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“W hy did you do this?” Sean asked as she stared at her phone.

“Do what?”

Sean turned her phone to face her, showing Bryce her blog post.

“Oh. Well, you all didn’t seem to want to hear me talk about it anymore. You , in particular, didn’t want me to talk about it anymore.”

“So, you put it out there into the world like this?” Sean turned the phone back to herself and read from the blog, “I’ve never believed in love at first sight, but Sophie made my heart race, my toes tingle, my brain unable to form thoughts, and my mouth unable to say words at times. Is that love at first sight? It feels wonderful, confusing, terrifying, and exciting, and I miss it. I miss her. I miss my Sophie, who will never know that for one night, I was the happiest human on the planet. I still picture taking her to dinner, holding her hand as we walk the city at night, and I still look for her online almost daily.” Sean finished quoting Bryce’s own words to her and looked up at her. “You knew her for, like, three hours.”

“I knew in three seconds,” Bryce stated. “But you don’t believe me, so why are we even talking about this?”

“Bryce, we were together for two years,” Sean said. “I know you. I know you don’t believe in this crap.” She set the phone down on the table between them.

“And I said as much in the blog, in the very section you just read out loud to me.”

“Yet, spending just three hours a year ago, with some woman you barely even know, has you changing your mind?”

“Sean, leave it alone. I wrote it because I needed the outlet since you and Kelsey – and probably even Megan – are done listening to me, and my parents, whom I only just came out to, aren’t probably ready to hear the whole story. Thank God they don’t read my blog all that often.”

“They don’t understand what you do,” Sean replied. “But, Bry, you have to move on.”

“So you’ve said. And I will. I’m trying. This is part of it.” Bryce pointed at her phone. “Writing it down helped. I probably should’ve done that from the beginning since you haven’t exactly been supportive.”

“How would you feel if your ex-girlfriend, whom you had a life with for two years, started talking about how she’s never felt this way before? Two years, Bry… I know it was whatever in the end, but in the beginning, there was real love there, wasn’t there?”

Bryce didn’t want to hurt the woman because there had been real love between them. She just wasn’t sure she’d ever really been in love with Sean how she was with her.

“Sean, yes, we loved each other. I’m sorry; I don’t mean to hurt you with this. But it’s been over for three years. We were both bound to move on and find someone one day.”

“But you haven’t found anyone, Bry. You’ve had a hot make-out session in a bar, and you’re pretending like you’ve met the love of your life. You even say that in this blog: how could you possibly know that? But even still, it didn’t work out. She’s there. You’re here.”

“I thought about going back,” Bryce said.

“What?”

“To New Orleans. I’ve bought a ticket five times this year. Once, I canceled the flight right after I bought it. Twice, I waited until two days before the flight was scheduled to leave. The fourth time, I actually checked in, but I didn’t go to the airport. And the fifth time, I went all the way there and left before I got through security with my carry-on bag.”

“What? Why?”

“Why did I do it, or why did I not go?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Because every time, I’ve just talked myself out of it. Initially, I would tell myself that I didn’t even know where she was or how to find her, so I shouldn’t bother. Then, I’d tell myself that she’s not still thinking about me, so it would be awkward if we did see each other somehow. At the airport, I marched out of my Uber, through the glass doors, and straight to the security line where the TSA agent asked me for my boarding pass, and I just stood there, frozen.” Bryce shook her head. “That was two months ago. I turned around after I realized she was probably with someone else, and I’d just be getting in the way. Again, that’s assuming I could find her at all. I’d planned on camping out at that bar day and night after I found it until my flight back home. I thought if I just do that, and she never comes in, then that would be it, and I could actually move on, but I chickened out.”

“Bry…” Sean said softly.

“I have a date!” Megan flopped down into the booth beside Sean.

“What?” Bryce asked.

“I have a date, an actual date with a beautiful woman, and I am excited about it.”

“That’s great, Megs,” Sean said as she looked at Bryce with confusion.

While Megan had confirmed her feelings for Kelsey to Bryce, Bryce knew that Sean had long suspected that Megan at least liked Kelsey as more than just a friend.

“She’s really nice, too. We talked on the phone, and she asked me out.”

“You talked on the phone?” Bryce asked.

“Remember that dating profile Sean made for me last year? It’s just been sitting there since, and I haven’t checked the messages in months, but I was bored last night, so I finally opened the app and saw a woman had messaged me about a month ago and was interested in talking. The others were mostly interested in something else, so I decided to be brave and message her back. She was online, and we messaged for hours before she texted me, and we did that until midnight. Then, I called her, and we talked until four in the morning. She’s amazing,” Megan shared. “She asked me out before we both finally went to sleep, and I said yes.”

“That’s great, Megs.” Bryce smiled at her friend. “When are you going out with her?”

“Tonight. I need help getting ready. It’s been forever since I’ve gone on a date – a real date where I’m actually excited. Nights watching movies with Kels and falling asleep on the sofa together don’t count.”

Bryce’s eyes went wide at that. Sean’s did, too, though, so she wasn’t alone in hearing that very important piece of information for the first time.

“Sorry. What?” Sean said for the both of them.

“Yeah… I’m a glutton for punishment, huh?” Megan said. “Well, Bryce already knows, so you might as well know, too. But please don’t say anything to her. I don’t want things to be weird with us.”

“You’d have to actually tell me first, Megan,” Sean said.

