Page 94 of April

“Maybe you can take me home, then. I took an Uber,” Linden said and took a sip.

“Linden, we should talk.”

“What about?” She played dumb.

“This.”

“This is Bryce being Bryce and Mel playing along,” she said as she set her glass back down. “They probably thought this would be funny.”

“It’s not.” Asher looked completely serious.

“I mean, it’s no date with supermodel Stephania, but it’s–”

“Stop,” Asher said.

Linden’s mouth closed, and she sat completely still.

“I’m not dating Stephania. I can’t keep repeating that, Linden.”

“It was a joke,” she said.

“It’s not funny, either.”

“Okay… Ash, I’m confused.Ididn’t set us up. Why does it feel like you’re mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you. I’m–” Asher took a deep breath. “I like you.”

Linden scrunched her face up in confusion.

“Linden, I like you.”

“O-k-a-y. I like you, too.”

She swallowed because she had to be reading this the wrong way. Of course, Asher liked her. They were friends. And if she allowed herself to think that Asher could like her as more than a friend and she misread it, she’d get that look from Asher that would devastate her.

“Linden, I…” Asher looked down at the table, and that was when Linden knew.

“You…Likeme?”

Without looking up, Asher nodded. Linden opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Still, she knew she needed to be brave here. She owed at leastthatto Asher. Ever since she’d learned that Asher was leaving, Linden had been kind of a jerk to her, and Asher deserved to know why.

“Ash, I like you, too. Why do you think I’ve been acting like a jealous teenager about Stephania?”

Asher looked up and asked, “You like me, too?”

“I think when you’ve been friends as long as we have, we slip right pastlike, don’t we?” Linden replied with a smile. “Bryce did this because, during our lunch, I told her that I’d realized it.”

“Realized what?”

“Asher, you were straight. I’d had a crush on you ten years ago, and I’d had no hope because of that and because I hadn’t been out and hadn’t planned on changing that anytime soon. When Ididfinally come out, you were still very much straight, and I wanted to explore this part of myself that I’d been holding in for so long. I didn’t allow myself to think of you in that way because it would’ve only ended up hurting me.”

“When I saw you and Jill kiss on that dance floor…” Asher began but offered nothing else.

“What about–” Linden stopped herself. “Was that when you knew?”

Asher nodded and said, “I wanted to vomit, Linden. I had to get out of there, and I’d just been at that wedding with that miserable bride. I knew I at least needed to end things with Gavin, but I couldn’t tell you because it’s still so new. Everything I’ve realized recently has just been hidden there, really, but it still feels so new. I didn’t think you’d even take me seriously if I told you.”

“I would have,” Linden replied as she leaned over the table. “Ash, I would have.”

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