Page 19 of April

Linden stared at her now. Asher had gone quiet when her face had emerged from her hands, and Linden wanted to give her that time to sort through her thoughts and feelings. She had had so many years to sort through her own; about twenty of them since she’d had her Daisy Colter moment in the locker room at fifteen. As she thought back to that crush she’d had all those years ago and how she’d been introduced to Asher’s then-boyfriend for the first time, she knew it had been more than a crush. She had known that for sure when she’d watched him lean over and kiss Asher at the company holiday party. Linden had downed her drink and excused herself then. After that, she’ddone everything she could to put Asher out of her mind, focusing on work almost exclusively.

“Okay. So, what do I do now, then?”

Asher was looking at her expectantly as if Linden knew what came next for her when Linden didn’t have a clue. She’d also been too busy taking a trip down memory lane to pay attention to whatever Asher was saying.

“You’re askingme?”

“Well, of the two of us, you’re the one who has some experience here,” Asher reasoned.

“With women? Yeah, I guess. But only for less than a year. Maybe we should hang out with everyone, and they can help more. They’ve all been out for a lot longer than I have. That’s assuming you’d want them to know, though.”

“I don’t know,” Asher said, shaking her head. “I trust them, and I know they won’t have a problem with it, obviously, but I just acknowledged it with you for the first time. So, I’ll tell them, but I don’t want to make a huge announcement at a bar or anything.”

“So, do you want help meeting women, or are you just looking for someone to talk to about how you’re feeling right now? I’m here for whatever. I want you to know that, Ash.”

“I think I’d like to go on some dates, if I can get them, but I’m not looking to sleep with someone, Linden. This is all so new to me… I don’t know that I can promise anyone anything. If I like them, maybe it’ll lead to a second date, but that’s all my brain can handle thinking about right now, and it can barely handle that.”

“Okay. So, you want to go on a few dates. I can help with that,” she said, feeling useful now. “It’s tourist season. We can–”

“I don’t want to meet some tourist at a bar. I don’t want to just have sex with some woman for the first time and then never see her again, Linden.”

“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it,” she replied, trying not to take offense to that.

“You know I don’t mean that. Your path is yours, Linden. You can… sleep with whomever you want whenever you want. I just don’t want that for myself. I’d like a date with someone who I can have the possibility with should we both decide that we want another date out of it.”

“So, you’re looking for a local, then. We should avoid the Quarter entirely and hit the pubs and bars outside it.”

“Pubs and bars?” Asher said with a sigh. “I’m almost thirty-eight years old. I don’t know that I can meet people in bars. I met Gavin through his work.”

“Well, you can try that again, but it could take a while. I know there are a few ladies who love ladies at our office, but two of them are married, one is in a relationship, and the other is just out of college. So… up to you there, but you gave me crap for Jill, who’s twenty-six. I doubt you’d want to date a twenty-two-year-old.”

“What would we even talk about?” Asher laughed a little. “What would you andJilltalk about?”

Linden shook her head and said, “No, back to you. If you don’t want bars, and you don’t want to date someone from the office, there’s an easier way to meet women.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Well, first, there’s the obvious.”

Asher looked at her, confused.

“The app.”

“Oh, God.” Asher cupped her hands over her face again and shook her head. “I can’t meet someone on an app.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to just have–”

“It’s not Tinder.” Linden laughed. “God, you’re really acting your age, huh?”

“Shut up,” Asher replied with a laugh.

“It’s a matchmaking app. I use it for dates where I’m hoping to get something else out of it, but I’m upfront about it in my profile that I’m not looking for a relationship; just meeting women for a date and maybe some fun should it turn into that. Your profile can be set up to say you’re looking for whatever you want.”

“I’m not sure what I’m looking for,” Asher said as she looked back over at her.

Her eyes weren’t welcoming anymore. They looked lost and a little sad. Linden wished she could take that sadness away from her and help Asher find whatever it was she was looking for.

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