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L inden peered into Asher’s office as Asher was staring down at her phone and appeared to be swiping consistently and giving a new facial expression every few seconds, which likely meant that she was looking through app profiles. Linden smiled softly, watching her friend do the same thing she did not all that long ago on her own path to self-discovery. When Asher made a particularly shocked face, Linden had to laugh silently to herself because that was really cute.

“What did you see there?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest in the doorway of Asher’s office.

“Oh,” Asher said and looked up, surprised. “Nothing.” She dropped her phone on her desk. “Just a client text.”

“Did someone have a scandalous profile pic?” Linden asked, not believing her lie.

“You caught me,” Asher replied, looking a bit sheepish as Linden walked into the room. “And she had hardly anything on; bra and panty set, and it was sort of see-through.”

“Yeah, you’ll have those,” she replied.

“This is crazy. I’m not ready for this, Linden,” Asher told her. “It’s too much. It’s too soon.”

“No one is making you do anything, Ash. If you don’t want to use the app, you don’t have to. You have a profile now. You can just leave it and see if anyone messages.”

“Someone already did,” Asher revealed. “That’s why I picked up the phone.”

Linden moved farther into Asher’s office until she was around her standing desk and holding Asher’s phone in her own hand, moving to the messages tab of the app.

“Shit. She’s hot.”

Linden clicked on the woman’s photo and went to her profile. Her name was Emily. The blurb said she was thirty-nine, gay, divorced, and looking for a connection. That was vague, which concerned Linden, but vague was how profiles worked. Getting people interested without divulging every detail was important.

“She’s pretty, yes,” Asher said. “She asked me if I would be interested in coffee.”

“Already? Not even a chat or anything before that?”

Linden continued to scroll through the profile, noticing there weren’t any mentions of dogs, which was a good thing for Asher. Emily was a curator at the World War II Museum. She had dark-rimmed glasses that made her look like a sexy librarian, which Linden could get behind.

“Do you want to?”

“Coffee? I don’t know,” Asher replied. “I haven’t even accepted the message to reply to her.”

“Well, don’t leave her hanging, Ash.” She handed Asher back the phone. “You can just tell her that you’d rather chat on the app for a bit first.”

“I thought you said I didn’t have to do anything. I could just wait and see.”

“That was before I knew you already had a message from sexy Emily,” Linden said and walked back around the desk. “I have to run. I’m meeting Jill. Are you sure you don’t want me to bring you back anything?”

“I’m okay,” Asher said, not looking up from her phone. “We’re supposed to be going to NOLA Guides at two-thirty to meet with Melinda.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. I have to drop Jill off after lunch anyway, so it works out. I’ll see you there?”

“Yes,” Asher said, still not looking up. “Do I just respond to her?”

“Ash, you can tell her that you’re not interested in anything, if you want. You also don’t have to reply at all. There’s no pressure. If you want to chat with her, message her back that you’re not ready for a meetup but you’d like to talk on the app first.”

“Right,” Asher said with a nod.

Linden smiled fondly at her friend and left the office. She needed to pick up Jill for their lunch date. Before Asher had texted her about breaking up with Gavin, Linden had been excited about the possibility of a date with Jill, trying to see if there was something between them. When Jill had replied, she’d still been excited, but now, Linden was more focused on Asher figuring out that she wasn’t straight and trying to meet women on a dating app. She wanted to stay in Asher’s office and not get any work done because they were scrolling through profiles and sending messages to women Asher found interesting, but this was Asher’s journey, and given the differences in their personalities, it would likely be completely different from her own.

◆◆◆

“I love this place,” Jill said once they were seated in a booth. “It’s one of the best dives that no one knows about.”

“You love dive food?” Linden asked.

“Yeah. Who doesn’t? New Orleans has some of the best hole-in-the-wall places with the most amazing food.”

“Great-grandma is in the back cooking it up, too,” she added.

“It’s the love, isn’t it? The love in the food just makes it taste better.”

Linden smiled at her and replied, “I think so, yes. Not sure what the award-winning chefs would say about that, but I’d eat here any day over the fancy places in town.”

“I wouldn’t mind dinner at a fancy place every now and then, though,” Jill said as she leaned over the table. “The portions are small, but the food is delicious and usually doesn’t come with all the grease that this place sends out on the plate.”

“But the grease is the best part,” Linden noted with a smile.

Jill chuckled and said, “So, your text was interesting.”

“My text asking you to lunch?”

“Yes. We’ve never gone to lunch.”

