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It’s a little weird that I have to rub my palm on my jeans. I’m going to blame the condensation on my beer and not that I have sweaty palms from flirting with a stranger on my phone. Too much time goes by with no reply, and now I’m starting to feel like a dick.
Jenkins sets his empty on the bar next to me and taps my shoulder from behind. “Hey, Cap? You’re up.”
I flip my phone over. Which probably draws more attention to it. Like I’m hiding something. Which I am. “I’m going to finish my beer and call it a night. I’ll forfeit this round.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Jenkins goes back to the dartboard, and I think about what the hell I’m doing. I must be pretty hard up if I’d rather flirt via text than beat the guys on my crew at darts. I should probably see about getting myself a real live woman instead of pixels on a screen. But something about Dixie keeps my eyes glued to my phone, wondering if she’s going to respond.
Leo: Dixie? You still there?
Dixie: Yeah. I think. Nice to meet you, Leo.
Leo: Do you still want to know what I’m wearing?
Dixie: I don’t know. I’m—this isn’t how I usually am. I’m kind of shy.
I’m strangely aware of my own breath as it quickens. I look around the bar, but nobody is noticing me. My face feels hot. I’m almost forty fucking years old. My days of flirting online should be in my past. I feel like I’m back in 1999 in the first chat room where a woman asked me: a/s/l.
Here goes nothing.
Leo: Do you want to be the kind of girl who sexts with strangers?
I exhale and take a drink.
Dixie: I don’t know that either. Is this normal?
Leo: Flirting with a wrong number text? I think it’s hot.
Leo: Tell me something about yourself.
Dixie: I’m 23.
Fuck. She’s a baby. I should stop this right now.
Leo: I’m 38. What do you do?
Dixie: I work in a library and I’m a grad student.
Oh, man. I love librarians. And she didn’t cut me off when I told her how old I was. That’s a good sign, right? I almost lied and said twenty-eight.
She’s a librarian. Fuck. My pants are getting tight at the thought.
Leo: Do you wear those pencil skirts and glasses? Because that’s seriously sexy.
Dixie: If I didn’t, I would tell you I do. Since you think that’s hot.
I check the mirror behind the bar. The guys are still playing darts in the reflection. Nobody is paying attention to me.
Leo: I think you might be a bad girl.
Dixie: I think you just have a thing for naughty librarians.
Leo: God, yes. Brainy girls are hot.
Dixie: What about you?
