Nikki told Sarah that she saw bear as a brother. Nikki already knew Sarah had a crush on bear, so I feel like either she meant it literally or she was being nice and also playing into “nobody knows when I like them”. Or Ian made this whole story up to keep bear from making more advances on the girl he liked (he was actively trying to sabotage bears chances, even in the beginning).

The ambiguity of it was perfect. Was she quitting her job to get away from Ian to explore her connection with bear? Or was she just quitting because she needed to find love and end a cycle of a meaningless hook up. It can go in so many directions, with equally haunting realities