Page 106 of April

“Yeah. In a way, it feels like I’ve wanted this for ten years. I just didn’t know it.” Linden’s hands disappeared from Asher’s back and moved to her hips. “So, can you just put on some shoes, and we get out of here? Or are you going to make me wait for you to put on some fancy dress?”

“I’d need socks first,” Asher replied.

“Wear the ones I got you for Christmas,” Linden said of the stocking stuffer she’d gotten her the previous year.

“They have dancing skeletons on them, Linden. I still have no idea why you got them for me. And for Christmas, too,” she noted, moving to her dresser and opening her sock drawer.

“I thought they were cute,” Linden said, moving behind her now and wrapping her arms around her. “Like you.” She pressed her lips to Asher’s neck. “I will now go down to the living room and wait for my date to walk down the stairs so that we can go on our second date.”

She left the room, and Asher stared down at her neatly organized dress socks, casual socks, and then the playful socks that Linden had gotten for her, which were in their own little row at the right side of the drawer because she had no other playful socks to go with them. Asher grabbed them, deciding to just go with it after all, and put them on before she found her comfortable tennis shoes in her closet and slipped into them. Then, in the bathroom, she took a look at her hair and face in the mirror. Her hair was still pinned back and looked okay. Her facewas nearly clear of makeup, as usual, but she reached for her lipstick and slid it across her lower lip, blotting her lips together and smiling at herself.

“This will have to do,” she said.

She walked down the stairs, and when Linden looked up at her and smiled, she lifted a pant leg for good measure.

“Cute,” Linden said of the socks as she laughed. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Linden stood up, made her way over to her, and before Asher knew it, her lips were on Asher’s own. Linden’s hands went to her back again, and Asher wrapped hers around Linden’s neck, pulling her in.

“You put on lipstick,” Linden noted against her neck when she pulled away.

“Yes.”

“I just messed it up.” Linden kissed her neck.

“Yes,” Asher replied with a small laugh. “But I’m okay with it.”

Linden pulled back and looked into Asher’s blue eyes.

“Sorry. I couldn’t wait until the end of the date.”

Asher smiled, took Linden’s hand, and said, “Let’s go.”

???

“So, I showed up early and used my key instead of picking you up at your door. Now, I’m dropping you off and wondering if this should be it because it’s only our second date, or if I could maybe come in, and we could relax on the sofa,” Linden said.

They’d gone to a seafood place by the water for dinner. It had been the kind of establishment that had plastic bibs for customers to wear, but despite how ridiculous they’d looked, Asher had worn one along with Linden. They’d shared theirentrées how they always did and peppered one another with questions about things they’d never asked for whatever reason. For part of the night, they’d also talked about work but left Dallas out of the conversation completely, choosing to focus on the weddings they both had to run the following day.

Dinner done, they’d driven to a movie theater and had chosen the film on the spot, grabbing popcorn with extra butter for Linden and one with no butter for Asher. Linden had held her hand and moved it into her lap almost right away, and Asher had just stared at their linked hands for a long time, unaware of the movie playing in front of her.

After the movie, they had taken a walk, but not a long one, because they both needed to get some sleep. Linden had driven them back to Asher’s apartment, and while it wasn’t late, it also wasn’t early, and they both needed to be up by six the following morning to get their respective weddings going.

Now, they stood on Asher’s stoop, facing one another, with their hands joined between them.

“You want to come in?” Asher asked, swallowing hard.

“Yes,” Linden said.

Asher lowered her gaze to their hands, but Linden let go of one and used her thumb and forefinger on Asher’s chin to lift her eyes back.

“I can just snuggle you on the couch, okay?”

Asher didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded.

“But I’d really like to stay the night, if you let me,” Linden added. “I woke up this morning, and it felt weird because you weren’t there. I’ve hardly ever woken up next to you, but we’ve done that a few times recently, and I didn’t like that you weren’t there this morning.”

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