Page 23 of April

“Like what? Hobbies? Favorite movie?”

“Sometimes, yes. You can write whatever you want in your profile. So, sometimes, it’s hobbies. Other times, it’s what they want.”

“What they want?”

“Like, just sex, casual, looking for a serious relationship, that kind of thing. Here, I’ll show you.” Linden pulled out her own phone, unlocked it, and opened the app. “Mine says that I’m just looking for some fun, and if it turns into something, that’s cool, but not a requirement.”

“Vague,” Asher said as she leaned over Linden to look at her phone. “That’s the picture you chose?”

“Yeah. Why? Is it bad?”

“No, it’s…” Asher stared at a photo she hadn’t seen before.

It was of Linden running a hand through her somewhat messy and still perfect hair with a sultry, but not overly so, glance into the camera. Linden was wearing a white-and-blue short-sleeve flannel shirt, with the top two buttons undone, and she had on a long necklace that disappeared under the shirt, too. Asher hadn’t seen that necklace on her before. She cleared her throat because Linden Washington was hot.

“Good,” she said finally.

Linden laughed a little and said, “Yeah? Good? I get a lot of compliments on this picture.”

“You do?”

“I get at least a few messages a week on this thing, and they almost always mention this picture.” She scrolled. “But you can add more. I have a few others on here, too.”

“I don’t have any good photos of myself.”

“What are you talking about? You have a million. You look amazing in photos, Ash. I’ve got a bunch I can send you if you need any to add here.”

“What pictures do you have of me?” she asked.

“We spend almost all day every day together unless one or both of us is in a relationship. I have thousands of pictures of you, and you look good in all of them.”

“I do not.” Asher blushed and turned to try to hide it from Linden.

“Yes, you do,” Linden argued. “And, lucky me, you’re single again, so we’ll get to take more together, too. If you want, we can do a whole photo shoot. I’ve got my old camera. I can bring it over here. The lighting is better in your apartment anyway, and you can try on a few outfits. Maybe something casual and something not-so-casual. We could check the pictures and add the ones you like.”

“We are not doing a photo shoot for a dating app,” she said through her laughter.

“Why not?Idid. It took me about twenty tries to get my main photo. I had to angle it just right with the mirror and the phone.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Asher laughed some more.

“Just look. Here,” Linden said, holding out her phone to Asher again. “She’s pretty.”

Asher looked down at the photo of a brunette with a pixie cut and a nice smile.

“Not the best picture since it looks a little like a passport photo with that background, but she’s pretty, yeah?”

“She is, yes,” Asher said.

“This is weird.” Linden laughed a little.

“What is?”

“Checking out women with you.”

“Oh,” Asher said. “Yeah, I guess it is, huh?”

“Do you already know what your type might be? Like, you know, the lesbian stereotypes. Any of those stand out to you? It’ll help narrow down your search.”

---