Never Say Never

to the gym again on Sunday morning accompanied by her sister and Maia.
Her stomach fluttered in a way it hadn’t in a long, long time at the thought that she might run into Megan again. It was nice to think of someone romantically besides Camila, someone she might actually have a shot with.
After half an hour with no sign of Megan, she decided to check out the weight room.
“Why would you want to do that?” Maia asked when Emily told them where she was going. “It’s full of dudes who think they know better than you.”
“No reason.”
“There’s a reason.” Cassie was onto her immediately. “There’s a definite reason.”
“No, there’s not.” Emily was a terrible liar.
“Then we’ll come with you.”
“What?” Maia protested. “Ew, no. Why would we do that?”
Cassie ignored her protests and followed Emily down the stairs.
“You owe me for this, Jones.”
“I’ll buy you dinner,” Cassie promised.
Emily glanced around the weight room; Megan was nowhere in sight. She was disappointed but decided to do some reps on one of the machines anyway. Now that she was there, she might as well get something out of it.
Plus she enjoyed confusing her sister, who seemed to be desperately trying to work out why Emily was there.
“Oh hey.” She heard a familiar voice behind her, and Emily turned to see Megan. “You came back.”
“I did.”
“And you brought friends?” Megan glanced at Cassie and Maia, who were staring openly at Megan. “Was I not a good enough spotter for you?” Megan teased.
Emily felt her face get hot. “What? N-no, you were great.”
Cassie covered her face with her hand, and Emily hoped that Megan hadn’t noticed.
“This is my annoying sister, Cassie, and her girlfriend, Maia. And this is Megan. We met the other day.”
“Wanna be workout buddies again?” Megan asked, and Emily nodded. She needed to get her away from Cassie as soon as possible, for one thing, and for another, she was definitely not terrible to look at. “Awesome.” Megan’s graced her with a dazzling smile and led her to one of the machines. Emily looked straight ahead, refusing to look back at her sister.
“Your sister and her girlfriend make a cute couple,” Megan commented as Emily did a bench press.
“Yeah, they do. I’m glad they found each other.”
“And what about you?” Megan asked. “You have someone waiting for you at home?”
“Nope.”
“Seriously?” She raised an eyebrow. “A girl as cute as you?”
Emily pressed again, hoping the effort would explain the flush on her face.
“Why the hell not?”
“New to town, remember? I haven’t had a chance to meet anyone yet. Well,” she added, “except for girls at the gym who think I’m cute.”
Megan grinned. “Hey, I just call it like I see it.”
They traded places, and God, Megan had great arms. It felt good to flirt with a hot girl.
“I feel like we’re being watched.”
“Oh, my God.” Emily looked up to see Cassie and Maia lounging on the machine opposite, completely obvious to the fact that they were spying. “I am so sorry.”
“It’s cool.” Megan laughed. She set the bar down and sat up. “Is there a reason?”
“Because their only goal in life is to embarrass me in front of attractive women.”
“You think I’m attractive?”
“Have you seen you?” Emily asked, her voice rising, and Megan grinned again. “I’m going to tell them to leave.” She marched over to Cassie and Maia. Cassie gripped Emily’s arm.
“Um, excuse you,” Cassie whispered. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us about the hot woman you met at the gym?”
“Because I knew this would happen!” Emily hissed. “You two are unbelievable.”
“We are unbelievable?” Cassie asked. “Us? What about you? How could you hold out on us? Good God, Emily, look at her!”
Emily instinctively turned her head. Megan was watching them, amused.
“If you don’t ask her out, I’m going to do it for you.”
“I was getting there, and then she saw you both staring. Now go away and stop being creepy.”
“I want every detail as soon as we get home!” Cassie called out as they left, loud enough for Megan to hear. Emily stared after her with daggers in her eyes.
“Again, sorry,” she said when she was back at Megan’s side.
“It’s fine. This is the most entertainment I’ve had in ages. And to be honest, if my sister were here, she’d be doing the same. She also enjoys embarrassing me in front of gorgeous women.”
Emily’s face grew hot for the umpteenth time that day.
“So, um, do you maybe want to grab a drink one night? See each other outside of a room full of sweaty dudes?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” Megan’s eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled.
“Next Saturday?” Emily suggested.
Megan pushed her lower lip out. “I have to wait almost a whole week to see you again?”
“My job is kind of unpredictable. I never know what time I’ll finish, and I wouldn’t want to mess you around if it ended up being late.”
“Okay, that’s fair,” Megan said. “But what’s wrong with tonight? Or do you already have plans?”
“I’m supposed to have dinner with my sister, but believe me, she will be delighted if I cancel on her for this. So tonight is good.”
“Great,” Megan replied. “Gimme your phone.”
Emily handed it over. Megan typed in her number and sent herself a message.
“I’ll text you and we can sort the details.”
“Sure.”
“See you later.” Megan kissed Emily’s cheek and walked away.
Cassie and Maia ambushed her right outside the door.
“Tell us everything,” Cassie demanded.
“Well, I have a date tonight…”
Megan glanced back at the sound of squealing, a smile on her face.
* * *
“Are you nervous?” Megan asked later that night, sitting opposite Emily in a booth at the back of a bar. The leather seat was cool on Emily’s bare legs, and she fiddled with the tiny umbrella on the rim of her glass as she decided whether or not to tell the truth.
“Yes.” There was no point in lying.
“Why?”
“Because you make me nervous!”
“What?” Megan cocked her head. “Why?”
“Because I haven’t been on a date in ages, and you’re very pretty, and your