“S o, how does it feel to be back?” Linden asked.

“God, it’s good. I missed her so much. It hasn’t even been that long, but it’s like one night without her is too much,” Bryce said. “We were supposed to see each other right after Monica and Bridgette got engaged, but they wanted me in LA, and Sophie told me to go.”

“Can you believe that Kyle and Melinda are engaged, too, now?”

“Yeah,” Bryce said with a laugh. “I’m only surprised that Bridgette and Monica beat them to it because Kyle and Mel met first, technically. It’s good, though. It makes me wish that Sophie and I wouldn’t have gotten separated that night. We could’ve been engaged soon, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I knew it that night, too.”

“Okay, but did you, really?” Linden asked.

They’d left the restaurant and were walking toward the art gallery, where Bryce had to pick something up for Sophie.

“Did I really what? Believe that she’s the one for me?”

“Yeah. That night, you just met her and knew?”

“Yes,” Bryce said with a nod.

“But how? You didn’t even know her.”

“I just saw her and knew. Then, I held her, too, and I knew. And when I kissed her, it was just like, yes, this is it; this is all I want forever,” Bryce said, sounding wistful.

“But that just makes it a really good kiss, right? Maybe the best first date ever, but not a relationship.”

“I don’t know how to describe it.”

“You better. You’re writing a script about it.”

“I think, if you’ve never felt it, it’s probably hard to understand or imagine that it can be real.”

“Love at first sight?”

“Yeah. It’s like… I’ve never been struck by lightning, for example, so I can imagine a little about how it might feel, but I’ll never really know unless it happens to me. I assume that it’s never happened to you, which is why you’re asking.”

“I dated men for decades, so no.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you date men when you knew you were gay? Was it something with your family?”

“This will sound bad, but I wish,” Linden said. “I don’t, really, but no. We never talked about people being gay, straight, or anything else when I was growing up, but I never had any reason to believe they’d have a problem with me being gay.”

“But you still didn’t come out?”

Linden shook her head, and they turned the corner.

“I think part of it was something I had to accept about myself first. That took me a really long time. I kept trying to convince myself that I was bisexual or, really, anything but a lesbian, and as long as that was true, I didn’t need to tell anyone because I was dating men anyway.”

“I thought you knew that you were gay since you were a teenager.”

“I did, but I tried to tell myself that I wasn’t. I grew up here.” Linden motioned around. “Yes, parts of the city can be welcoming to gay tourists, but where I grew up, there were no gay people that I knew of. Like I said, we didn’t talk about it at home or anything, and no one at school was gay that I knew of, so I was scared when I was younger. After that, it just didn’t seem worth it.”

“But you were unhappy,” Bryce argued.

“I’ve been single a lot, and I was okay when that was the case. I have a great job. I’ve had the best best friend for the past decade or so, and I was good with that. I think I used to get into relationships with men because they would flirt or ask me out, and it seemed like something I should be doing, but I got to this point where I just couldn’t do it anymore. I knew I was gay. I just needed to admit it and be out. I started the process, and here I am.”

“And are you happier now?”

“Definitely,” Linden replied. “I’m no longer having sex with men.” She laughed.

“Women just do it better, don’t they?” Bryce laughed, too.

Linden didn’t actually know how to respond to that because, yes, sex with women was better for her, but she was gay, so that made a lot of sense. She’d also had a few orgasms, at least, with men over the years, and she’d had nights where the women she’d been with hadn’t been able to make her come. It was a mixed bag, really, and she didn’t think she had ever had that thing she imagined Bryce was talking about.

“With you and Sophie?”

“Yeah?”

“How is it?”

“The sex?”

“I don’t need details, obviously. I guess I want to know if it’s really different.”

“Different than what?”

“Different than how it is when it’s just with anyone.”

“Oh. You mean because I love her?”

“Yes. Is it really that different when you love someone?”

“Yes,” Bryce replied quickly. “I can’t describe it exactly, how different it is, and it’s not like I’ve been with a bunch of people, either, but being with Sophie is just amazing to me. We know each other in a way I’ve never had before. She gets me. I get her. I trust her in every way. I can tell her what I want or don’t want, and she won’t judge me or push me.”

“You two having some kind of kinky sex or something?” Linden joked.

“No,” Bryce said, laughing. “But that’s important, isn’t it? Feeling like you can tell the person you’re with what you want and not have them judge you. Sophie and I aren’t into anything crazy, but we match in that way, with what we want and don’t want. We also always talk when that’s not the case. We haven’t been together that long, but it works. What we have works, and I know I don’t want or need anyone else because it wouldn’t ever be this good.” Bryce paused then and turned to Linden, who was staring straight ahead. “What has you asking these questions?”

“No reason,” Linden lied.

