Yep, Ainsley considered, I really like Megan.
***
“I really like your friends,” Ainsley told Rachel later, when they were at a bar having cocktails.
“Well, I kind of inherited them by being friends with Amy,” Rachel said. “But I’m slowly getting absorbed even more into their cult. Especially now that I’m no longer the oddball straight girl but am actually dating a woman also.”
Ainsley laughed.
“Uh-oh,” she began, “now you’ve messed up their quota and they have to find another straight friend.”
Rachel laughed.
“I have plenty of them to choose from,” she said.
They enjoyed their drinks in silence for a while, the quiet not at all awkward.
After a while, Ainsley said, “You know, I’m impressed by something you did earlier.”
Rachel raised her eyebrows.
“Do tell,” she instructed.
“It was when we met at La Vida Mocha. We met up outside and you let me kiss you out there in p
ublic like that.”
Rachel frowned slightly.
“We show PDA all the time,” she said.
Ainsley made a face showing that she didn’t one-hundred percent agree.
“Kinda/sorta,” she said. “It’s mostly when we’re with our volleyball buddies, if you think about it. And when we’re in the car, sure. Or in San Diego.”
“So?”
“So…” Ainsley began, taking Rachel’s hand. “I thought it was super cool that you let us be like that here in your hometown—where people know you; where maybe even some of your clients live. It wouldn’t have surprised me if perhaps you had been a little more hesitant. Does any of this make sense?”
Rachel nodded.
“Yeah, I think so. The people who know me in this town know me as straight…”
“Right.”
“…and by kissing you on such a busy street, it was kind of like…coming out in a way and announcing, ‘Hey, I’m not quite who you thought I was.’”
“Exactly,” Ainsley agreed.
Rachel smiled.
“Well, guess what?”
“What?”
“I’d like to do a little more coming out again right now, if you don’t mind.” And Rachel leaned over and kissed Ainsley deeply.
***