“I know. That was not a good look.”
“She may have regrets in the morning on top of her hangover,” Sophie said.
“Something you and I will not,” Jules told her, giving her hand a quick squeeze. “I’m having an amazing time.”
And that didn’t change throughout the night. Dinner was served buffet style, and they filled themselves with delicious food while Manhattan glittered outside the windows around them. It was beautiful and romantic and absolutely the perfect way to ring in the new year. After they ate, they sat for a while, sipping drinks while they exchanged the kind of effortless conversation that made Jules’s soul hum with contentment.
Throughout her adult life, she’d been surrounded by so many people that she’d started to feel an odd sort of loneliness in the center of the crowd, a detachment from her friends. She’d become a master of casual conversations and carefully masked emotions, because none of the people in her life were the sort that she shared her fears and disappointments with. She’d begun to feel shallow.
And then she’d met Sophie.
As midnight drew near, they got fresh drinks at the bar and managed to squeeze into an empty space along the windows, using the crowd as an excuse to stand close enough that their hips touched. Jules snuck her free hand into Sophie’s, giving it a squeeze.
“Do you make New Year’s resolutions?” she asked.
Sophie’s brow knitted. “Sometimes. I haven’t thought about one for this year, though.”
“I think I just want to make myself proud inIt’s in Her Kiss,” Jules said, surprised when she heard the tremor in her voice. “I have no control over reviews or how the crowd will react to the show. I just want to feel like I gave it my best.”
“I think that’s perfect,” Sophie said.
“And I want to own my sexuality. These last few weeks with you have shown me that this is a real, vital part of who I am, and I need the people in my life to know that.”
“I’m glad,” Sophie told her. “I think this is going to be an amazing, important year for you on many fronts.”
“Big changes for both of us, maybe,” Jules said. They’d been skating around Sophie’s job offer all night, having agreed not to talk about serious topics tonight, but it felt disingenuous to completely ignore it too.
Sophie nodded pensively. “I have a big decision to make, that’s for sure.”
“Which means we need to be extra thankful for this night.” Jules felt tears pressing behind her eyes. “I’m so glad to be here with you, Sophie.”
“Same.”
“Look.” Jules tipped her head toward the window, Times Square gleaming below. The crowd seemed to surge in waves, hands and signs in the air. “Five minutes to midnight. Looks like we’ll be facing the Hudson when the ball drops.”
“Actually, I think that will be perfect.”
“How so?” Jules asked, because to her, it felt like a manifestation of the all the ways her life seemed to be backward these days.
“It’ll be quieter,” Sophie said. “Everyone will crowd to the other side of the restaurant to try to look down and see the ball drop.”
“You’re right,” Jules said. “Thatisperfect.”
They stepped closer, staring into each other’s eyes as the TVs above the bar began the countdown to midnight. As Sophie had predicted, most of the party guests rushed to the windows overlooking Times Square, leaving them in relative obscurity.
“Five…four…three…two…” the crowd chanted, and Jules pulled Sophie into her arms, to hell with any potential onlookers.
“Happy New Year!”
All around them, people burst into applause and cheers as Jules lowered her lips to Sophie’s, tasting whiskey on her lips as she rang in the new year with a kiss. She lifted her head, smiling into Sophie’s dazed eyes.
“Happy New Year,” she whispered.
“Happy New Year, Jules.”
They tapped their glasses before polishing off what remained of their drinks, turning to face the room just in time to see a wide-eyed Micki watching them from the bar.
17
