Beth visibly cringed. “Oh, and that’s your number one pet peeve, too.”
“It is. And to make matters worse, she has a goldendoodle.” Sarah shot Beth a pointed look. “You know how I feel about dogs with human-like eyes.” She gave an exasperated, albeit dramatic, sigh. Beth laughed and it was like something inside of Sarah loosened.
“Well, you put yourself out there. And hey, it sounds like you got a nice dinner out of it. My dates definitely don’t include five-course fine dining.” Beth’s smile was wide as she leaned back against the back of the booth, crossing one leg over the other, looking more assured than Sarah had ever seen her. “It’s a numbers game at this point anyway, right? The more dates we go on, the greater the chance we have of finding love, or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.”
“That’s what Nell said too—it being a numbers game.” Sarah slipped her hands into the pockets of her jacket. She looked at Beth, observing the way she took up space in that moment. Space was something Beth had always quietly demanded, but hadn’t always been good at claiming. In the last few years, though, that seemed to be changing.
“I think it’s really awesome that you and Nell have stayed such good friends. You’ve always been such a loyal person. Any woman should consider themselves lucky to get to experience that side of you.”
Heat rose in her cheeks at Beth’s compliment, and she suddenly found that she didn’t quite know what to do with her eyes so instead of looking at Beth, she let her gaze drift out the window over the dark expanse of water. “You’re out late. It’s past ten. What happened to your firm,all plans should conclude at a reasonable hourrule?”
“Rules were made to be broken, right?” Beth scrunched her nose, making the dusting of freckles across her cheeks dance as she shrugged. “I’m trying something new. But if curious minds would like to know, I also had a date tonight. I decided to sign myself up for a dating app—you know, rip the Band-Aid off and go for it. Lily and Dylan helped me make my profile.”
“You’re on a dating app?” Sarah asked, her surprise getting the better of her. She didn’t know if she could fully picture Beth on her phone, mindlessly swiping through profiles. Not when she had always burned like the brightest flame, pulling people in no matter what room she walked into.
“Trust me, I fought it. But I want to meet people and I figured life is short, so why not?” Beth said, her foot bouncing slightly as the ferry jostled.
The voice crinkled over the speaker again, announcing their arrival. The pair stood, making their way towards the rear of the boat, preparing to disembark.
“So how was it? Your date, I mean,” Sarah asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“About as good as yours…” Beth gave her a knowing look as they shared a conspiratorial smile. “I actually thought it was going well for the first part until she revealed that she had a husband, but not to worry because he’s one of those ‘cool’ husbands who’s totally on board with her exploring her sexuality.”
She looked at Beth in disbelief. “Oh my god, no. Really? What did you say?”
Beth reached into her purse, fishing out her car keys as they walked towards the parking lot. Sarah reached for her phone to call another car to pick her up.
“I told her I’m all for people exploring their sexuality in whatever way they see fit, but at least have the common decency to be transparent about intentions. Clear communication goes a long way,” Beth paused, keys in hand, eyeing her. “Do you need a ride? I don’t mind.” She cocked her head, blond waves shimmering in the moonlight.
Sarah looked at her, thumb hovering over the order button for her car. “Yeah, that would be great. If you don’t mind.” She followed Beth to her Landrover, climbing into the passenger seat of the car she had ridden in hundreds of times before.
“New stereo system? Is that an eight-track player?” she commented, eyeing the setup.
“Yeah, I put it in last weekend. You remember that woman I went on a date with who turned me down? Turns out she’s also a vintage car nut. She put me in touch with a friend of hers who helped me upgrade the sound system.”
“You and this car.” Sarah laughed, shaking her head.
Beth put the car in reverse, pulling out onto the main street and heading in the direction of Sarah’s house. “Think of it as one extended art project.” She grinned, looking both ways beforecrossing the intersection. “I’m just thankful thatthatdate wasn’t a total flop. I ended up finding someone who actually knows what they’re doing when it comes to seventies wiring.”
“Only you could turn rejection into a networking opportunity.” Sarah laughed.
Beth smirked, but Sarah caught the way she glanced over at her before returning her eyes to the road.
They fell into a comfortable quiet as Beth’s headlights cut through the sleepy evergreen-lined roads. Sarah let her hand rest loosely on her knee, thumb brushing her thigh, the low thrum of something unfamiliar—was it nerves? That was ridiculous. This was Beth.
“So can I see it?” Sarah asked, aiming for nonchalant.
“See what?”
“Your dating profile.” The second the words left her mouth, Sarah regretted them—okay, maybe not regretted, but she was definitely aware that she was coming right up to a line she was sure she shouldn’t cross because this wasn’t the old them. This was new Beth and Sarah, and she wasn’t sure where the boundaries of this latest iteration of friendship were.
They waited at an intersection for the light to turn green and Beth looked at her in surprise, but not her bad kind of surprise; Sarah would recognize that anywhere. This was more like curiosity.
“You want to see my dating profile?” she asked, the warmth of her gentle tease coating her words.
Sarah swallowed, suddenly fascinated by how the streetlight’s shadows reflected on the dashboard. “I mean, only if you don’t mind. I’m just curious. I’m trying to be a supportive friend, you know, hype you up.” She winced. “I don’t know. That came out weird. You can say no.”
God, why isn’t this light turning green yet?Sarah nervously tapped her fingers against her thigh.