“I’m in love with Kelsey. Have been forever,” Megan said with an acquired nonchalance in her tone and a shoulder shrug. “And she’s straight and uninterested. It’s been awful, honestly, but a few months ago, we started hanging out alone for the first time in a long time, and it was nice, being with her. As much as it hurt to not have them be actual dates, I hate it when I’m not with her, so I needed them, too. It’s hard to explain, but she invited me over to watch a movie, and we ordered in, and it was like, yes, this is what I want.”

“Kels likes guys, Megs,” Sean reminded.

“I know. And it’s not like I think anything is going to happen. Sometimes, though, when I’m there and it’s late, I just stay. We’ve fallen asleep on the sofa a few times, and once, she just told me to stay over, and we fell asleep in the bed. I realize she’s not at all interested in more, so I’m not getting my hopes up or anything, but it’s still nice.”

“But this new woman…” Bryce changed the subject, thinking she was going to kill Kelsey later.

“She’s great,” Megan replied with a smile. “I need help picking out what to wear, and I need you two to tell me what to do. What if she wants me to come inside? God, what if she doesn’t ? Does that mean the date wasn’t good?”

“Calm down,” Sean told her softly and then wrapped an arm around Megan’s shoulders. “We’ll help you. And no, it doesn’t mean that. If she asks you inside, assume it’s for a drink or to keep talking. Nothing more. If it goes there, and you want to go there, too, take it there. But if you don’t want to, or she doesn’t, you wait. Simple.”

“Says you . I’ve been in love with my straight best friend for years. No one has compared to Kels.”

“Damn,” Sean replied.

She’d likely not known how deep Megan’s feelings were for Kelsey, but Bryce had, so this wasn’t news to her.

“Megs, you’ll be fine. You are smart and beautiful, and clearly, she loves talking to you since you spent hours doing that last night. Just play it by ear, okay?” she chimed in.

“Yeah, okay,” Megan said unconvincingly. “Oh, I saw your blog, by the way. I can’t believe you put that out there.”

“Told ya,” Sean pointed out.

“You think it was a bad idea, too?” she asked.

“What? No. I think it’s sweet and romantic. I just meant that it was very brave of you to do that, to tell the world that story.”

“It’s really picking up, too. I’ve gotten a thousand new subscribers today alone.”

“What? Seriously?” Sean asked.

“Yeah. And it’s gotten more comments than probably the last year of food blogs combined.”

“That’s cool, Bry,” Megan replied.

“People are asking for an update,” Bryce added.

“There’s not one,” Sean said.

“Well, not really. But there are more details I can share, I guess.”

“You’re going to post again?” Megan asked.

Bryce looked at Sean for a second and replied, “Yeah, I think so.”

◆◆◆

When Bryce got home from lunch with her friends, she sat at her computer and wondered what she could say to the people who were asking for more. It had been less than twenty-four hours since her post, so it wasn’t as if she’d found Sophie and ran into her open arms, but she felt compelled to write about it, so she started typing.

I never expected the response I’ve gotten so far about my post called ‘One Night in New Orleans, I Fell in Love.’ It’s been less than twenty-four hours, and people are asking for an update. The truth is that I don’t have an update for you, but I can tell you something I told my friend today. It’s the first time I’ve told anyone, and it may not be a big deal, but one of my best friends, who is the sweetest girl on the planet, met someone yesterday. She really likes her, and I’m so excited for her, but hearing her talk about it and seeing her so happy got me thinking about how much I want that, too, and how I can’t seem to picture it with anyone other than this woman I met randomly a year ago in a bar.

What’s the thing I’ve never told anyone? Silly, really, but I did more in my search to find Sophie than I told you yesterday. I bought plane tickets. I never went back to New Orleans, though. Five plane tickets, to be exact, and I only got one refund. I talked myself out of it every time. With the first one, I canceled the flight right after I bought it. Another two times, I waited until two days before the flight and canceled. The fourth time, I actually checked myself in, and I stared at the flight time on my phone, counting down the minutes, but I didn’t go to the airport. And the fifth time, I went all the way there and left before I got through security.

Every time, I talked myself out of going. At first, I just told myself that I didn’t even know where Sophie was or how I could find her, so I shouldn’t even bother. I told myself that she’s not still thinking about me how I am about her, and it would be really awkward if we did find each other somehow. She’d tell me that the night was fun but not life-changing for her, and I’d leave more heartbroken than when I’d arrived. At the airport that one time, I got out of my Uber and went straight to the security line where the TSA agent asked me for my boarding pass, and I just stood there, frozen. I couldn’t get on the plane. I knew what I risked if I did and never found her. The pain would be worse for me than it was living with the not knowing what could have been, so I went back home and tried to think of anything else.

That was two months ago. I realize that Sophie is probably with someone else. In my vision of this trip back, I’d planned on camping out at that bar day and night until my flight back home. I thought if I did that, and she never showed, that that would be it, and I could actually move on, but I chickened out. I thought it was better not to know than to know that she’s moved on and risk that kind of pain, but I’m starting to think I was wrong. I’m starting to believe that I’d rather know if it didn’t mean as much to her, or that maybe it did, but she’s with someone else already and happy with them. At least then, I’d know, and I might finally be able to put that night behind me.

Bryce checked for typos this time and hit publish. She sat at her computer and checked the analytics, seeing a near-instant spike in views on the new post. That was likely due to the fact that the blog subscribers got a notification whenever she posted. She went to grab something to drink, and when she came back to her computer, the spike had continued, and she had numerous social notifications on her phone. She also had a text message from Kelsey, which she decided to check first.

Kelsey Jenkins : Megs met someone?