Page 34 of Wingmen

“Diego.”

“Oh shit, I gotta go. Yeah, hit me up later, we’ll talk.” He came back to the phone. “That guy has a Ferrari four-eight-eight.”

Elliot pinched his eyes between his fingers.

“What were we talking about?” said Diego.

“The Great Bendito.”

“Oh snap. So what happened last night? You win?”

Elliot sighed. “I don’t know yet. I haven’t talked to Bennet. But…Ihooked up with someone, so…”

“Damn, player.” Another pause while Diego covered the phone and spoke to someone else about his Honda. “Hey, I gotta go. Bro, you gotta keep me in the loop on this.”

“I will. Good luck with your sister.”

“Yeah. Thanks. Chao.”

“Chao.”

Elliot went into the bathroom to splash water on his face. Then he braced on the sink and looked at himself in the mirror for a long time.

He didn’t hearfrom Dustin all day. But around seven, a notification popped up from the Body Countapp. Bennet had logged a takedown. Elliot was eating takeout pizza on his bed in the room. He tapped the phone beside him on the comforter.

They’d agreed not to share any identifying information about the women, beyond age. He saw a tile with an empty profile picture and a name set toDay One. When Elliot opened the profile, he saw the gender –female; age –22; time –12:45am, aNumber of SessionsandSession Length, both of which Dustin had left blank, and a toggle that showed he’d used protection. Elliot got a queasy feeling and pushed the phone away. He’d never actually used the app, and hadn’t realized you could enter so much information. Suddenly, he reallydidn’twant to know the details of what Bennet had been doing at precisely twelve forty-five last night.

He opened messenger and sent a thumbs-up.

There’s an option to rate them?Bennet sent back.But that seemed…truly depraved.

yeah, Elliot texted back.that feels gross

It all felt pretty gross, to be honest.

The dots bubbled, and Bennet sent,Where’s yours?and the emoji with the monocle, inspecting.

Elliot hadn’t logged Drew yet because, honestly, it felt weird. That didn’t feel like the kind of thing you should do to a girl you were maybe serious about.

I’m getting there, he sent, and his stomach dipped nervously as he added the smiling sweat emoji.Lotta sessions to track we did it like six times

A long pause. Then a wall of emojis laughing so hard they were crying. Then,Sure, little man

Elliot furiously threw the phone across the room and putGolden Girlsback on.

Against the wall, the phone buzzed. Ignoring it, he turned upthe TV. Blanche told Dorothy to eat dirt and die. He’d seen this one a thousand times at Abuela’s, but that felt like exactly what he needed right now.

The phone buzzed again, and he growled in frustration and put down his pizza. Brushing off his fingers, he climbed off the bed and went over.

Thinking about basketball tomorrow, Bennet had sent. And when Elliot hadn’t responded, he’d added,Interested?

Basketball? What the fuck was Bennet up to? Elliot stared for a long time, then sent back,Are you allowed to do that?

What?

Your knee?

Three dots.Yeah it’s fine. There’s a spot near my neighborhood called North Park Blocks. If you wanna come, I’ll be there around three.