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“Sure I do. It’s what we all want, isn’t it?”
Emma picked up a French fry and chewed on it absently. “All of us except Xavier.”
Sarah shook her head as she took a sip of her water. “I still can’t believe the guy started the app. I mean, he must be a bizillionaire.”
“Who knows? I don’t even know where he lives.” Or much else about him either. Except how he takes his coffee, and the way he sounds when he comes. The dirty thought popped into her head unbidden. Damn that man. Every time she thought of him, she felt a little tingle down the back of her legs.
“Oh, that would be easy to find with property records. I could look that up for you in a second.”
Emma nibbled on another fry, chewing thoughtfully. “I’m almost tempted.”
“It would only be mildly stalkerish,” Sarah said.
Emma shook her head. “No. Not going to do it. He’s a toxic bachelor, he admits it. Why would I want to get involved in that?”
“Because you already are,” Sarah pointed out. “I can tell this is bothering you. Hitting you hard.”
“I know!” Emma sank her head into her hands. “But why? We’ve only had sex a couple of times, and... I mean, I knew what I was getting into... But...”
“He’s got a magic penis. Made of crack?”
Emma barked a laugh. “Kind of.”
“Makes you do things you’d never do, and now you’re addicted.” Sarah wiped her mouth with her napkin, sounding as if she’d run into a crack penis before.
Emma nodded. “But I just can’t do this casual thing. I tried, but the second I saw those other messages on his phone...”
“You felt like shit,” Sarah finished as Emma sighed.
“Exactly. You should have seen him, Sarah. He was all, ‘I told you about this.’ He’s never going to change. I can see it on his face. All those articles I read about commitment-phobes said the only cure is them wanting to change. Nothing else will help. And he doesn’t want to.”
Sarah gave a half shrug. “Leopards and spots. But I’ll tell you one thing. If he doesn’t realize how amazing you are, then let him go.”
Emma felt weighed down and sad. She still didn’t understand how such a quick relationship could affect her so deeply. She even had trouble explaining it to her best friend, but it all had to do with a feeling that their connection meant more, that somehow it was special, even if Xavier refused to see it.
“I don’t know if it’ll be that easy.”
Sarah reached out and patted her friend’s hand. “Well, I’m proud of you. You stuck to your boundaries, you know? You didn’t cave. Casual isn’t what you want, and so you kicked him out of your place. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do that.”
“Oh, sure you would.”
Sarah shrugged. “Nah. You’re so good at not taking shit from people. Love that you’re not afraid to ask for what you want.”
Emma smiled weakly at her friend. “Except that Xavier’s not going to give it to me.”
“Who knows?” Sarah said, waving her fork in the air. “He might come around yet. You’re an amazing woman, and if he doesn’t see that, he’s the fool. I don’t care how good-looking or rich he is.”
“I hope you’re right.” Emma couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that no matter what, Xavier wouldn’t change. He’d warned her, after all. She remembered the look of resignation as he left her apartment earlier that morning. He was stuck in his ways and not about to change, for her or anyone else.
The waiter came with the bill and Sarah snatched it out of his hand. “I’m getting this,” she said. “Least I can do since I caused all this drama.”
Emma laughed. “I agree with that. You are totally paying for this,” she joked.
* * *
Back at her condo, Emma started working on a new story for her editor, but no matter how she tried to write a follow-up to her first Mr. X story, she just couldn’t seem to finish this one. With a jolt, she realized that part of the reason she had trouble writing was that writing about it made it all final, somehow, and she wasn’t ready for that. Emma abandoned her Word document, with only two paragraphs written and a blinking cursor silently admonishing her that she’d need at least 800 more words to sell her editor. Instead, she pulled up a browser and typed Xavier Pena into Google.
Dozens of articles popped up about him being a tech prodigy, a cutting-edge app developer whose future was bright. Tinder had offered to buy him out, and reportedly at a hefty multimillion-dollar payout, though he’d yet to accept their offer or anyone else’s. Sarah was right about his bank account at least. Xavier’s social media accounts came up then and she clicked on them, finding them strangely bare of personal information. She expected to see an account full of selfies with beautiful, willing fans, but instead, she found hardly anything posted by the Nost creator. His accounts, Instagram and Facebook were thin, with hardly any posts, and those that were there largely centered around Nost milestones and his dad, though a quick look through Instagram found a picture of a funeral, a snapshot of his father’s picture in front of a ring of memorial flowers. His father died a year ago.
