Page 11 of April

Linden sent a quick response.

Asher Hahn: No, he didn’t keep me up late.

Linden had been joking about Gavin keeping her up, and Asher usually used emojis to indicate that she understood her humor in texts, but she hadn’t used any this time. They’d always joked about how guys sometimes drank, got in the mood, and then couldn’t get themselvesgoingenough to do anything about it, so she’d thought Asher would reply that Gavin had passed out right when they’d gotten home or that he had tried something, but she had been too tired. It didn’t matter. It was a lame joke, anyway.

She took a shower because she hadn’t done that after the bar last night, dressed, grabbed her keys and phone, and left her apartment. Choosing to walk to the restaurant, she turned left and decided to take the route through the Garden District to take in the beautiful houses that she could only dream of affording.

Kyle and Melinda had a house there that Kyle had inherited. They had been redoing it since Kyle moved to New Orleans over year ago, and they’d recently held Monica and Bridgette’s engagement party in their backyard. When Linden had gottenher first glimpse of the house and the courtyard, she thought it was gorgeous, and she wished she could afford a place like that because she wanted to have a nice home for her future family. Well, she wasn’t sure about kids. She was thirty-five now and not getting any younger, so she doubted she’d even have the energy to have children when she finally decided to settle down. Either way, that had never been a major concern or need for her. She knew she wanted a wife, though. Well, she wanted a partner, really; someone to love, who would love her in return. Linden didn’t care if they ever made it official.

She had spent her entire life thinking that she’d be in a prison of a marriage to a man that she liked and probably would love to a degree, but not in the way she wanted to love someone. Linden wanted to beinlove, to have someone who lit her up in a way no man ever had. She didn’t think she was ready for that just yet, but maybe soon, she’d find someone for real; no more hookups and first dates only. Part of her was already starting to want to go out with someone to see how things could go between them, and maybe it would turn into something that was long-term rather than sweaty sex and no promises.

“Hey,” she greeted with a wide smile when she walked into the restaurant off the beaten path, finding it only half-full, with Asher at their usual table. “The tourists still haven’t found this place, huh?”

“Thank God,” Asher said as she took a sip of her iced water.

Linden sat down across from her and took her in, trying to see if there were any remnants of her exhaustion or sickness still there.

“Are you feeling better?” she asked, seeing none.

“What?” Asher looked confused for a second. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just needed some sleep, I guess.”

“What happened yesterday? I know you said the bride hit on you, but I didn’t get the whole story. Something about boobs, Idoremember.”

“Nothing, really. She had way too much to drink and said some things she didn’t really mean. She apologized later, though.”

“She did?”

“It made me sad, actually,” Asher shared.

“Her apology?”

“The way she… She just seemed to regret getting married. It had been a few hours, and she was already regretting it. She didn’t want to do it, to begin with, but it was one of those things.”

“Why are there still weddings like that?” Linden asked. “I mean, it’s not the eighteen-hundreds. Why is old money still pushing its tired agenda now?”

Asher shook her head and said, “I don’t know. But she went along with it, and now, she’s married to a guy who told herafterthe wedding that he’d just assumed she understood that their relationship wasn’t really a monogamous one.”

“Damn…” Linden replied. “I love my last gay grooms even more now. They were great. No drama. Just a quick ceremony and lots of dancing. They wrapped early and told me that they didn’t offer an open bar on purpose. They knew some of their guests tended to get sloppy drunk, and they didn’t want any of that on their wedding day. I mean, respect to them, right?”

Asher smiled then, and it was the first smile Linden had glimpsed since she’d gotten to the restaurant.

“So, did you have a good time last night after I left?” Asher asked.

“Yeah. Sophie didn’t last all that long. She wanted to talk to Bryce, so she headed home. It was just Jill and I after that.”

Asher nodded but didn’t say anything.

“She’s cool,” Linden continued.

“Who? Jill?” Asher asked.

“Yeah. She’s cool. I mean, she’s a good dancer and a great kisser.”

“Right,” Asher said, picking up her water glass. “Where is our waiter?”

“I was thinking about asking her out.”

“Jill?” Asher asked on a near choke.

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