“I know,” Linden said.

“And we kissed the other night.”

“I was there,” Linden replied with a slight smirk.

“And now, we’re at lunch.”

“Yes.”

“Is this a date?”

“It’s a lunch date.”

“But it’s not a real date?”

“Do you want it to be a real date?”

“Are you this annoying all the time?” Jill asked with a straight face.

“Probably,” she said. “Most women find it endearing.”

“I’m not most women,” Jill replied with a pointed eyebrow, but her expression was playful. “So, this isn’t a test date situation where you’re trying to see if you want to ask me out for drinks or dinner or something?”

“Damn. You are straightforward, aren’t you?” Linden laughed.

“I’m nothing if not,” Jill replied.

When their waiter arrived, he didn’t even offer a greeting. This place wasn’t known for its service. Usually, the customers had to order at the counter, and they would be given a number and told to sit down. Their food would be brought out to them once it was ready. But during the dead times of day, the locals knew to sit, and someone would be out whenever they felt like it to take their order. Neither Linden nor Jill needed a menu, so they ordered quickly, and the waiter disappeared back behind the counter, leaving them alone.

“What do you talk about on a test date?” Jill asked.

“Don’t know. I’ve never really had one.”

“Oh, yes, you have. I bet you view all of your dates as test dates. Testing out your attraction to them, wondering if you’ll get sex out of it; thinking that if you don’t, you don’t have to spend money on a nice dinner.”

“Hey,” Linden said with a chuckle. “I’m not that bad.”

“I’m on your favorite app, too, Linden. I’ve seen that main profile pic. Everyone can tell what you’re about.”

“That’s the point, too, though: I’m not lying about it. I’m upfront.”

“About wanting a hookup?”

“Not always. I didn’t get to do this whole coming-out-in-college thing, and I haven’t had years of experience with women, even though I knew I was gay. I’m all pent-up and just looking for fun, but if I met someone who really turned my head in the direction of a relationship, I wouldn’t turn her away.”

“ I’m interested in a relationship,” Jill said. “I don’t want fun. I mean, yes, I want it to be fun, but I want that fun with one person.”

“I think that’s great.”

“But you’re interested in playing the field right now.”

“That didn’t seem to bother you when you kissed me the other night.”

“I was a little pent-up, too,” Jill said. “But it was just a kiss. We were dancing. It was hot.”

“Yes, it was,” Linden agreed, leaning over the table. “Do you want to maybe do it again?”

“Dance with you? Sure. Go out on a real date with you? I don’t think so, Linden.”

“Oh,” she replied.

She hadn’t been expecting that. They had been flirting, or so she thought, so she had expected Jill to say yes and for them to start planning their first real date.

“What you’re doing is cool. You’re exploring who you are and what you want. I think that’s great. I just want more than that.” Jill sighed. “I’ve watched Mel meet Kyle, and then Monica came to town, and Bridgette was all obsessed. Now, they’re engaged. I met Sophie, and she met Bryce, and now, they’re doing their long-distance thing, but we all know Bryce will move down here probably later this year or something. I want what they all have. I don’t mind kissing a few women until I get there, and I do miss having a night of hot sex every so often, but I don’t want that all the time, and I don’t want to be with someone who only wants that.”

“I just said that I didn’t–”

“We’re friends,” Jill interrupted. “We’re all friends, and we’ve formed this group that I love. Yes, it feels like I’m the third wheel, and then, the fifth wheel, and I didn’t even know that the seventh wheel existed, but I don’t want to mess it up. You and Asher are part of that group now, and I don’t know that I want to do anything to rock the boat.”

Linden nodded and said, “Fair enough.”

“If you want to make out on the dance floor from time to time until I find her, though, I wouldn’t be opposed,” Jill told her with a wink.

◆◆◆

“Hey, I’m back,” Jill said, walking into the back office.

“Great. Can you take the counter so that Jeff can go on break?” Melinda asked.

“Sure,” Jill replied before she turned to Linden, who was waiting behind her, and added, “Have fun in your meeting, and thanks for lunch.”

“No problem. We should do it again sometime,” Linden said.

“You’re getting your own fries next time, then. You stole more than half of mine.”

“You said you didn’t like the grease,” Linden said with a smile.

Jill rolled her eyes and walked toward the front counter of the NOLA Guides office, where she was one of the top tour guides. Over lunch, they had talked about Jill’s job, and Linden had been surprised to discover what she could make in a week if tips were good. Jill liked her job enough, but the money wasn’t anything to laugh about.

