Larissa hurried to the kitchen, where she ran some water from the faucet into a glass and set the rose inside it. Then, she just stared down at it for a moment and decided that no matter how it went with Harlow, she’d keep that flower forever.
“Okay. I’m ready,” she said.
“I made a reservation. I hope that’s okay.”
“Yeah, sure. Where?”
“Um… I don’t know if you’ll like this. It’s not exactly a fancy place, but I took a chance.”
Larissa made her way back around to Harlow and said, “I don’t like fancy places.”
“I know. But it’s a date, Larissa.”
“It’s us,” she replied with a shoulder shrug. “We once sat around on a Saturday and watched three movies back-to-back, eating bags and bags of popcorn and wearing footie pajamas because we wanted to be comfortable and warm. You spilled the melted butter on yours when you pulled it out of the microwave.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. God, that was a while ago.”
“You’d just gotten back from that trip where you were almost murdered by a serial killer,” Larissa replied.
Harlow laughed and said, “Earl was great. Hedidhit on Kacey, though. She made it clear that we were together, and instead of asking us if he could join us in bed, hesurprisinglyjust left.”
Larissa’s face fell.
“Whoa! What just happened?” Harlow asked her. “You look sad now.”
“I’m okay,” she said, forcing a smile. “It’s just that you were with Kacey, Laurel, Samantha, Alicia, and, well,others. I had a weird reaction just now when you mentioned Kacey andin bedin the same sentence. That’s all.”
“You did?” Harlow asked, smiling a little.
“Yes. Why are you smiling?”
“You don’t like that I was with her?”
“Is it bad if I say that I kind of hate that you were with anyone, even though I have no right to say that, and it’s only our first date?”
“No, it’s good to know,” Harlow stated. “I hated that you told me you’d been with three people not all that long ago. I won’t lie: I was thinking about how they, apparently, all told you that you were good at sex and wondering if we’d be good at it together for the millionth time, but I also hated that they got to touch you.”
“Does it bother you that I’ve been so oblivious about this and just figured it out?”
“No,” Harlow said, shaking her head. “Does it bother you that I’ve wanted this for a very long time?”
“How long, exactly?”
Harlow took Larissa’s hand in hers again and replied, “From the moment I first saw you at that party anddefinitelywhen I saw you again as my TA.”
“What? Harlow…”
“We can get into this later. We don’t have to talk about it now. I don’t want us to be late for dinner. I just… I don’t want to put any pressure on you or this, but you should still know that, even though it might not have always seemed that way because I had a lot of girlfriends, it has always been you for me, Larissa. Hearing Kit and Matilda talk last night about what they might have missed, and– God, just doing all these interviews with you where people tell us how they fell in love – it’s been driving mecrazy because I’ve wanted to tell you for so long, and I never could. I didn’t want to ruin what we had. I never wanted to risk losing you as my best friend. Hell, you’re myonlyfriend most of the time, but I couldn’tnottell you anymore. I just couldn’t go another day without asking you to do this with me.”
“I’m glad you did,” she replied and squeezed Harlow’s hand.
“Me too. Want to go to dinner with me now?”
“Yes,” she confirmed.
“Can I hold your hand in the car?”
“Yes,” she repeated.
