you’re eating three pieces and at least two pancakes.”
“You and I don’t exactly have the same style,” Asher said.
“True. You could buy everything in my closet for what it costs you to buy one dress.” Linden smirked and sat down.
Asher sat across from her and said, “And your clothes are… different.”
“Different, huh?”
“Yeah. You have those clothes that have swagger.”
“My clothes have swagger?” Linden asked with a laugh while she forked a pancake and placed it on Asher’s plate.
“You have swagger when you wear them. I wouldn’t be able to pull that off.”
“No one is asking you to have swagger. It’s just a pair of pants and a shirt.”
“But you always look so good in them. People will think I look weird.” Asher shook her head.
“No one is going to think you look weird, but if you want to go to your place, we can. Just don’t take ten years to put on your makeup.”
“When have I ever taken ten years to put it on? And I only really wear makeup when I’m at a wedding. Usually, it’s a little concealer, mascara, and some lipstick. Ten minutes, tops. I’ll just have to pull my hair back today and not do the whole thing.”
“Bacon?” Linden offered.
“One,” Asher said, holding up her finger.
Linden put a piece of bacon on Asher’s plate and passed her the syrup.
“You warmed this up?”
“You like it warm,” Linden said.
“I do, yeah,” Asher replied with a smile.
Linden cleared her throat and put two pancakes and a few pieces of bacon on her plate.
“So, what are you doing tonight?” she asked.
“No way. I can not go out again,” Asher told her. “I’m staying home with a book or something and going to sleep by nine, like a reasonable person.”
“I didn’t mean go out. I was just curious.”
“Are you going out?”
Linden shook her head and replied, “I don’t have any plans. That’s why I was asking you.”
“Oh. Well, you should do whatever you want. I’m ready to be boring tonight.”
“Want company? I can be boring,” Linden offered.
“Isn’t Bryce here?”
“Yeah, she got in last night. Why?”
“You two got close, I thought.”
“Yeah, she’s cool. We’ve texted a bunch.”
Linden took a sip of her coffee.
“You’re not hanging out with her?”
“I think she and Sophie will be doing a lot of hanging out alone ,” she replied before she took a bite of the crunchy bacon. “They are coming to lunch, though. Bryce wants me to run an errand with her. Some surprise for Sophie. We’re going to Mac’s to eat. I told her I’d see if you’d come, too, so you can stay with Sophie and distract her.”
“I’m the distraction?”
“Only if you can. If not, we’ll just ask Jill to come or something.”
“Oh. Right,” Asher said and took a bite of her pancake, chewing it for a moment. “Sure. I can be there.”
“Cool,” she said. “How’s the pancake?”
“Delicious. Thank you,” Asher said with a smile.
“And the bacon?”
Asher picked up the bacon, made a point to chomp down on it ungracefully, and said, “Also delicious.”
“See?” Linden laughed. “Unhealthy food is amazing.”
“You’re a bad influence on me,” Asher replied as she finished the bacon.
“Probably,” she said with a shoulder shrug. “So, dinner tonight? We can order in. I’ll be boring with you.”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Oh. Okay. If you really want to be alone…”
“It’s not that. I…” Asher sighed and added, “Can I just get back to you?”
“Sure,” Linden replied and took a drink of her orange juice before she decided to ask, “Do you think you might have a date tonight or something?”
“A date? No.”
“Oh. I thought maybe you’d decided to message someone.”
“No. I’ve been with you the whole time. When would I have done that?”
“You said you weren’t sure about the app.”
“I’m not.”
“But you didn’t say that you were deleting it, so it was a possibility that you’d message someone or that someone would message you.”
“Well, I haven’t messaged anyone.”
“Okay,” Linden said, and she was about to drop it, but she watched as Asher’s eyes moved away. “Someone messaged you , though, didn’t they?”
“Yes,” Asher admitted.
Linden placed the juice glass down, picked up her fork and knife, sliced into her pancakes, and took a huge bite.
“She’s really cute too,” Asher added.
“Cute?” Linden asked while chewing, not caring about manners right now.
“Well, like, sexy cute.”
“Sexy cute?” The food was starting to not sit well with Linden all of a sudden, so she lifted her coffee to her lips and took a long drink to push it down.
“Yeah. She’s got short brown hair that she has slicked back a little in her profile pic and these hazel eyes.”
“I see,” Linden said, taking another bite of a pancake.
“And she’s only thirty. I’m surprised she reached out to me. But, Linden, she’s a model.”
Linden nearly choked but used her juice as a good cover.
“She’s a…”
“Model, yeah.”
“Like, for those weekly free coupon things we get in the mail?” she asked.
“No, like she lives in LA and does some runway work.”
“Sorry? She lives in LA?”
“Yes. She’s in town for a few weeks for some photo shoots,” Asher shared. “She actually messaged me yesterday, but I didn’t reply because of the whole Cindy thing, then the Gavin thing, and then you and I were hanging out.”
