Page 24

B ryce Wilburn : Yes, I set you up with Asher. You are clearly into her, and her leaving is messing with you. Get mad at me, if you want, but I asked Mel to help because I think you need this. Tell her, Linden.

She stared down at the unsolicited text message from her meddling friend. Then, she locked her phone and looked up at Asher, who was staring at her.

“Bryce got Melinda to do it,” she said in explanation. “Our friends are assholes, I think.”

Asher didn’t laugh, though.

“Hey, at least we didn’t get stood up,” Linden added. “So, that’s good news. And I can make Bryce Venmo me for anything we eat tonight, so we should order half the menu.”

Asher still didn’t laugh. Linden wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t like she ’d planned this. Was Asher pissed off that she didn’t have a date, after all? Was she wondering why Bryce and Melinda had done this? Had she figured out that Linden had feelings for her? What was Linden supposed to do now?

“Or, we can just go,” she suggested. “I know you have Stephania waiting. I could use a night on my own, anyway.”

“Hi there. I’m Daphne. Can I get you started with something to drink, or are we ready to order?” the waitress spoke, but Linden was still staring wide-eyed at Asher.

“Ash?” she asked.

“Order,” Asher replied.

It was one word, but at least it meant that they weren’t just going to pretend like their friends hadn’t set them up on a date.

“Can I get a beer? Abita or whatever you have on tap.”

“Of course,” Daphne replied. “Are we ready to order, or do we need a little more time?”

Linden had checked the menu while she’d been waiting on her date at her very own table, so she knew what she wanted, but she wasn’t sure about Asher. Meeting Asher’s eyes, she received a small nod from her, and Asher gave the waitress her order. Linden ordered as well, and the woman walked off, leaving them to sit across from each other at this table, staring at one another again.

Linden swallowed. She could really use that beer right about now. She reached for the glass of sparkling water that looked like it hadn’t been touched, took a big gulp of it, set it back down, and refilled it from the bottle next to it.

“Bryce can pay for that, too,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

“I need to text her. One second.”

“Bryce? I was just going to yell at her in person when I saw her next.”

“No, Stephania,” Asher said, returning her attention to her phone. “She was going to go out regardless, so I need to let her know not to wait for me.”

“Tell her to go to Jones’ Bar,” Linden suggested. “If she’s looking for low-key and jazz, that’s a good one, and it’s not in the Quarter.”

“Okay,” Asher replied without looking up.

Linden just watched her type, trying not to think about the fact that this woman was pretty much her everything. She hadn’t realized it until the moment she found out that Asher was moving, but she knew it was true now. Asher Hahn had been her best friend and co-worker for so long that Linden couldn’t remember her life without her. Even thinking back to her college years at LSU, it felt as if Asher had been there with her, living in the dorm room next door or showing up at the frat parties Linden had gone to her freshman year. She could see Asher opening and closing a locker next to hers in her high school, despite the fact that they hadn’t met until they were in their twenties and out of both high school and college. If Linden thought hard, though, she could even see Asher on the playground with her as kids, but none of that was real. Real was right in front of her, and it was about to move to Dallas, Texas.

“I won’t yell at Bryce,” Asher said. “But I do plan on making her pay for this dinner.”

Linden smiled. Maybe they’d be okay, after all. Maybe Asher wouldn’t ask her why Bryce and Melinda would do this to them. But when Asher smiled back at her, it didn’t reach her eyes. Linden tried not to worry and looked around the restaurant.

“Shit. I just left my table. I bet the server is wondering if I’m coming back. Can you give me a second?”

Asher nodded, and Linden stood quickly. She headed toward the back of the restaurant, pulled out her phone as she went, and found Bryce in her contacts.

“I’m going to kill you,” she said.

“Why are you calling me? You should be with Asher.”

“You can’t just set two friends up on a date. There are consequences, Bryce. It’s awkward now.”

“Why is it awkward?”

“Because Ash is wondering why you would do this. She probably thinks I like her.”

“You do like her. You more than like her,” Bryce said.

“But I didn’t want her to know that.”

