Beautiful Stranger

through midtown and were almost to my building when my mobile vibrated in my pocket.
    Home safe. Thanks for dinner. xx
    Well, this night certainly went tits up.
    I reread her text and considered calling, knowing it’d be a lost cause. She was so fucking stubborn. I typed out at least ten different replies, deleting each one before sending.
    The problem was that I wanted to talk about this and she didn’t. The problem was also that I’d somehow misplaced my balls and my spine.
    “You mind driving around a bit, Scott?” I asked, and he shook his head, turning north past the park. I flipped through my contacts and pressed Will’s name. It rang twice before he answered.
    “Hey. What’s up?”
    “You got a few?” I asked, looking out over the passing streets.
    “Sure, give me a second.” There was some shuffling and the sound of a door closing before he was back. “Everything okay?”
    I leaned my head back against the seat, not sure where to start. I just knew I had to unload some confusion with someone, and, unfortunately for him right now, that someone in my life was Will. “I have no idea.”
    “Well, that was cryptic. I didn’t have an email telling me something is on fire, so I’m assuming this isn’t about work.”
    “I wish.”
    “Okay . . . Hey, didn’t you say something about having plans tonight?”
    “That’s sort of why I’m calling, actually.” I scrubbed a hand along my jaw. “Jesus. I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I said. “I think I just need someone to . . . to listen. Like, if I say it out loud it’ll make more sense.”
    “Well, this should be good,” he said, chuckling into the phone. “Let me get comfortable.”
    “You know the woman I’ve been seeing.”
    “Fucking. The woman you’ve been fucking.”
    I closed my eyes. “Will.”
    “Yes, Max. Your amazing shag. The secret sex-only situation with the woman who does not want to be photographed and which will most definitely not go down in flames.”
    I sighed. “So, about that,” I mumbled. “I mean . . . this is just between us, yeah?”
    “Of course,” he said, sounding a bit offended. “I may be an asshole but I’m a trustworthy asshole. And shouldn’t you be over here so we can, like, I don’t know, do each other’s nails while we talk about our feelings?”
    “It’s Sara Dillon.”
    Silence. Well, that shut him up.
    “Will?”
    “Holy shit.”
    “Yeah,” I said, rubbing my temples.
    “Sara Dillon. Sara Dillon of Ryan Media Group.”
    “The very one. It started before I even knew she worked with Ben.”
    “Wow. I mean, she’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but, she seems really . . . reserved? Who would’ve thought she had it in her. Nice.”
    And because it felt so good to just say it, I barreled on. “It started out as just a hookup. I could tell she was using me to play around, explore things.”
    “Things?”
    I scratched my jaw and winced as I admitted, “She likes to have sex in public.”
    “Uh?” he said, laughing. “That doesn’t sound like the Sara Dillon I’ve met.”
    “And she lets me take pictures of her.”
    “Wait—what?”
    “Photographs, sometimes more. Of us.”
    “Of you . . .”
    “Fucking.”
    The silence stretched for a few moments and I swear I could hear his rapid-fire blinking. He cleared his throat. “Okay, the sex in public is pretty awesome, but every guy I know has taken pictures while he’s fucking a girl.”
    “What’s your point, tosser?”
    “That you’re behind the trend, dick .”
    “Will, I’m being fucking serious here.”
    “Okay. So what’s the problem?”
    “The problem is tonight was the first night I managed to get her to go to a restaurant. I find out her parents own fucking Dillons, Will. The department store? These are things I didn’t even know before yesterday.”
    He was quiet for a beat and then laughed quietly. “Yeah.”
    “So, like this, we’re actually talking for once, and then her twat of an ex calls.”
    “Yeah.”
    “And it’s obvious he did a right number on her but she just shut down and couldn’t get away fast enough after that. She’ll have sex with me until she can barely walk, but she won’t tell me why it took her over a month to agree to actually have a meal with me.”
    “Uh huh.”
    “So her parents own a store and she grew up in Chicago. That’s it? I know nothing about her, really.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Will, are you even listening to me?”
    “Of course I’m listening. You