22
Amanda took a slow sip of her whiskey sour, letting the citrus and warmth settle on her tongue as she kept her gaze on Ericka. The bar around them buzzed with quiet energy, the hum of voices, the soft clinking of glasses, and the occasional strum of a guitar from the live musician in the corner.
It was comfortable. Almost too comfortable.
Ericka hadn't looked away from her.
Amanda set her glass down, tilting her head slightly. "So, am I supposed to be reading into this?"
Ericka raised an eyebrow. "Into what?"
"The fact that you brought me here. The fact that Mason seems to think this means something."
Ericka smirked, taking another sip of her drink. "I told you, you make too many assumptions."
Amanda exhaled, shaking her head. "Fine. Then I'll ask instead."
Ericka gestured with her glass. "Go ahead."
Amanda leaned in slightly, curiosity getting the best of her. "How long have you been coming here?"
Ericka considered her for a moment before answering. "Years."
"That's vague."
Ericka smirked. "It is."
Amanda rolled her eyes, but she couldn't fight the smile pulling at her lips. "Okay. What made this place a favorite?"
Ericka glanced around, as if seeing the bar through fresh eyes. "It's quiet. No one expects anything from me here."
Amanda frowned slightly at that. "Do people always expect something from you?"
Ericka's smirk faded, just slightly, and for a brief moment, Amanda thought she saw something else behind the usual confidence. But then it was gone.
"Of course," Ericka said, as if the answer was obvious.
Amanda studied her for a beat, then tapped her fingers against the wooden counter. "Alright. My turn's over. Your turn to ask."
Ericka looked amused. "You want to turn this into a game?"
Amanda shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. "You like games."
Ericka chuckled softly. "Fair enough." She set her glass down, eyes flicking toward Amanda. "Why did you say yes?"
Amanda blinked. "To what?"
"To this," Ericka said, gesturing between them. "Coming here. Getting in the car. Playing along."
Amanda hesitated, swirling the ice in her drink as she thought.
Why had she said yes?
Because she was curious? Because she wanted to prove she could keep up?
Or because—deep down—she liked this version of Ericka? The one that teased, that smirked, that took her somewhere unexpected.
Amanda finally met Ericka's gaze, holding it steady. "Because I wanted to see what you had planned."
Ericka studied her for a moment, then smirked. "And?"
Amanda smirked right back. "Still deciding."
Ericka exhaled a quiet laugh, shaking her head. "Dangerous answer."
"Isn't that the point of the game?"
Their eyes locked, the air between them shifting. The casual banter still hung in the air, but there was something else under it now—something unspoken but unmistakably there.
Amanda lifted her drink again, taking a slow sip before setting it back down.
"Your turn," she murmured.
Ericka leaned in slightly, voice smooth, deliberate.
"What do you want from me, Amanda?"
Amanda's breath caught, her pulse spiking unexpectedly.
Amanda felt the weight of Ericka's question settle between them, the air charged with something unspoken.
She could have played it off. Could have thrown back another teasing remark, deflected with something lighthearted.
But she didn't want to.
Not here.
Not now.
She set her glass down and met Ericka's gaze, steady and sure. "I just want to get to know the real you."
Something flickered in Ericka's expression—too quick for Amanda to fully catch. A shift, a hesitation.
Amanda let the silence linger for a beat before adding, "Nothing more."
Ericka didn't smirk this time. She didn't toss back a clever remark or turn it into a game. Instead, she watched Amanda closely, as if trying to determine whether or not to believe her.
Amanda held her ground.
Whatever Ericka was expecting—whatever she was used to hearing from people—Amanda wasn't going to play into it. She wasn't here to chase after some impossible version of her. She wasn't trying to win.
She just wanted to understand.
Ericka leaned back slightly, her fingers tapping once against her glass. "You say that now."
Amanda exhaled a quiet laugh, shaking her head. "See, that? That right there? That's you assuming you already know my answer before I even get a chance to prove it."
Ericka tilted her head slightly. "And you think I'm wrong?"
Amanda smirked. "I think you like testing people."
Ericka considered her for a moment before taking a slow sip of her drink. When she set the glass down, her voice was quieter, more measured. "And you think you'll pass?"
Amanda didn't hesitate. "I'm not trying to."
A beat of silence.
Then Ericka exhaled, shaking her head just slightly, almost like she was amused. "You're a strange one, Amanda."
Amanda smirked, raising her glass again. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Ericka didn't answer right away. She just watched her, something unreadable in her gaze.
Then, finally, she said, "No. Not bad at all."
Amanda swirled the remaining ice in her glass, letting the comfortable silence settle between them. There was something different about this moment—something neither of them had acknowledged aloud, but both seemed to feel.
Ericka wasn't trying to outmaneuver her. She wasn't testing her, pushing her, challenging her to keep up.
She was just here.
Amanda glanced around the bar again, taking in the warm lighting, the way the soft hum of conversation blended with the low melody of the live music playing in the corner.
She wondered how many times Ericka had sat in this very spot, away from the world that expected so much from her, allowing herself to just exist.
Her fingers traced the rim of her glass before she looked back at Ericka.
"Thank you."
Ericka's brow arched slightly. "For?"
Amanda smiled, small but genuine. "For introducing me to a piece of you."
For a moment, Ericka said nothing.
She just studied Amanda, her expression unreadable, yet somehow more open than Amanda had ever seen before. No carefully placed smirk, no calculated response—just quiet consideration.
Finally, Ericka leaned back, her fingers lightly drumming against the side of her glass.
"I don't do that often," she admitted, her voice lower, softer.
Amanda nodded, already knowing. "I figured."
Another stretch of silence, this one lighter than before.
Then Ericka exhaled, shaking her head with something almost resembling amusement. "You really don't want anything from me?"
Amanda tilted her head. "I didn't say that."
Ericka smirked, but there was something different about it this time—something softer. "Then what do you want, Amanda?"
Amanda held her gaze. "Just this."
For a second, something unreadable flickered in Ericka's eyes.
Then, she picked up her glass, raising it slightly in Amanda's direction. "Then here's to just this."
Amanda lifted hers as well, the clink of their glasses ringing softly between them.