“Why not? Why not, Linden? Don’t do this. Don’t be stupid. Tell Asher how you feel. The worst thing that’s going to happen is that she says that she doesn’t feel the same way, and in a few months, she moves, and you can try to move on . The best thing that happens is that she feels the same way and wants to try.”

“She’s moving. Even if she did feel the same way, why would she–”

“Linden, it’s Soph. Just tell the woman how you feel already. Please trust us.”

“Us? You’re in on this, too?” Linden asked.

“Of course, I am. Just go back to your table, or wherever Asher is, and talk to her.”

Linden sighed and said, “I can’t. I couldn’t stand how she’d look at me if I told her, and she doesn’t feel the same way.”

“Hi there. Has your other party arrived?” her original waiter asked when he noticed her standing by her table.

“I’ve got to go,” she said to Bryce and Sophie and hung up. “Um… Yeah. But they got a table, and I didn’t know, so I just wanted to tell you that you can give this one away.”

“Okay. Thank you,” he said.

Linden turned, saw that Asher’s back was turned to her, so she took a deep breath and walked back to their table.

“Hey,” she said. “All good.” She sat down and noticed that her beer had been placed in front of her seat, but Asher didn’t have a drink. “No wine?” she asked.

“No, I drove.”

“Maybe you can take me home, then. I took an Uber,” Linden said and took a sip.

“Linden, we should talk.”

“What about?” She played dumb.

“This.”

“This is Bryce being Bryce and Mel playing along,” she said as she set her glass back down. “They probably thought this would be funny.”

“It’s not.” Asher looked completely serious.

“I mean, it’s no date with supermodel Stephania, but it’s–”

“Stop,” Asher said.

Linden’s mouth closed, and she sat completely still.

“I’m not dating Stephania. I can’t keep repeating that, Linden.”

“It was a joke,” she said.

“It’s not funny, either.”

“Okay… Ash, I’m confused. I didn’t set us up. Why does it feel like you’re mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you. I’m–” Asher took a deep breath. “I like you.”

Linden scrunched her face up in confusion.

“Linden, I like you.”

“O-k-a-y. I like you, too.”

She swallowed because she had to be reading this the wrong way. Of course, Asher liked her. They were friends. And if she allowed herself to think that Asher could like her as more than a friend and she misread it, she’d get that look from Asher that would devastate her.

“Linden, I…” Asher looked down at the table, and that was when Linden knew.

“You… Like me?”

Without looking up, Asher nodded. Linden opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Still, she knew she needed to be brave here. She owed at least that to Asher. Ever since she’d learned that Asher was leaving, Linden had been kind of a jerk to her, and Asher deserved to know why.

“Ash, I like you, too. Why do you think I’ve been acting like a jealous teenager about Stephania?”

Asher looked up and asked, “You like me, too?”

“I think when you’ve been friends as long as we have, we slip right past like , don’t we?” Linden replied with a smile. “Bryce did this because, during our lunch, I told her that I’d realized it.”

“Realized what?”

“Asher, you were straight. I’d had a crush on you ten years ago, and I’d had no hope because of that and because I hadn’t been out and hadn’t planned on changing that anytime soon. When I did finally come out, you were still very much straight, and I wanted to explore this part of myself that I’d been holding in for so long. I didn’t allow myself to think of you in that way because it would’ve only ended up hurting me.”

“When I saw you and Jill kiss on that dance floor…” Asher began but offered nothing else.

“What about–” Linden stopped herself. “Was that when you knew?”

Asher nodded and said, “I wanted to vomit, Linden. I had to get out of there, and I’d just been at that wedding with that miserable bride. I knew I at least needed to end things with Gavin, but I couldn’t tell you because it’s still so new. Everything I’ve realized recently has just been hidden there, really, but it still feels so new. I didn’t think you’d even take me seriously if I told you.”

“I would have,” Linden replied as she leaned over the table. “Ash, I would have.”

“When was it for you, really? I get the crush back then, but why now?”

“Because you’re a possibility now,” she replied honestly and smiled. “God, Asher, you’re dating women now. I never thought that would happen. And I’ve been trying to be supportive, but I’ve been really jealous. Then, that stupid Stephania turns out to be real and not someone pretending, and I knew I’d never be able to compete with a famous model.”

