Sherry licked her dry lips. “Yeah, sure.”

“Good.” Madison focused on the movie again.

Sherry used the chance to look over at Madison and try to make sense of what was going on with herself. Yes, she was as inexperienced when it came to matters of the heart as she was about sexual attraction, but she wasn’t blind or stupid.

As much as she had tried to ignore it over the past few weeks, she couldn’t deny it any longer; she enjoyed Madison’s kisses. And the plan to avoid the kisses to leave her confusion behind had failed miserably because she thought about them more often than not.

She could lie to the world however she wanted to, but she had to be honest with herself: She felt attracted to Madison. She was attracted to her in a way she had never been before to anyone else.

But I’m straight!

She wasn’t interested in women. Not like that. Okay, maybe she wasn’t really interested in men like that either, but that was more because she hadn’t met the right one yet, not because she was gay.

She liked Madison. Not the arrogant and self-centered Madison, but the attentive, friendly, and thoughtful one. Initially, she’d thought the nice Madison was a façade that only occasionally appeared. Now she knew she opposite seemed to be the case. The old Madison hadn’t been the real one.

But regardless of whether she liked Madison, how could she be sure what was real?

Maybe she was so engrossed in her role as Madison’s partner that her mind was leading her to believe she really had feelings for her beyond friendship.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Yeah, that had to be it.

But why did she still have this nagging feeling that there was more to it than a confused mind?

Five minutes more and Ruth will run screaming. Madison couldn’t believe how the usually talkative Danielle stared silently down into her third cocktail.

Ruth’s expression varied between confusion and disappointment. She had tried a few times to start a conversation with Danielle but had finally given up after getting nothing but one-word answers.

“Danielle, you’ve been here before, right?” Madison asked when she couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

Danielle nodded.

This had to end. One way or another. Madison stood. “Could you show me where the restrooms are?”

Danielle raised her hand as if to point in one direction, but then she let her hand drop to her lap and stood too. “Sure.”

The doors of the restroom had barely fallen shut behind them when Madison whirled around. “What the hell are you doing?”

Danielle covered her face with both hands. “God, I’m the worst date ever.”

“That’s an understatement. If I were Ruth, I would have run screaming after your second cocktail. What’s your problem?”