Again, Brynn laughed. She didn’t mind that Hallie wasn’t going to make this easy. It let her fixate on the feeling of a good challenge instead of the unfamiliar warmth pinging around in her stomach. “Okay, but let’s say that I want to focus on the future. What about then?”
“Do you know your astrology sign or have a penchant for mullets?” Hallie’s delivery was dry, even as the edges of her mouth tipped into a smile.
Brynn remembered Hallie’s comments at dinner with Sydney and Reese, about how difficult it was out there to meet people. Maybe Brynn had been the one who’d had relationships, but she’d never dated casually or used an app before. Hallie had the experience level on that one.
Hallie lifted her eyebrows, seemingly waiting for Brynn’s answer to what she’d assumed was a joke. “Oh, you’re serious?”
She was met with a quick nod, followed by, “Well, we live in a small town that’s hard up for tourists for the next few months.If you want to meet someone, apps are really the only way to go. They cast the widest net. I guess once you move back to Boston, you’ll have a much easier time,” Hallie added with a smirk, “Or I guess we could always just prowl The Lobster Trap.”
The idea ofprowlingThe Lobster Trap aside, which seemed like it could only end in hilarity —especially if Hallie was there, too—Brynn didn’t like being reminded that her time here was finite.
Not so soon.
She was just finding her footing in Stoneport. At the inn. As an independent person. It was the clearest sense of anything future-facing she’d had in the last few months, and she didn’t want to give it up.
And she liked…this. Their conversations. The way she felt when Hallie’s thoughtful yet playful stare was trained on her. She especially liked that she’d never met anyone like Hallie before.
She didn’t know what to call it, whatever it was that was happening.
Camaraderie? A developing friendship? These were the closest approximations she could find to describe the pleasant but fluttery feeling that still settled low in her stomach.
Brynn let out a deep breath, the flurry of warmth expanding outward. It threaded through the rest of her body, lighting her up from the inside out. The whiskey, she had to assume, was doing its job.
This was further evidenced by how aware she was of the woman sitting next to her, hazel eyes bright and arresting. Hallie’s dimple was present, on her left cheek. At some point, she’d placed her elbow on her knee, and her chin was pressed down into her palm. She looked a bit like Rodin’sThe Thinker, and Brynn wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen such a perfect example of beautiful art embodied in the flesh.
What were they talking about again?
Oh, right. “So if I came to you, wanting to find a romantic partner in a small town during the winter, you would encourage me to use a dating app?” Brynn asked, forcing her mind to whir to life. Which was not usually something that she found difficult.
Hallie slapped her hand against her forehead. “Whydoes it always come back to the apps?”
“I assume that they’re efficient,” Brynn guessed, further orienting herself in the conversation at hand. This was all to help Hallie, and she wasn’t going to let herself be distracted. “A broad dating pool along with criteria to be connected. Theoretically, it should elicit even more compatibility than just approaching someone because you find them attractive.”
Brynn poured herself another glass of whiskey, waiting for Hallie’s answer. She was having fun. More fun than she’d had in a long time. It was like their own little philosophical debate on the merits of online dating.
Still, she had zero practical experience, which made her feel like it was difficult to have a true stance on the topic.
This became clear when Hallie hit her with, “Youthinkthey’re efficient.” She shifted her legs, crossing them underneath her, and quickly grew emphatic, waving her hands around. This was obviously a subject that Hallie herself was passionate about, whether she wanted to be or not. “That’s how they get you. But it only creates the illusion of choice, with too many messages to respond to or people who are unwilling to prioritize setting a time to meet. Don’t even get me started on people actually showing up for said date. On the apps, you’re just a profile, not a person.”
“So, how do we meetpeoplethen?” Brynn asked, feeling like they’d hit a wall. But she wasn’t going to give up. She wanted to help Hallie. And that eagerness only continued to balloon.
It was how she decided to focus the still-present thumping of her heart, which was beating just a little too fast to feel normal.
Hallie gave her a curious smile, which did nothing to quell her leapfrogging pulse. “We?”
“I mean… I’m here. I’m single. I’m looking for what comes next. How better to do that than get out there and date?” Brynn listed off the reasons, this idea making more and more sense by the minute.
And even though it seemed like it, she wasn’t thinking anymore. She wasfeeling. She couldn’t quite connect the dots between her mind and her body, but there was something there. A desire, pulling her forward, something that she’d never felt before. It was spurred on by this conversation, every molecule in her body screaming, for the first time, for her to listen.
To what, exactly, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she wanted to keep seeing Hallie smiling. Would do anything to make it happen, in fact.
“Doesn’t it seem like halving the dating pool between the two of us is a bad idea?” Hallie asked, but it seemed like she was really starting to take this seriously, which elated Brynn. “It’s already a limited supply.”
“Who says we can’t go on dates with the same people? If it happens,” Brynn clarified, “Not as an intentional thing.”
“And I date women, which also expands my pool.”
Brynn thought about it for a second, a presence in her chest and stomach that made her say, “I could date women.”
