Page 23 of Sparks
I shook my head wishing he’d shut up. “No, he wouldn’t have.”
“Who?” Bryant, Holly, and Cheryl asked at once, staring at me with big eyes.
Before I could respond, Silas answered. “The officer in charge of the troop on our flight. He was all about her.” Why did his voice sound weird?
“Shut up,” I said. “He was not. I mean, he was, but only as a friend. He’s engaged.”
All three of the others sat back, disappointed.
“He was into her,” Silas said. “Like, full-on, laser beam attention directed at her.”
“How do you even know?” I asked him. “You were upstairs.”
“I came down to use the vending machine and you didn’t even notice.”
“Oh.” I shrugged as they stared at me with their wicked smiles. “It was crowded and loud.”
“Engaged isn’t married,” Holly pointed out, but I was shaking my head before she even finished the sentence.
“I’m not messin’ with that.”
“You look super sad,” Bryant said, and the pity in his voice brought that emptiness up inside of me. I’d been feeling really lonely lately. I missed the closeness I’d had with Don, and Shawn had brought all of that back to the surface.
“I am,” I admitted. “He checked off every single box of what I want in a man.”
Did Silas just roll his eyes? I stared at him and he said, “What?”
“Oh, sweetie.” Bryant reached across the table and patted my hand. “But seriously. Did you get any dick pics on Sparks yet? Because I can help you rate them.”
“Ooh, yes! Sparks!” Holly said, clapping her hands. “Tell us!”
“You should see the losers she swiped right on,” Silas told them. “I had to clear out the douchebags.”
“Why are you being mean?” I asked him.
Silas laughed. “I’m not! You let me do it.”
I was referring to his attitude, but he didn’t even seem to realize he was being weird.
“Whoa, whoa, you did what?” Holly asked him with big eyes. “This is part of her learning process! You have to let her have the full experience!”
“She didn’t know what ENM was and swiped on a few of those.”
I crossed my arms and glared at him. “They were hot. I thought the women were their sisters or something.”
“Wait, what’s ENM?” Cherly asked.
Bryant grinned. “Ethically Non-Monogomous. Genius, right? Open relationship. Have your cake and eat it too.”
“Hm.” Cheryl pondered. “Definitely not right for Harlow.”
“No,” I admitted. “I’m not sharing.”
Silas crossed his arms. “I wish someone had schooled me when I first started online dating. She doesn’t need to wade through a bunch of creeps and unsolicited dick pics.”
Bryant’s face animated as he gazed at Silas. “You got unsolicited dick pics?”
Silas made a face back. “No, but I got plenty of naked pics from women when I was just trying to have a conversation. It’s hard to get to know anyone.”