“Hey,” Linden said as she walked farther into the back office, finding Melinda and Asher leaning over the desk that was against the wall.

“Hi. How was lunch?” Melinda asked, looking up at her.

“Good. We had fun,” she said as she pulled up a chair next to Asher.

“You’re doing it again?” Asher asked without looking up. “Is that what I heard?”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess,” she said.

Asher’s phone was sitting on the desk, face up, and it pinged, earning Linden’s attention.

“Is it her?” Melinda asked, sounding excited.

When the screen lit up, Linden recognized the notification. She’d seen the same thing on her own phone about a thousand times.

“Message?” she asked.

“Asher reached out to Emily,” Melinda said. “They’ve been messaging for over an hour now.” She smiled and asked Asher, “What did she say?”

“I thought you…”

“I told her,” Asher replied. “I just didn’t want to make some big announcement when we were all together, but I don’t care if people know. People I trust, at least.”

“Hey, babe?” Kyle said, walking into the room. “Can I be dismissed?” She leaned down and kissed Melinda.

“Dismissed?” Linden asked.

“She sometimes helps with the tours if we have French speakers,” Melinda explained. “I make sure to tip her very well.” She winked at her girlfriend.

“I have an article to translate now, though,” Kyle said.

“She said yes,” Asher shared then.

Linden turned because she’d completely forgotten that they’d just been talking about Asher and this Emily woman.

“Yes to what?” she asked.

“A date.”

“You asked her out?” she asked, surprised. “I thought you were just going to talk to her.”

“Asked who out now?” Kyle asked.

“Emily.”

“Asher asked someone named Emily out on a date?”

“Asher is figuring some things out right now, babe,” Melinda replied, wrapping an arm around Kyle’s waist.

“Oh,” Kyle said and nodded. “Cool.”

“She said yes. She’s free tomorrow night,” Asher added.

“Tomorrow? What happened to taking things slow and no pressure?”

“A lot went down while you were at lunch,” Melinda said.

When Asher looked up and met Linden’s eyes, Linden saw confusion and concern there.

“You can say no,” she suggested.

“ I asked her ,” Asher replied.

“Make it for next week, then, not tomorrow, and you can always come up with some excuse to cancel if you need.”

“I don’t want to lie to her.”

“Do you want to go out with her?” Linden asked, feeling the weight of this question in her tone and not understanding why it felt so important.

“She seems nice,” Asher replied.

“She’s cute, too,” Melinda said.

“Can I see?” Kyle asked.

Without looking away from Linden, Asher passed her phone to Kyle.

“What do I do?” Asher asked her.

“Whatever you want, Ash. It’s up to you.”

“I’ve never been on a date with a woman.”

“Does she know that?’

“No. Should I tell her? Won’t she think that’s weird?”

“If she does, she’s probably not the right one for you,” Melinda offered.

“She is cute,” Kyle said as she handed the phone back to Asher.

“Linden?” Asher asked.

“Ash, it’s up to you. I’m sorry. I don’t know that I can help here. It’s your date.”

“Can you be there?”

“On your date ?”

“Yeah, just in case.”

“Like a safety thing?” Melinda asked.

Asher just nodded at Linden.

“We could all go,” Kyle offered. “Mel and I don’t have any plans tomorrow night. We could be there in solidarity.”

“Be where in solidarity?” Jill asked, walking in. “And can you break this for me? A guy wants one single tour for twenty bucks, but he paid in a hundred. I don’t have enough change out there. Who still pays in cash, anyway?”

“Sure,” Melinda said and went about opening the safe to make change for Jill.

“I might have a date tomorrow night,” Asher answered Jill’s earlier question.

“And you need these three to go on it with you?”

“It’s with a woman,” Asher replied.

Jill looked surprised but said nothing.

“Um… Don’t you have a boyfriend?” Kyle asked then, seemingly remembering it at the same time.

“Not anymore,” Asher replied.

“Cool,” Jill said. “I’m in, if the offer is open for us all to be there.”

“ All of you?” Asher asked.

“We’ll sit off to the side and pretend like we don’t know you,” Linden added, trying to help her clearly overwhelmed friend. “And you can work out a signal. Okay?”

Asher nodded slowly and swallowed. She was nervous, and Linden wasn’t sure that all of them being there, essentially spying on her first date with a woman, was a good idea, but if it was what Asher needed, she’d rally the troops, and they’d all show up for her.