“She’s a model?” she asked, needing to repeat it. “Can I see her picture? Maybe I’d recognize her.”
“She’s got some Dior contract and works with Gucci, too.”
“She does what?” Linden asked, surprised.
Asher passed her the phone then, and the piece of bacon Linden had just put into her mouth fell to the plate.
“This is Stephania.”
“Yeah,” Asher said.
“ The Stephania. She doesn’t have a last name.”
“I’m sure she does. She just doesn’t use it professionally.”
“Asher, she’s not just a model; she’s a supermodel . She’s a queer supermodel.”
“I know.”
“And you weren’t going to tell me this?” she asked as she scrolled through the photos that were clearly taken by professional photographers.
“It’s not really her,” Asher replied. “I’m sure it’s just someone using her name and info.”
“Probably. But you never know with these things. A lot of celebrities are on dating apps now.”
“Don’t they have their own rich, famous people app for that?”
“Maybe. But Stephania only started to get really famous recently. She has that androgyny thing that’s really in now. She did some small stuff and has been around for a while, but she hit supermodel status late for a model.”
“I’m sure it’s not her,” Asher said.
“But if it is, that could be cool, right? And you weren’t going to tell me about this? Really?”
“I wasn’t going to message her back. Honestly, at first, I didn’t even know who she was. I thought she was beautiful, obviously, but I was busy and not thinking about giving the app another shot when it came in, so I didn’t pay attention. Then, I checked the message again this morning when I woke up and you were cooking, and I realized who she was.”
“A supermodel wants to go out with you.”
“She just asked to talk if I was interested.”
“But she’s only here for a few weeks.”
“Yes, that’s what she said,” Asher replied and took a bite of her pancake. “I’m not going to go out with her.”
“Why not?”
“Linden, she’s only here for a few weeks. I don’t want to go on a couple of dates with someone, like them, and have them leave right after, before we can get started. And I don’t want to just have sex with her.” Asher paused. “It would be my first time with a woman. I don’t want it to be with someone I’d never see again.”
“But she’s Stephania,” Linden said, holding up Asher’s phone.
“Do you want to go out with her? I can give her your info.”
“I’d love to meet her, but no, I don’t want to go out with her. She’s obviously a top.”
“She is?”
“Well, she might like to switch it up, like me, but based on the few interviews I’ve seen with her, she’s more like me than I want in the bedroom, if you know what I mean.”
“She’s hot, though, right?” Asher asked.
“Of course, she’s hot. She’s a fucking supermodel, Ash.” Linden chuckled. Then, she got serious again. “You always doubt your beauty.”
“Huh?” Asher took a sip of her coffee.
“You always doubt how beautiful you are.” She passed Asher’s phone back. “But a supermodel wants to go out with you.”
“She wants to talk,” Asher said.
“On a dating app. She doesn’t just want to talk. She sees something she likes. She wants to message and maybe meet up with you for a date, Asher.” Linden swallowed and added, “You should go.”
“I told you that–”
“I know you don’t see it going anywhere. I’m not telling you to sleep with her or anything. But you should let her wine and dine you how I’m sure she will. Think of it as a dating experience with a woman. Besides, you would get to brag to everyone that you went on a date with Stephania.”
“How is she even on this app?” Asher asked. “She must get a ton of messages.”
“She probably has the incoming message feature turned off,” Linden suggested.
“ That’s an option?” Asher asked, looking surprised.
“Yeah. Did I not tell you that?”
“You said I didn’t have to accept a message.”
“Oh, yeah. You can just turn that off.”
“A woman messaged me the first day, asking if I wanted to go out with her. She told me she’d bring her pet iguana named Dave and asked if that would be a problem.” Asher lifted an eyebrow at her. “She said he’d eat with us, Linden. Like, sit on the table with us while we ate, and he would be eating, too. You’re telling me that I could’ve avoided reading that message? There was a picture of this woman with Dave.”
Linden burst out laughing and said, “That’s hilarious. Show me that message. I want to meet Dave.”
“Good. I’m going to give this woman your number. She can call you and arrange it.”
“What? No.” Linden laughed again and took Asher’s phone back when Asher found her the picture.
They laughed for a few minutes while they ate the rest of their breakfast, and Linden looked up every so often to watch Asher glance over at her phone, which was now on the table. She hadn’t gotten any notifications, so Linden assumed Asher was looking at it and thinking about the supermodel who had asked to talk to her. As much as Linden was excited for her friend maybe meeting a supermodel, she also couldn’t help but wish that she’d never put Asher on this damn app to begin with.
“So, my place?” Asher asked when they finished eating.
“Yeah. Just let me put the dishes away,” she replied.
“You still need to get dressed. I will do the dishes. You cooked. Go get dressed, and we can go.”
Asher stood and took their plates into the kitchen.
Linden walked into her bedroom and thought about the fact that she’d given up a sure thing two nights in a row. She hadn’t messaged another woman or replied to any messages to set up a date in the past couple of days, either.