Vivian made a sound in her throat and emptied her first glass of wine. Bryn tried and failed not to allow Vivian’s barely concealed jealousy to warm her skin from the inside out.
“I never go to bars, but it was one of my roommates’ birthdays and I had no excuse for passing,” Bryn explained. “And when I asked this woman out, I didn’t really expect her to say yes.”
“But she did.”
“She did,” Bryn agreed. “Actually, she saidyesseveral times.”
Vivian’s eyes widened and Bryn realized what she’d said.
“Several dates, I mean,” she corrected. “For three weeks, I matched her cool energy. If she took an hour to text me back, then I’d wait an hour and a half. I pretended I had no opinion on where we ate or where we went. I acted like I was this breezy, mysterious creature just casually moving through the world.”
Vivian’s gaze swept over her, assessing. “What happened after three weeks?”
“I couldn’t keep up the act.” She smiled. “I realized that I don’t actually care about being cool. All I wanted was to tell her I really liked her. I wanted to ask her about her relationship with her sister. I wanted to be enthusiastic and myself at full volume.” She shrugged. “Living on mute just seemed… I don’t know… pointless.” She shook her head. “Like I know all the dating advice is like, ease people in, don’t reveal too much. But I don’t know. I’d rather know upfront whether I’m someone’s flavor and the other way around. Like, I’m Rocky Road, and it’s best for everyone if we know you’re allergic to nuts.” She took a breath. “So I told her all that.”
“And what happened?” Vivian’s expression gave nothing away. If she was horrified or put off or proud, Bryn couldn’t tell.
“Nut allergy.” Bryn laughed. “She ghosted me.”
Vivian’s face hardened. In a shift so subtle it was nearly imperceptible, she went from stoic to angry. “Well, fuck her and her inferior immune system.”
Grinning, Bryn tried not to read too much into Vivian’s response. Tried not to let it course through her veins and pump oxygen-rich blood straight into her racing heart.
“Is the dish not to your liking?” The server interrupted.
They looked down at the untouched food between them.
“I can bring you something else?—”
“Perhaps a side of pine nuts,” Vivian said.
* * *
Dinner was a three-hour blur that might have been longer if the manager hadn’t politely asked them to give up their table if they’d finished eating. Bryn had tried to pay, which Vivian took as a personal affront.
“Don’t think just because you paid for a wildly overpriced meal that you’re going to get lucky,” Bryn joked as they approached the hotel’s entrance.
Vivian held open the side door rather than walking through the revolving one. Instead of making a snarky comment or rolling her eyes, she looked at Bryn. Looked at her like there was no one else on the face of the planet and muttered, “Too late,” so quietly Bryn wasn’t sure she’d heard her correctly.
Pulse pounding, she wanted to ask Vivian to repeat herself, but the chaos of the hotel bar swallowed them whole. Her mind was still processing when Vivian placed her hand gently on her lower back. So gently that the touch shouldn’t have seared her skin through the fabric. Shouldn’t have felt like an open declaration. Shouldn’t have felt like safety and security.
“There’s Harvey,” Vivian said, lips nearly brushing Bryn’s ear and weakening her knees. “I want him to meet you,” she added, like Bryn was the prize.
Disoriented, she followed. But all she could think about was Vivian and all the things she might say in private. Something about her had changed since they’d been in Miami and Bryn was desperate to slip inside the gate while it was still down.
“Vivian, I don’t care about?—”
“I do,” she insisted, hand sliding over and gripping her waist in an attempt to kill her.
“I—”
“Harvey.” Vivian interrupted a conversation like it wasn’t ongoing. “I have someone I want you to meet,” she said, putting Bryn in front of a nice-looking man in his sixties. And then she was swallowed up by the crowd, leaving Bryn instantly unmoored by the loss of her touch.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Savoringthe silence on the otherwise abandoned terrace, Vivian closed her eyes and sank into the patio chair. She let the breeze cool her perspiration-damp skin. She took a deep breath, taking the city air into her lungs and pushing it out through her nose. Bryn’s voice, soothing and steady and imaginary, was in her ear.
Feel the armrests under your fingertips.
