Page 7 of April

Linden laughed and took a long drink of her own beer. Jill was about ten years younger than her and had all sorts of energy. While Linden wanted to go out and meet women, and bars this time of year were the easiest way for her to do that, she was thirty-five, and doing this even a few times a week for the past several months was already starting to wear on her. Jill, on the other hand, seemed to always have the energy to stay up until four in the morning drinking and then getting coffee and beignets at Café Du Monde if they all wanted to go that way.

“Who else is coming?” Jill asked.

“Ash should be here,” she replied.

“Yeah? Cool,” Jill said and turned her attention back to Sophie. “So, Bryce? When is she coming back?”

“We don’t have an exact date yet. Soon, though. I was supposed to go there, but this movie thing came up. She’s been working with that producer on the process and had to fly to LA for some in-person meeting. They’ve asked her to write the script, and she’s never done that. From what we’ve been told, they never do that, just ask someone with no experience to write a script, but they really think Bryce can do it, which is amazing. They have this super tight turnaround time because they’re trying to capitalize on how viral Bryce’s blog went while they can, but I miss her.”

“I still can’t believe someone is making a movie of your life,” Jill noted.

“Not my life; just the story of how Bryce and I met,” Sophie replied before she took a drink. “And she’s been nervous about writing the script. It’s so cute. She’s been reading books, watching video tutorials, and taking a master class on screenwriting to make sure she gets everything right.”

“Have you read any of it yet?”

“She’s got the first thirty pages, she thinks, but she told me she doesn’t want me to read them until the studio says it’s good. They have an actual screenwriter helping her out, but they’re a really small company, I guess.” Sophie shrugged. “I’m waiting as patiently as I can.”

“So,notthat patiently,” Linden joked.

“Exactly.” Sophie laughed.

Linden had joined this friend group, in a way, through work, when Asher had met Melinda through partnering with NOLA Guides to offer tour packages for wedding guests at discounted rates. It had been a fruitful partnership so far, and while being out at a bar one night, she and Asher had run into Melinda with her girlfriend, Kyle, as well as Jill, Sophie and Bryce, and Bridgette and Monica. They didn’t hang out together all the time, but when Linden needed someone to go out with and Asher wasn’t up for it, she had other people to call now, which was nice. Because she’d only recently come out, most of her other friends were straight or weren’t interested in Linden being in this going-out-and-having-fun phase because they’d gone through it in their early twenties.

“Hey, want to dance or something?” Jill asked. “I spent most of the day in the office, and I’ve got some energy I need to burn off.”

“I’m good here, holding on to the table. If we all leave, it’ll be gone in about five seconds,” Sophie said.

“I’ll dance,” Linden replied.

“Cool. Let’s go,” Jill said.

They left their drinks on the table, with Sophie acting as guard, and Linden looked toward the door when Jill took her hand. Asher wasn’t here yet. She’d texted that she would be, but Linden knew her best friend well, so it wouldn’t surprise her if, at some point, she got a text from Asher saying that she’d changed her mind after a long or difficult day and was going home instead.

The dance floor was packed with mostly women dancing close together. As Jill pulled her onto it, the old-school R&B song playing loudly provided them with just the right beat to get closer and bring their hips together, moving in rhythm while Jill’s arms went around her neck. They’d danced like this before, and it had been totally platonic, but this time, for whatever reason, it didn’t feel as platonic. Jill’s hips were pressing harder tonight, and Linden couldn’t help the feeling of arousal that moved through her body. Jill was sexy, and Linden’s hands moved under the back of her shirt, testing the waters but stopping there, not asking for more as they continued to sway to the beat. When, in a few moments, Jill turned around, Linden held on to her, pressing her front to Jill’s back as Jill’s arms wrapped back around her neck from behind.

“What’s gotten into you?” she asked into Jill’s ear.

“I told you: I have energy to burn off.”

Linden could barely hear that over the music, but she took Jill’s lead and leaned in, giving her a tentative kiss behind her earlobe, checking if that was okay first before she reached her hand up under Jill’s shirt and rested it against her stomach. Jill’s head turned, and Linden looked into her eyes. Was this happening? Were they about to do this? Jill leaned. Linden leaned. Their lips connected, and the kiss started slow. Linden slid her hand up higher, leaving it below Jill’s breast, and Jilldeepened their kiss, sliding her tongue into Linden’s mouth. Linden hadn’t ever kissed a friend before, but if this was how it went when she did, she’d start kissing friends all over town.

Jill turned back in her arms until they were facing each other again, slowly intensifying their kiss as they continued to try to keep up with the song. Eventually, when Linden wanted more and tried to move things faster, Jill slowed them down before she stopped the kiss completely, pulling back, which worried Linden that she’d taken things too far.

“You’re a good kisser,” Jill told her, moving Linden’s hands to her hips and her own back around Linden’s neck.

“So are you,” she replied.

While Jill stared at her, Linden stared back, and it was as if they were both asking a question without asking it. They were testing the other person to see if they wanted to do that again or maybe take things further. Then, Linden felt something that she couldn’t explain, and it had her turning around and looking over toward their table. That was when she saw Asher standing next to Sophie, staring at her and Jill with an unreadable expression on her face.

CHAPTER 3

It hit her hard. There was something pounding on her chest. No, it wasinher chest. It was her heart. Something was making Asher’s heart pound wildly while the room around her had gone silent. She knew Sophie was saying something to her because her mouth was moving, but Asher couldn’t hear anything. She turned her head back to the dance floor, feeling her bile rise from somewhere deep inside. Jill’s lips were still attached to Linden’s. Not only that, but Linden’s hands were under Jill’s shirt. Asher looked down then. She couldn’t handle it anymore. It was too much. She nearly fell over, but a hand reached out for her.

“Hey, are you okay?” Sophie asked.

All the noise in the crowded bar came back at her all at once, making her nearly topple over again at the assault. She wasn’t sure what was happening to her. She’d heard people describe panic attacks, and this felt like it could build into one, but it wasn’t one, right? Why would she be having a panic attack at the sight of Linden making out with Jill on the dance floor?

“Ash?” Sophie continued. “Do you need some water or something?”

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