Ellie:I had a crazy crush on you when I was a teenager.
Gabe:Whoa.
Ellie:Does that freak you out?
Gabe:Should it?
Ellie:I hope not. I truly hope not.
Gabe:Then it doesn’t freak me out. Because you’re all woman now, and I’m with the woman. Not the girl.
Ellie:*Breathes again* I was worried my teenage fantasies would scare you.
Gabe:We all have fantasies, sweetheart. It’s what, when, and with whom we explore them that matters.
Ellie:I’m enjoying our explorations. I have fantasies about other scenarios. Student and teacher, strangers at a bar, you name it.
Gabe:Both sound fun, especially strangers at a bar. I’d say something likeIs this seat taken?
Ellie:I’d saynow it is.Bet we’d be great strangers. Then we’d get a cup of coffee in the morning, and I’d feel like we had a delicious secret.
Gabe:When I take you out in public, I get a thrill that I’m the only one who knows your private side.
Ellie:Me too.
Gabe:Can’t wait to explore more tonight, my sweet, dirty girl.
Ellie:I’ll be on my best behavior when I see you later.
Gabe:I won’t.
17
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT
Gabe
Hands curled tightly around the wheel of my Tesla, I wait on the side of the road, on alert.
The faint glow from a streetlamp in the distance lights the curvy stretch of Mulholland Drive up here in the hills.
I have to tamp down this buzz of anticipation. Need to stay in the moment. Can’t let the thrill of the fantasy get the better of me before she even arrives.
I check my phone. Her Google Map alert says she’s almost here.
The second I hear the soft purr of an electric convertible winding around the bend, I start the engine.
It is on.
A few seconds later, she flies past me.
I jerk my car onto the road, gun the gas, and flash my headlights. Bright and fast in her rearview mirror.
She pulls into a turnout a hundred or so feet away.
I pull in behind her and cut the engine. My pulse is already spiking. I’ve wanted this for so damn long.
I’ve played in the goddamn Super Bowl, yet I’m somehow even more excited for this fantasy.I don’t even know why. I justwantthis. So damn much.