“Linden, there’s no competition,” Asher told her. “It’s not you versus anyone else. It’s you.” She held her hand up. “And everyone else.” She lowered it, demonstrating that Linden was above everyone in her mind.

“What do we do?” Linden asked, shaking her head with a smile.

“I don’t know,” Asher said, leaning over the table now. “This isn’t anything I expected.”

“Thank Bryce and Mel for that,” Linden noted.

“Linden?”

“Yes?”

“Are you still in that phase where you want to meet a lot of women?”

Linden shook her head and said, “No. I’ve been growing tired of it for a while now, but ever since you told me about wanting to date women, I… I’ve been done.”

“There hasn’t been anyone else since?” Asher asked.

Linden leaned back, wishing she would have left sure thing’s apartment sooner, and said, “Technically, no.”

“Oh.” Asher’s face fell, and she leaned back, too. “Not sure what that means, but–”

“Asher, it was that woman I left to be with you when you got stood up. She… touched me. Her hand went–”

“I don’t need details,” Asher said. “You’re allowed to do whatever you want with–”

“I pulled her hand out, and I ran to you , Asher. She was naked and more than ready, but when I got your text, all I could think about was you ; that you needed me and that I wanted to be there with you , not in her apartment.”

“You gave up your sure thing for me,” Asher said softly.

“I’d give up everything for you,” Linden replied. “That was true before I knew how I felt, and it’s still true now.”

Asher smiled and said, “I want to delete that stupid app, Linden. The reason my date with Stephania wasn’t much of a date was that I kept talking about you, and she picked up on it. She saw right through me. We spent the rest of our time talking about how I should tell you how I felt, about her ex-girlfriend and how she wished she would’ve handled things differently, and we realized that we’d be better off as friends. We only exchanged numbers because she wanted an update on me and you. She encouraged me to tell you how I felt.”

“I guess this Stephania is okay, after all,” Linden noted.

Asher smiled and said, “She’s very nice, and you should meet her.”

“Later. Busy now,” she said as she leaned forward again. “Ash, can I hold your hand?”

“You hold my hand all the time and never ask permission,” Asher pointed out.

“This is different,” Linden said, placing her own hand palm up on the table between them. “This is me asking to hold your hand as my date, not just a friend I’m pulling through a crowd to get to the car we’ve ordered.”

Asher looked down at her hand, and Linden worried when a beat went by without Asher placing her hand on top of it. She almost went to pull it back and tried to think about how she could quickly come back from this if Asher decided that she didn’t want to try whatever was clearly happening between them. Finally, Asher’s hand slipped into her own, and Linden closed her eyes for a second at the softness of her skin pressed to her own. She only opened them back to see Asher doing likely the same thing, and she turned her hand until she could entwine their fingers and continue to stare at their joined hands. She couldn’t believe she was sitting at a nice restaurant with her best friend across from her, and they were holding hands.

“What do you want to do now?” Asher asked.

“Go for a walk in the Square, like we always do,” she answered without thinking.

“Should we eat first, maybe?” Asher suggested. “We did order already.”

“Oh, definitely. Bryce is picking up the tab.”

For the first time that night, Asher laughed, and Linden couldn’t stop her smile because she really did love that damn laugh and the woman it came with.

“Here we go.”

Linden looked up, seeing Daphne holding their entrée plates and waiting for them to move so that she could put them down. Linden didn’t want to separate their hands, but they’d need them to eat, so she gave Asher’s hand a squeeze that she hoped told her that they’d be holding hands again soon and let go.

“Can we order something else?” she asked Daphne.

“Of course.”

“I’d like to get the filet and shrimp with the tzatziki sauce to-go, and my date would like…”

Asher smiled and shook her head.

“Two of those, then,” Linden added. “Medium for both. Extra sauce on the side would be great.”

“Get the dill sauce, too,” Asher suggested.

“Oh, yeah. Can I get extra dill sauce on the side, too? You can charge me for it.”

Daphne nodded and left them alone.

“I cannot wait to send Bryce the bill,” Linden said.