Page 68 of April

“With you and Sophie?”

“Yeah?”

“How is it?”

“The sex?”

“I don’t need details, obviously. I guess I want to know if it’s really different.”

“Different than what?”

“Different than how it is when it’s just with anyone.”

“Oh. You mean because I love her?”

“Yes. Is it really that different when you love someone?”

“Yes,” Bryce replied quickly. “I can’t describe it exactly, how different it is, and it’s not like I’ve been with a bunch of people, either, but being with Sophie is just amazing to me. We know each other in a way I’ve never had before. She gets me. I get her. I trust her in every way. I can tell her what I want or don’t want, and she won’t judge me or push me.”

“You two having some kind of kinky sex or something?” Linden joked.

“No,” Bryce said, laughing. “But that’s important, isn’t it? Feeling like you can tell the person you’re with what you want and not have them judge you. Sophie and I aren’t into anything crazy, but we match in that way, with what we want and don’t want. We also always talk when that’s not the case. We haven’t been together that long, but it works. What we have works, and I know I don’t want or need anyone else because it wouldn’t ever be this good.” Bryce paused then and turned to Linden, who was staring straight ahead. “What has you asking these questions?”

“No reason,” Linden lied.

Bryce laughed and said, “Oh, please. We’ve not been friends long, but we’ve never talked like this before. The last time you and I talked about sex was a week or so ago, right? You were telling me about some woman you met and took home.”

“Well, things have changed, I guess.”

“You mean with Asher,” Bryce stated more than asked.

“What about Asher?”

“She came out.”

“So?”

“So, your straight best friend just told you that she’s not straight. Are you trying to tell me you’ve never thought about going there?”

Linden smiled and said, “Ash and I aren’t like that.”

“Sure you’re not,” Bryce said, laughing. “We’re here.” She pointed to the open door of the gallery.

“Why did you get Sophie a painting?” Linden asked as they walked inside.

“Because I bought her one the last time I was here. This one is technically for my place, but I’m getting it as a surprise for her. It’s by the same artist. I asked the gallery owner to work it out for me, and the artist did the same painting I got for Soph in different colors, so it matches but doesn’t.”

“That’s cool, I guess,” Linden replied.

“I thought it would be a good way to show her that one day, they could sit on the same wall next to each other.”

“You mean when you move here?” Linden asked.

Bryce just smiled as they walked to the counter, and she proceeded to give her name to a waiting gallery employee to be able to collect the ordered piece.

As they waited, Linden thought about what Bryce had said earlier. She’d been fine with meeting women a few times a week, and if her night ended in sex, all the better, but she didn’t have the same feeling anymore as she watched Bryce pay for a painting she’d bought for the love of her life. That made her wonder if Bryce had been right. Did her changing feelings have anything to do with Asher coming out?

“Do you need to head back to the office?” Bryce asked when she was done. “I told Soph I’d pick up some beignets for her and then head to her place.”

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