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“Lexie.” Annalise shoved her hand deeper into her pocket.
Maybe she’s just doing that because she’s nervous .
“So, yeah, Lexie asked me on a date and—”
Brinley put her hand up to stop Annalise. “I really think we should talk about this inside.”
She was on the verge of tears and the last thing she needed was for someone walking into the bar she worked at to see. Hell, she didn’t even want Annalise to see. If they were in her apartment, she could hide in the bathroom and cry, then compose herself and act happy for Annalise. Because she was happy for her. First and foremost, Annalise was her friend, and she might have fallen harder than she thought possible for her, but no matter what happened, she didn’t want to ruin their friendship.
“Oh, um, okay, yeah. That’s fine.” Annalise turned away from Brinley and began walking toward the front door of the bar.
No. There was nothing fine about this and Brinley couldn’t pretend there was, so she gently grabbed hold of Annalise’s arm to stop her. “No. Wait.”
When Annalise looked back at her with those wide beautiful blue eyes, Brinley almost changed her mind once again. She just took a test that determined her whole future and yet this was the scariest thing she had ever done. But it was also the most important. “I’m not going to let this become a romantic comedy. I like you. I want to be with you.”
At first, Annalise just stared at her, her head tilted slightly as if she was confused. Then a wide smile spread across her face, and Brinley could finally breathe again because she saw it all right there in front of her. They felt the same way.
Annalise continued to stare at Brinley, smile beaming, eyes whimsical, head still tilted in a way that made her look so fucking cute. She took Brinley’s hand in hers and intertwined their fingers, laughing softly as she did. “I mean, isn’t that the very definition of a romantic comedy? Friends with benefits fall for each other, then one admits her feelings in a big dramatic fashion and they live happily ever after?”
“First of all, there’s nothing big or dramatic about this. We’re freezing our asses off standing outside of the bar where I work. Also, if this was a romantic comedy, I would act like I don’t care and tell you that you should totally go on that date. Then I’d awkwardly pull away from you, leaving you wondering what went wrong. I’d let you go on multiple dates with this person and start to get attached, then I would swoop in and tell you I can’t live without you. But I’m skipping all of that. No third-act break-up. No miscommunication tropes. Skip to the end. I’m here to tell you that I’d really like it if you didn’t go on a date with anyone else because I really like you. Not love. I’m not a fucking cliche.”
Annalise took a step closer to her and squeezed her hand. “You might not be, but I totally am.”
“What do you mean?”
“First of all, I was never going to go on that date. You didn’t let me finish what I was saying. Telling you about getting asked on that date was just my opener which, thinking back, was a really stupid one and I’m honestly not sure what I was thinking or why I thought that was a good idea, but—”
Now it was Brinley’s turn to squeeze Annalise’s hand. “Babe, I realize I say this all the time, but breathe.”
Annalise laughed and finally took the hand that wasn’t holding Brinley’s out of her pocket. In it was a folded-up piece of paper. Annalise let go of Brinley’s hand and used both of hers to unfold the paper. She cleared her throat, then began to read. “The final essay of Annalise Eleanor Finch.” She cleared her throat once more. “The past six months, I completed ten lessons on having sex with women. Trying to put into words what I learned from this experience is impossible, because there are no words that can truly explain something so life changing. When my grandma signed me up for The Lit Clit , she said it was because the sparkle I used to have was missing, and she thought I could get that back by having sex with women. I didn’t understand what the sparkle was she was talking about until I started to see it coming back. The further I got into my lessons, the more that sparkle returned, and I wasn’t the only one to notice. Multiple important people in my life mentioned it.”
Annalise folded the note back up and put it into her pocket then took both of Brinley’s hands in her own. “There was one thing my grandma was wrong about. It wasn’t having sex with women that brought that sparkle back. It was you. Ever since you came into my life, I found a happiness I’ve never had before. I know this is so cliche, but you are absolutely everything I didn’t know I was looking for. I want to date you. I want to sit on the couch and read while you study. I want to hold your hand while you work your ass off to become a doctor. I want the big moments and the small ones and every single one in between. I know you’re not there yet, and that’s completely fine. I don’t expect you to be, but I can’t hold in what I know is true, and that’s that I love you.”
“You do?” Brinley didn’t care that she was standing right outside of the bar. She let her tears fall freely. How couldn’t she? The most amazing woman in the whole world loved her. It was unreal.
“I do. So much that it scares the shit out of me.” Annalise laughed and shook her head. “Also, I need to apologize for the huge cliche waiting in your apartment . I had a lot of time and may have overdone it.”
Brinley laughed through her tears. “Okay, now we have to get up there. I’m so intrigued.”
Brinley and Annalise held hands as they walked through the bar. When they were met with whistles and hollers from Dale and Maddie, Brinley flipped them off and kept walking.
The two of them practically sprinted up the stairs, and as soon as the door to the apartment was open, Brinley laughed. Rose petals started at the door and were scattered as far as she could see. “You totally made a rose petal path to the bed, didn’t you?” When Annalise nodded, she laughed even harder. “You really are such a fucking cliche. I love you so much.”
The words were out before she could even consider what she was saying, but it didn’t matter because they were true. She loved Annalise so much, and there was no reason to deny it anymore.
Annalise turned toward her, eyes bright, smile sparkling, and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. “What did you say?”
“I said you were a cliche.” Brinley’s laughter grew even more when Annalise playfully pushed her chest. This is literally paradise. “Fine. I said I love you, okay? I fucking love you so fucking much, Annalise Finch.”
“In that case, shall we head to the bedroom?” Annalise lifted her eyebrows suggestively.
For maybe the first time in her life, the thought of sex made Brinley’s whole body hurt, especially her brain. She had almost forgotten how exhausted she was until now. “I don’t think I can have sex right now, babe. I’m sorry.”
“Did I say anything about sex? I figured we could take a nap.”
Brinley sighed. A nap had never sounded so good. “Yes! Let’s do it.”
Except, when she walked into her room, there was something else waiting for her. Sitting on the bed, in the middle of a heart made of roses, was her favorite pizza.
