“I waxed Sasquatch for you. She’s all nice and smooth, like a baby’s butt. Guess you’ll have to wait until next weekend to see it.”
I think I hear him groan.
“Drew, are you okay?”
“Yeah Cate.” His voice is all hoarse though.
“I had fun tonight.”
“Same here.”
“Can I get just one little kiss?” I ask.
“Only if you promise not to dry hump me. That would be my undoing.”
That makes me laugh so hard, I actually snort.
THE CAR DRIVES LIKE A DREAM, or maybe I’m just used to subway trains and taxis these days. As I take in a deep breath, I catch his scent and think again of seeing Andy naked under the sheets. He was hard and ready. I can’t deny I was just as ready for him.
Only the dull ache is still there. The memories of that long ago day are ever present. How can I forget the past, even if I want to?
My phone chimes, but traffic is still a bear. I let the call go to voicemail until I realize it might be Drew… Andy. It’s so hard to think of him by this new name. I fumble in my purse and almost rear end someone. Wouldn’t that be great? Calling him to cancel dinner because I totaled his car wouldn’t be the ideal way of starting fresh.
Thank goodness for fingerprint recognition. I unlock my phone with a touch of my thumb and sneak a glance at the screen as traffic is stopped in front of me. Jenna.
I reach to turn the volume down on the radio and accidently hit an extra button.
A sultry voice cuts the song off and says, “Bluetooth recognized. Would you like to sync this phone?”
“Yeah right,” I say flippantly.
“Bluetooth accepted.”
“What?” I ask out loud, surprised the car understood me. A pop up box appears on my phone and draws my eye. I hit okay to allow my phone to pair with his car, even though when I’d spoken out loud, I’d been kidding. I like new techie stuff, so I test the waters.
“Call Jenna.”
Calling Jenna. Home or work?
“Mobile,” I say instead.
The phone rings through the audio system and I’m entranced but focused on the road again.
“Hey you. I just called.”
“I know. I’m driving.”
After the words pop out of my mouth, I realize my mistake.
“Driving? Did you buy a new car? I thought you didn’t want to have one.”
“No, it’s a friend’s. What’s up? Why’d you call?” I ask brusquely, scrambling to divert our conversation away from the car. I’m just not ready to talk about Drew yet.
“I can’t call you?” The way she over dramatizes her mock offense gets a laugh out of me.
“Of course you can. You know I didn’t mean it that way.”
“No, really, I’m just checking on you. Last we talked you were going to happy hour with your coworkers. I’m so hoping you met a man and ended your dry spell.”
I can see her scolding look in my head as she speaks.
“Will every conversation always make it back to my sex life?”
“I don’t know there, Sasquatch, but I’m hoping you at least did a bit of landscaping.”
I sigh. “I keep it up now, Mom,” I say dramatically. “Thanks to you for forcing me to get that little wax job, I’ve been traumatized into keeping up my maintenance on Louise.”
Shuddering, I laugh at the memory as her cackles echo through the car’s sound system.
“Seriously though, did you meet someone?”
“Happy hour was a no go,” I admit. “My coworker hit on me, though.”
See, it wasn’t totally a lie. I just edit myself. I need to tell Jenna about Drew in person.
“Oh, do tell.”
I give her the details that I can remember ending with Daniel hailing us a taxi.
“Daniel looks like Clark Kent. Sounds promising.”
“Sounds more like it’s never going to happen. I can’t date a guy at work. If things go south, it would be too awkward. And then one of us will have to quit and I like this job,” I say, spitting out a diatribe of words.
She sighs. “When I get there in a few weeks, I will so get you laid if you haven’t already managed to find a hit-it-and-run guy by yourself.”
“Hit-it-and-run?”
“Yes! You need a good one-nighter before you’ll be ready for any man. Otherwise, if you’re into a guy and screw him after a dry spell, you’ll scare the poor guy off with cling wrap moves.”
I laugh and she follows.
“Speaking of which, what’s going on with you and a certain guy?”
“Shh, we shall not speak of it. I am working on something. But I have to run. Duty calls. I have to take mother shopping. Chat with you later.”
She’s definitely hiding something, but I don’t press her because I am, too. Once I get into DC, it’s slower going. They have red light cameras, speed cameras, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they have overhead cameras to determine if a driver is holding a phone in their hands while operating a vehicle.
As I turn into a public lot a block from my building, my phone buzzes again. I wait for my turn to get a ticket before I answer.
I see the name on the display just before I say, “Hello.”