Page 143 of February

“Yeah, I always have. I–” She pulled Monica over into an alley and pressed her against the wall like they’d done the day they’d first made love. “I’ve always believed it for others, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever have it for myself. Having Mel find Kyle has been harder on me than I let on. I had this misplaced, broken heart, and, in a way, I lost my best friend a little there, too. I was lonely, and I thought I just always would be.”

“Which is why you had sex with your ex?” Monica said with a lifted eyebrow. “Never again, Bridgette.” She wrapped her arms around Bridgette’s neck.

“I don’t plan on having any more exes, Monica.” She lifted an eyebrow right back at her.

“That was a really good line,” Monica told her, pulling Bridgette in for a kiss.

Not everything was set in stone yet, and they still had a lot to figure out, but when Monica made love to her girlfriend that night, it felt like a fresh start, a new beginning. They whispered that they loved each other for the first time after, and neither of them qualified it by saying that it was too much or too soon, or that it wouldn’t make sense to anyone else. They just said it and let it sink in that they had found their person in the most unexpected way.

When Bridgette fell asleep, Monica went to the living room to find her laptop in her bag. She didn’t want to wake Bridgette, but she had this urge to write her official resignation letter forArnette, knowing she wouldn’t even need it for a few weeks. Then, she started looking for an apartment.

“Babe?” Bridgette mumbled when she walked into the living room, looking exhausted and completely naked.

“Sorry. Go back to sleep. I’ll be in there in a minute,” she said.

“Everything okay?” Bridgette sat down next to her on the sofa and rested her head on Monica’s shoulder.

“I couldn’t sleep. I got the urge to find a place to live.”

“My apartment isn’t fancy enough for you? I knew it.” She wrapped an arm around Monica’s waist.

“It’s plenty fancy.” Monica chuckled. “But we’re not moving in together right now.”

“I’m too tired to argue. Those four orgasms you gave me knocked me out.”

“Go back to bed,” Monica replied.

“Not without you.” Bridgette settled into her side.

“Do you want to help me look?”

“If it means you’re staying here, I’ll look for anything you want,” Bridgette said, shifting to kiss Monica’s neck. “I love you.”