Page 31 of Unmatched

I unlock my phone and craft my words carefully.

LonelyGirl8

I’m so excited. Let’s make it happen.

It isn’t long before a message pings again.

MountainMan3

Okay. But I don’t want to meet in Denver. How about Colorado Springs.

LonelyGirl8

Understood.

MountainMan3

Can you get away Monday night?

My mouth sours. That’s bold. What’s he going to do, schedule a last-minute “business trip?” I swipe over to my calendar, and my stomach clenches. It’s so soon—only two days away. My head pounds. I’m not ready. I need more time. But then I think of having to go home and climb into bed next to him, pretending everything’s normal. Like the last week hasn’t been hard enough. Suddenly, two more nights seem like forever. I want this over with. I type a truth:

LonelyGirl8

Yes. My husband will be away then, so I’ll be lonely for sure.

There’s another long pause. Outside the bathroom door, I hear voices and a growing commotion. My phone vibrates again.

MountainMan3

Do you mind if I ask . . . what brought you on Unmatched?

My heart skips. I wasn’t expecting that at all. And it doesn’t seem fair for him to ask questions I want answers to.

LonelyGirl8

What if I asked you the same thing?

My pulse throbs through my clenched jaw.

MountainMan3

Never mind.

MountainMan3

How about the Hyatt on the north end of CO Springs? 6:30pm?

I flinch, relieved to follow him away from that particular topic. But now he’s led me to something worse. Anton and I have stayed at that hotel. The year after we got married, on the way back from visiting his mom and brother in Texas. A blizzard came up out of nowhere an hour from home, and we decided to stop and spend the night. There’s nothing really special about the place. It was clean, had a pool, free breakfast. But I remember we made love there because he said the snow turned him on.

I glare at the messages on my screen. That’s one of the happier memories I can come up with in the entire history of our sex life. But he wants to take another girl there and make new ones?

LonelyGirl8

Hyatt works. I’ll Google it.

There’s another pause. Another span of seconds ticking away.

MountainMan3

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