Page 63 of Holding Her Heart

“Aster—”

Aster snorted. She really couldn’t believe she was lying here with Eden Kline. Of all the women in the world, it was the attention of this particular one that Aster never thought she’d catch. “I can’t even get the lesbians to look my way. I’m sure you can understand my uncertainty.”

“I have no answers for you, but I know that I’m certain. This isn’t me looking to get my kicks somewhere new. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Aster nodded, wrapping an arm around Eden’s shoulders. They slouched against one another, the slightest sound coming from the television. “I know.”

“Let’s figure this out together, okay?” Eden nuzzled into Aster’s shoulder, sighing. “Because I want to get this right.”

“Me too.”

Eden glanced up, her eyes bright. “I thought maybe…if you’re not busy tomorrow, I could take you out to dinner.”

Aster leaned down, kissing Eden’s forehead. “I’d love to go to dinner with you.”

18

Eden shook her hands at her sides; she needed to get rid of the nervous energy she’d felt all day. She wasn’t worried about dinner with Aster, but where it would go, she had no idea. Aster had hung around last night for a few hours, not leaving until after 1 a.m., but Eden hadn’t heard much from her today. Was Aster nervous, too? Was she standing in front of her own mirror, panicking about dinner? Eden hoped not. They needed to remain calm.

She held up a blue dress, wrinkling her nose as soon as she pressed it up against her. It didn’t do it for her. Not today. “Nope.”

Then she picked up the one Aster had insisted she wear last week. It was a no brainer. This was the one that caught Aster’s attention, and while it had brought her bad luck in terms of being rejected, Eden planned to change that tonight.

Don’t walk into the restaurant and throw yourself at her. Be you.

Eden sighed. What if she couldn’t do this? She’d failed time and time again when it came to relationships, and women were even more complicated than men.

Eden eyed her phone on the bed as she stood in her lingerie, debating whether she should call Blair. They hadn’t spoken since last weekend when she left the club, but Eden was slowly coming to terms with the fact that Aster had just panicked, so the humiliation didn’t feel so severe anymore. She cleared her throat and dialled Blair’s number.

“H-hello?” Blair spoke quietly.

“Hi, it’s me,” Eden said. Maybe she’d been a little harsh in not calling sooner. “Are you free for a few minutes? I understand if you’re not.”

“No, I’m free.”

“Right, well, I was wondering if I could speak to you about something?”

Blair remained silent. Well, this was awkward.

“Blair?”

Blair sighed. “Go on. I’m here. What do you need?”

“Are you mad at me?” Eden asked, her stomach lurching. She had every right to be upset with Blair last weekend, but she knew Blair would have been worried this week without hearing from Eden.

“No, I’m not mad. Just…thought you may have called before now.”

“I know. I needed space.”

“Well, I hope you found some. How are you?”

“I’m okay.” Should she tell Blair that she was going on a dinner date tonight? She felt as though she should, but Blair wouldn’t be impressed with the fact that she hadn’t told her about her meeting with Aster last night or last week. They shared everything with one another.

“Good. I never meant to make you feel as though I was humiliating you. Aster told me she was interested. More than interested. So, I don’t understand what happened. I am sorry it didn’t work out for you.”

“I’m going to dinner with her tonight.”

“O-oh.” Blair’s surprise wasn’t unexpected. Eden still couldn’t quite believe it herself. “Well, that’s nice. I hope you have a lovely night.”

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