Page 45 of April

“Here you go, baby. This is my favorite one. Will you wear it for me and make me come?”

Linden looked back down at her phone, then up at the woman, and back down again.

“Is something wrong?” the woman asked.

“Um… My friend… The one I told you about…”

“What about her? You said you had an hour, at least.”

“I did. Well, I thought I would. But she needs me now instead.”

“I’m standing in front of you naked now, holding out a harness, and you’re telling me you don’t want this? You want to go meet afriendinstead? I’m wet for you, Linden,” she said and moved her hand back inside Linden’s still undone pants, going farther down this time and inside Linden’s boy shorts. “Oh. You’re wet for me, too, baby.” She stroked her once. “Hmm… Maybe you just need me to take care of you first. Would that get you to stay?”

Linden tried to prevent her body from reacting, but her hips bucked on the second stroke.

“Yes, that’s what you need,” the woman said. “Let me take care of you first.”

“Fuck,” Linden let out.

Then, she pictured Asher sitting at a restaurant all by herself, and she put her hand on the woman’s forearm.

“I’m sorry. I really do have to go. Another time.”

“Another time?!” her date asked, removing her hand. “Another thirty seconds, and you’d be coming and shoving me down on my bed to fuck me.”

“I’m sorry. I have to go,” Linden told her.

She buttoned and zipped her pants before she rebuttoned her shirt and haphazardly tucked it back in.

“There won’t be another time, Linden.”

“Okay. I understand,” she said. “Sorry, again.”

Linden turned, opened the door, and closed it behind her. She gathered herself before she walked down the stairs, hit thestreet, and headed in the direction of the restaurant where she’d find Asher. She wasn’t sure if she hoped Asher was still alone because she’d been stood up or if she hoped Asher’s date had arrived. She knew she should be hoping for the latter, but as she hurried along the somewhat crowded sidewalk, she knew it was the former that she hoped for.

CHAPTER 13

Asher had been sitting at this table for well over an hour now. She’d ordered a glass of wine after her date was fifteen minutes late. She’d messaged through the app asking if everything was okay after that, and when she’d gotten no reply, she had texted Linden before she’d remembered that Linden had a date of her own and was probably already at either her place or her date’s, having sex. Asher was now on her second glass of wine and had nearly finished it. Feeling bad for the waiter, she’d ordered an appetizer, and her wine was expensive, so she didn’t think she was exactly wasting a table. She’d tip him well for the ten times he’d approached to see if she needed anything else with a fake smile plastered on his face.

She’d needed the second glass when she’d realized that she had indeed been stood up. Another message to the app had gone by without a response, and thinking about Linden being with someone else had driven her to order the most expensive glass of red on the menu. The seafood restaurant off of St. Ann and Royal she was currently at was one of her favorites, and through chatting with Cindy, she’d discovered that her date liked the restaurant, too. They’d arranged the date and the time. Asher had verified that at least five times, checking the app to see if she had missed something. Maybe Cindy had gotten the date wrong. Maybe Asher had. Her messages, which had been answeredswiftly earlier that day, had since gone unanswered. She had given Cindy an hour. It was time she called it a night and gave up on this date.

“Can I please get my check?” she asked after waving the waiter down.

“Of course,” he replied.

“Actually, can you hold off on that for a minute?” the voice Asher knew well said.

Asher turned to see that Linden was standing behind her.

“Linden? What are you doing here?”

“Ma’am?” the waiter asked Asher.

“It’s okay. Can you give me a few minutes?”

“Sure,” he said, looking disappointed, probably because there were whole groups of people waiting on tables, and he would’ve gotten a much larger tip from them.

“Can I sit?” Linden asked.

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