My Fake Fling

“Are you done with me?” I asked Reese.

He smirked and I could see he was going to say something smart. He caught himself. “Yes, thank you for tonight. I’ll be in touch to set up our next date.”

“Sounds good. Goodnight.”

I walked out with Rich. I couldn’t resist looking over my shoulder. When I saw him staring at me with a look of pure lust, my heart jumped in my chest. It was easy to go back. It was easy to return to a time in my life that had been some of the best years of my life. But those good years were punctuated with the end of the relationship. I had no interest in going backward.

“So, what’d you think?” Rich asked.

“About?”

“The party,” he said. “And Reese.”

“The party was very good for my shelter,” I said. “Very, very good.”

“You and Reese seemed to be getting along pretty well.”

“We did,” I agreed. “We didn’t really have to talk. It was more of just doing a lot of smiling and pretending. I just had to remind myself I was doing something good for the shelter. I could tolerate anyone for that reason.”

“You guys are going out again?”

“I don’t know if I would call it going out,” I corrected. “It’s a business arrangement.”

“I’m glad you two are able to talk again,” he said. “It was nice to see you guys getting along.”

“Don’t get too used to it,” I said. When the cab stopped in front of my house, the first thing I saw were Kona’s big ears in the living-room window. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”