Page 95 of March

Sophie thought about home while she handed Melinda her drink to hold. Bryce handed her own to Kyle, and they made their way to the dance floor, which was just the regular floor by the DJ, where some people were dancing and others were standing around, drinking, and talking. Bryce’s hands went to Sophie’s hips, and she pulled Sophie in against her, swaying them back and forth. When Bryce’s lips met her neck, just that move grounded Sophie, and she wrapped her own arms around Bryce’s neck and rested her head on her shoulder.

“Will you tell me now that we’re alone?”

“We’re not alone,” she said. “We’re in the middle of a hundred people.”

“Your friends can’t hear us, and we don’t know any of these people.”

Sophie tightened her grip as Bryce continued to guide her hips.

“I don’t want you to go,” she shared and felt Bryce nod. “We were talking about things at dinner, and I had this moment where I realized you couldn’t be a tour guide in New Orleans because you’re leaving. You don’t live here.”

“I know,” Bryce said. “I’ll be back.”

“I’m used to you being here now, Bryce. I know what it’s like to wake up with you now.”

“I can come back whenever, Soph. I’ll need to go back for a week or two. I owe my aunt some work on the house. I’ve made promises to her that I need to keep, and I need to check in on my friends who are all going through some things right now, but I want to be here with you. You know that, right?”

“Hey, we thought we’d join you. Jill has our drinks,” Melinda said as she and Kyle made their way onto the dance floor. “I can never get her to dance with me, so I used you two dancing as a way to convince her.”

“Not much of a dancer,” Kyle added.

Sophie smiled at her friends but didn’t say anything. She knew she and Bryce weren’t so much dancing anymore as they were holding on tightly to one another and swaying offbeat. When the song ended, she held on another few seconds before pulling back and looking into Bryce’s dark eyes.

“You are crazy beautiful,” Bryce said before she leaned in and kissed her softly. “And we found each other after a year of wanting, Soph. I have a feeling we’ll always find each other.”

“Asher?”

“Melinda? Hey.”

Sophie looked over to find Melinda hugging a woman who looked to be a little older than her. She had long auburn hairpulled back into an elegant updo, and from what Sophie could see in the light, blue eyes. She was slightly shorter than Melinda, but not by much, and the two seemed to know one another.

“Ky, this is Asher. Ash, this is my girlfriend, Kyle.”

“Nice to meet you,” Asher said, offering her hand for Kyle to shake, which she did.

“And these are my friends: Sophie and her girlfriend, Bryce.”

Sophie gave Asher a smile.

“Nice to meet you,” Bryce spoke and shook Asher’s hand.

“Hey,” another woman said as she joined them and passed Asher a blue cup.

“Oh. Linden, this is Melinda. I don’t think you’ve met her yet.”

“Melinda? Melinda from NOLA Guides?”

“Yeah, this is her. Melinda, this is Linden. She works with me,” Asher introduced.

“You’re a wedding planner, too?” Melinda asked.

“Yeah.” Linden nodded.

“They work for the wedding planning company I started partnering with recently,” Melinda said mostly to Kyle. “People travel to have weddings here and need something to occupy their guests when they’re not at the actual ceremony, so I offer them a discount for signing people up for our tours through their company.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Kyle said.

“You two just out for a drink?” Melinda asked.

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