One More Weekend (Sapphics in the City #5)

6. Jenna

6

JENNA

As we hit our last note, the group of college kids clapped for us as we left the stage. A few of them gawked at us as we headed back to our booth, shocked that we went up with such a coordinated number.

To be fair, if I’d seen two random women come in and pull that off on a random Thursday, I would’ve been surprised too.

Falling back into the booth, I sipped at my Mule like it was rehydrating water.

Sy slid in next to me, setting her drink on the table. The college sophomores hopped on stage to do their next number, I Gotta Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas.

Without thinking, I start biting the inside of my cheek as I watch these kids sing it out.

As if she could read my mind, Sy slouches in the booth and leans closer to me. “What’s up, Chambers?”

The corners of my lips lift into a smile, raising my eyebrows. “Nothing, just thinking.”

“About?”

I couldn’t look at her, knowing this wouldn’t be easy for her to hear. “What if what I said earlier is true?”

Sy sat up, turning herself toward me and pressing her knees into my thigh. “What? That you should leave?”

Unable to meet her gaze, all I could do was nod. It felt impossible to ever say the words and mean it. I should leave New York. My chest tightened at the thought. But I couldn’t pretend like there wasn’t a part of my mind that let the tension release.

“Like, what’s really left for me here?” I picked up my cup, sipping the bitter vodka and ginger beer. “I’ve tried to be more than an intern for like three years now and even when I land a perfect opportunity it bites me in the ass. And clearly, my love life is a mess.”

Sy sat in silence, her slender fingers tracing the rim of her plastic cup.

Filling the silence with more than off-key shout-singing, I continued, “Like maybe I just need a change of location. I’ve never done as much here as I wanted to. It just never happened for me.”

“Yeah.” Sy shrugged, letting her hand rest on my forearm. Goosebumps rose from my sensitive skin, clearly just overstimulated by the day I’d had.

I knew her words weren’t really an affirmation, more an acknowledgment.

Lifting my eyes to hers, I sighed. “I guess I can’t really decide anything until the lease is up in September. But maybe it will be time for a change.”

Before Sy could respond, the students hopped off stage and left the microphone for my solo. Taking a big swig of the Mule, I winced as the liquor hit my tongue.

“Good luck.” Sy managed as I walked toward the stage.

Over my shoulder, I winked back at her in her thrifted t-shirt. I’d bullied her into buying it because it made her biceps look amazing. And then I proceeded to make her wear it to Lesbian Night at The Woods in Brooklyn. It had worked wonders, a few women crowding around her and taking sneaky feels of her arms as they flirted.

Every time they did, she lifted her gaze to me across the bar and shook her head – a cheeky smile playing at her lips.

Stepping up to the platform, my song started to play with the lyrics listing out on the digital screen overhead.

If this was all New York had to offer, I couldn’t be sure it was worth sticking around. Even if it meant leaving my darling Sy.

That alone might kill me.

But how would I know if I never tried?