Page 110 of February

“Oh,” Monica said as they walked. “I don’t know. I think I’ll stay for a while after that, too.”

Bridgette looked over at her in surprise then and asked, “Yeah?”

“I’m not ready to go home,” Monica replied. “I like it here too much to leave just yet.”

Bridgette smiled and said, “I’m really happy to hear that because I’m not ready for you to leave yet.”

“Bridge?”

Bridgette looked back over at her but didn’t say anything.

“I’m supposed to be taking some time off, anyway, so I can just tell my dad that I want to stay down here.”

“Okay,” she said, a little disappointed now because she expected Monica to say something else.

“I was thinking that tonight, we could stay at your place instead of at the hotel.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Is everything okay, though? You look like something’s wrong.”

“I want to be in a real home and not in a hotel with you.”

“Okay. Why?”

“Because if we keep spending time in my hotel, it’ll feel like a vacation romance, and I don’t want that for us. I don’t want just something fleeting before I leave, and all we have are nice memories in some hotel. I don’t want that, Bridge. I want real. We had our first kiss in your apartment. I want more of that.”

“I want real, too,” Bridgette replied. “And I don’t want just memories with you. I want all of it.”

“You know that could mean you might have to visit me in Manhattan if this keeps going?”

“Yes, I understand that. I know it’s crazy, too, because I don’t want to move away from here, and your whole life is up there.”

“Not mywholelife,” Monica told her. “You’rehere.”

“Let’s stay at my place tonight, then. Honestly, you can stay there every night, if you want. Your hotel is nice, but it’s too fancy for me. I feel like I’m always one step away from breaking something.”

Monica laughed and said, “Dinner out tonight? Let me make a reservation.”

“Okay.”

“And let’s dress up a bit.”

“Why?”

“Because I want tonight to be special, Bridge,” Monica replied.

Bridgette stopped walking, which meant Monica had to stop walking, too.

“When you say special…”

“Yes,thatkind of special.” Monica smiled over at her and turned to face Bridgette. “If you’re ready.”

Bridgette turned to her and checked, “You’re really not going to leave in a few days? We have more time?”

“At least a few weeks,” Monica replied with a smile, wrapping her arms around Bridgette’s waist and pulling her against herself. “I want you, babe.” She moved one hand to Bridgette’s lower lip and dragged her thumb over it. “If you want me, too.”

“Of course, I do,” she said a little louder than she’d intended.

“Are you sure? I’m not like Toya, who’s in her early twenties, with the perfect body.”

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