Bryce laughed and said, “Oh, please. We’ve not been friends long, but we’ve never talked like this before. The last time you and I talked about sex was a week or so ago, right? You were telling me about some woman you met and took home.”

“Well, things have changed, I guess.”

“You mean with Asher,” Bryce stated more than asked.

“What about Asher?”

“She came out.”

“So?”

“So, your straight best friend just told you that she’s not straight. Are you trying to tell me you’ve never thought about going there?”

Linden smiled and said, “Ash and I aren’t like that.”

“Sure you’re not,” Bryce said, laughing. “We’re here.” She pointed to the open door of the gallery.

“Why did you get Sophie a painting?” Linden asked as they walked inside.

“Because I bought her one the last time I was here. This one is technically for my place, but I’m getting it as a surprise for her. It’s by the same artist. I asked the gallery owner to work it out for me, and the artist did the same painting I got for Soph in different colors, so it matches but doesn’t.”

“That’s cool, I guess,” Linden replied.

“I thought it would be a good way to show her that one day, they could sit on the same wall next to each other.”

“You mean when you move here?” Linden asked.

Bryce just smiled as they walked to the counter, and she proceeded to give her name to a waiting gallery employee to be able to collect the ordered piece.

As they waited, Linden thought about what Bryce had said earlier. She’d been fine with meeting women a few times a week, and if her night ended in sex, all the better, but she didn’t have the same feeling anymore as she watched Bryce pay for a painting she’d bought for the love of her life. That made her wonder if Bryce had been right. Did her changing feelings have anything to do with Asher coming out?

“Do you need to head back to the office?” Bryce asked when she was done. “I told Soph I’d pick up some beignets for her and then head to her place.”

“That’s fine. I’m okay on time,” she replied, wanting to delay going back to the office now because Asher would be there and would probably want to talk about the fact that a supermodel wanted to go out with her.

“Cool,” Bryce said, and with her holding a large bag with the wrapped painting in it, they started walking in the direction of Café Du Monde.

“What are your plans for the night?” Linden asked after a few moments of silence.

“Oh. Sex,” Bryce replied with a laugh. “All night, if I can get it. I got in really late last night after a long drive, so we just went to sleep.”

“Hey, I wonder if she’s here,” Linden said.

“Who? Soph?”

“No, the psychic woman.”

“Who?” Bryce repeated.

They arrived at Jackson Square, and Linden looked over to the spot where she’d seen the woman the first time.

“The other night, Ash and I were walking around, and while she went inside a store, I saw one of the psychics who work the Square at night.”

“You did a reading or something?”

“No. She just kind of walked up to me and told me to support Ash and said I should embrace it.”

“Embrace what?” Bryce asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t really understand her. Then, Ash walked out of the store, and we left.”

“I wonder if it’s the same lady,” Bryce said.

“What lady?”

“Soph ran into a psychic here who told her that things would work out between us. She told me about it on one of our late-night calls.”

“I doubt it’s the same one. They’re a dime a dozen out here.”

“But you didn’t pay for anything, right?”

“No.” Linden shook her head.

“Neither did Soph. The woman just said things to her but didn’t ask her for money.”

“That’s weird,” Linden noted.

“Yeah. What do you think she meant, though, by embracing it? What’s it ?” Bryce asked.

“She said my feelings,” Linden replied. “She knew my name, Bryce. And she knew Asher’s, too. I think we probably said them around her, and she overheard us, but I also don’t remember us saying them. So, unless she’s followed us all over the place, she wouldn’t have known.” Linden laughed. “It’s stupid, right? She just overheard us.”

“You don’t believe in psychics, do you?” Bryce asked.

“Not really, no. I grew up here. They just take money from tourists.”

“But what if she’s one who’s a real deal in the Square?” Bryce asked. “Sophie said it was weird, but the woman was right.”

“There’s nothing for her to be right about. Of course, I’m going to be there for Ash.”

“What about the embracing it part?”

“Well, that was generic.”

“Right.” Bryce chuckled, and they walked on.

“What?” Linden asked.

“Nothing. Soph told me Asher is dating.”

“She is.”

“On an app.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Why?”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I helped her create her profile. She got a message request from Stephania.”

“Who?”

“Stephania,” Linden said. “ The Stephania.”

Bryce shook her head, still not understanding.

“The supermodel, Bryce.”

“Oh. Asher got a request from a supermodel?”

“Yes.”

“But it’s not legit, right? Someone’s just catfishing her.”

“She told me right before you two walked in that she knows it’s her. But then, we went to lunch, so I don’t know anything else.”

“Damn. Asher’s hot. She’d look good with Stephania.”

“Hey!” Linden said, not knowing why.

“What?” Bryce asked. “Problem?”

Linden just looked toward the spot where she’d met the psychic.