Page 41 of Dear Mr. Brody

“You too,” I said. “Enjoy your evening.”

Enjoy your evening.Jesus, was I fifty?

Marcos nodded, a smirk forming on his lips. “Sure thing, I’ll tell Park you said hi.”

“God, that was weird, right?” I asked once Marcos was out of ear shot.

“He seemed harmless, but Parker’s trouble.”

“How do you mean?”

Wilder flipped over his menu. “Have you looked at him?”

“Just because he’s attractive does not mean he’s trouble.”

“The guy is sex, Van.” He set down his menu. “He reminds me of Jax. All that muscle, the blue eyes… the blond hair… plus, he has a crush on you.”

I brushed him off with a laugh and shook my head. “He’s a flirt… but a crush? Not likely.”

“Okay,” he said, his flippant tone accompanied by a smirk. “If you say so.”

A waiter walked up to the table before I had a chance to argue.

“Welcome to Hemingway’s. What can I get you two?” We both ordered the seasonal craft beer with a burger and fries. The waiter scratched everything onto his pad before scooping up our menus with an overzealous smile. “I’ll be right back with your beers.”

Once he walked away, I steered our conversation away from Wilder’s theories. It didn’t matter how attractive Parker was or if he had a crush on me or not. I was his teacher. I couldn’t think of him like that. He was a smart kid, with a bright future in writing. End of story.

“I met someone on the app you told me about.”

“Really?” Wilder leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. “And… how did it go?”

“We haven’t met in person yet. But he seems great.”

Great was an understatement. Every day I had to stop myself from texting him as much as I wanted. Our relationship, which was a generous word for what we had, was physical. But underneath the surface of it all, there was so much possibility. He cared, and it showed in the way he let me cross boundaries in my own time. He could’ve moved on to a guy with experience, but he’d chosen me. He wanted me.

“Great? I’m going to need more details than that.”

“There’s not a lot to tell,” I said. “We’re both anonymous. We haven’t talked much about our real lives.”

“You don’t know what he looks like?”

“No, but I have seen his abs a few times.”

The waiter chose that moment to drop off our drinks and I avoided his eyes.

Wilder leaned in and lowered his voice as the waiter moved on to the next table. “Did he send you a dick pic?”

“God… no.”

“What? Dick pics can be fun.”

Not as fun as sexting. But I kept that nugget of information to myself.

“I’m sure they can be, but I don’t know, shouldn’t I wait to meet him in person first?” I asked and lifted my pint glass to my lips. The sour citrus flavor of the beer exploded across my taste buds. “But I’m not sure how soon we should meet.”

“I say the sooner you meet the better. That way if he’s a troll, you can move on. Also, send a dick pic if you want… there are no rules, Van.”

“Yeah… okay.”

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