Page 52 of Give Me a Shot

She realized that she liked and respected the way he’d chosen to do it. He didn’t completely hide from the world or hate it. He used his sensitivity to engage with it. To be compassionate with others.

Steinem turned his head the other way. Jess continued scratching.

“That actually makes him kind of special. Really spe—”

Steinem stepped away from her hand and snuggled into a ball beside her leg.

“Really?” she asked the cat.

Steinem yawned and began purring just as the screen changed as the app began ringing.

“Hey, Jess! How are you? Your students?” Stephanie asked, appearing on the screen after Jess answered.

“We’re finally past the getting to know each other phase,” Jess said, sidestepping the personal question. “Yours?”

Stephanie rolled her eyes.

“We’ve gotten to know each other. Some are endearing. But more are…not,” she said.

“Oh, how I understand,” Jess said.

“Hey, ladies, what’s up?” Alice asked after joining them.

“Just commiserating about work,” Stephanie said.

“That’s not what we’re supposed to be talking about,” Alice said.

“What? Why not?” Jess asked.

“I was waiting for you to get here,” Stephanie said.

“Ladies, what is—”

“Now that we’re both here, it’s time for our ‘Mo the Unicorn’ update,” Stephanie said.

Alice nodded and picked up a mug from off-camera.

“We’re listening,” she said before taking a sip.

Jess took a breath to protest. She didn’t like being a pet project or monopolizing their time together. And she wanted a little time to better digest what she’d just learned about him. But the pet project did need help deciding what to wear.

“Well,” she said, “our first date is tomorrow night.”

Alice put her mug down and clapped her hands, grinning broadly. Stephanie rolled her eyes then smiled.

“Fine,” she said. “I owe you five bucks, Al.”

“You all bet on me going out with Mo?” Jess asked, tone a bit shrill.

“I thought you were going to shut down, Al thought you weren’t,” Stephanie said.

“Shut down?” Jess asked. “You make it sound like I crumple if a man looks at me.”

“ ‘Shut him out’ might have been a better choice of words,” Stephanie said. “You know, your go-to reaction when faced with the danger of romantic entanglement.”

Jess narrowed her eyes.

“It was all in good fun,” Alice said. “We didn’t mean to upset you.”

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