Page 57 of April

“I’m really tired, Linden. I’m going to go. You can stay, though.”

“What? No,” Linden said. “I’ll go with you.”

“It’s fine. You’re having a good time.”

“I’m tired, too, Ash. I wanted to come to show support because they can give me referrals, but I’ve put in the time. I can say I was here. I took a couple of pictures. We can go.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Linden replied. “Want to just go back to my place? It’s closer.”

Asher didn’t know what to say to that because, yes, she did want to go to Linden’s place. She knew that staying at her apartment wasn’t an option because it was farther away, and she had no excuse tonight to get Linden to stay and sleep in her bed. Linden only had the one bedroom, though, so Asher rarely stayed over. When she did, it was on the pull-out sofa, and she could count on one hand the times she’d done that. She also wasn’t sure her back could handle that sofa tonight after two nights in a row of not sleeping well.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” she replied instead of telling Linden that no, she could order herself a car and sleep in her own bed tonight.

“Let’s go,” Linden said as she stood and held out her hand.

Asher took it without question, and she let Linden pull her through the crowd, toward and down the stairs, past people who were standing on them, talking and drinking. Linden kept hold of her hand until they were outside, and the fresh air hit Asher’s face.

“Are you good with a walk?” Linden checked.

She nodded, and they made their way down the sidewalk and into the less populated part of the city.

“Hey, let’s stop at the store. It’s on the way, and I don’t have anything for breakfast tomorrow.”

“We can just grab something in the morning.”

“No. You never stay at my place. Let me make you pancakes. I’ll use that whole wheat flour you like. I just need to pick that up and grab some syrup. I have everything else.”

“You want to make me pancakes from scratch before work tomorrow?” Asher asked.

“Why not?” Linden shrugged.

“Okay. Let’s go to the store,” she said, kind of wanting to watch Linden make her pancakes the next day now, picturing her adding flour and eggs into a bowl, mixing it together with everything else, and slowly pouring it into a pan while wearing an apron.

Well, that last part might have been in Asher’s fantasy.

“Should we get some oil and powdered sugar, too?”

Asher laughed and said, “The beignet mix is atmyplace.”

“We should have planned ahead,” Linden said.

She placed her hand on the small of Asher’s back as the signal to walk showed green, and they stepped off the curb. Linden hadn’t ever done that before, or at least, not that Ashercould remember. They’d walked these streets for years now, waiting at countless lights on street corners, and she couldn’t remember a single time when Linden’s hand had been on her lower back as they crossed. It was nice. Being with Linden like this was nice, and Asher knew she needed to get a grip on her growing feelings.

“Has Gavin tried to call again?” Linden asked her when they got to the other side of the street.

“No. I think he got the message today,” she replied.

“Good. He’s not good enough for you anyway. No one is,” Linden said.

Asher smiled as they headed toward the grocery store.

CHAPTER 16

Linden’s bed was smaller than Asher’s, or at least, it certainly felt that way for some reason. She knew they both had queen beds, so it made no sense, but there didn’t seem to be enough space for them both to be in this bed and not touch one another in some way. During sleep, Linden’s hand had ended up draped over Asher’s thigh, and she had woken up to discover it like that when Asher had shifted. Linden had moved and tried to get all the way to the edge of the bed to avoid it happening again, but when she’d woken up a second time around four, she discovered that she’d rolled onto her side, facing Asher, and her hand had been resting on Asher’s hip. Linden had rolled onto her back then and kept her hands at her sides in tight fists, falling back to sleep reluctantly until she’d woken with her alarm.

“Morning,” Asher said groggily.

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