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Her eyes are wide and searching. “Is it ... okay that I said this?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “Yes. I suppose this is part of what you meant when you said this was a rebound.”

“It wasn’t conscious, though. I just heard it in my head when we were fooling around. I...I really like you. This—” She motions between us. “This happened because of you and me. But we can’t pretend there is absolutely no one else.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

We sit in silence for a couple of minutes. There’s a new tinge of disappointment mixed with everything else I’m feeling, and I’m feeling a lot.

“Do you miss your wife?” Liz breaks the silence.

“Kim? No. Not anymore.”

“Do you think about her?”

“Sometimes, yeah. But not in the sense that I want to get back together. More like when I see something she used to like, or hear a story. Stuff like that. I’m not even down about it anymore. It’s in the past.”

She chuckles softly. “This is weird pillow talk.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” I stroke her hair. “Good thing I don’t have any pillows on this sofa, then.”

She giggles and sits up. “Okay, then. I’d better go. Tomorrow’s Friday. I’m sure you have work.”

“I do,” I say, “but you don’t have to leave on my account. If you want to stay the night, I could even call in sick. We could make a weekend of it.”

She laughs in a way that shows me this is the most ridiculous notion. “A three-day weekend with a hot guy who just gave me three orgasms? In another life, that would be a dream come true. But I’m definitely not looking for anything relationship-y right now. And a three-day fuckfest screams pair bonding to me.”

I feel a stab of disappointment. “I get where you are. I think,” I say. “But this thing we have doesn’t come across every day. This instant connection. So I’d like to see you again. In some capacity.”

She’s up and getting dressed in a hurry. Her hair is wild, her cheeks still pink. She definitely looks like she’s just had sex. “I don’t know, Joe. You and I are in very different places right now. You’re probably ready to move on and date, and I, I don’t think that’s going to be in the cards for me for a long time. Not with where I’m at.”

I sigh. “Okay. I get it. But I don’t think I’m ready to date either. You’re the first woman I’ve wanted to get close to in a long time. I don’t think the places we’re at are all that different.”

She looks very uncomfortable, in full flight mode for some reason. And I’m not even sure what I said or did to upset her. “Joe, I’m really not in the position to take care of anyone’s wants or needs right now. I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to be my only priority.”

I get up and stand in front of her. “Look, I’m not asking you to make me your priority. I’m just asking you to hang out with me sometime in the future. If I understand, you’re new in town. We have good chemistry. Let’s hang out and see how it goes.” I’m not really sure what I am offering her. I just don’t want her to disappear, not when I just found her.

But her mouth tightens into a line. “I need to leave,” she says.

“Okay.” I put up my hands in surrender. “Let me throw some clothes on and I will see you to your car.”

She nods, looking stiff and a little angry.

I put on my t-shirt and pants, and we go outside. It’s dark and cool for an August night.

I walk her to her little blue car. Neither of us speaks.

Liz unlocks the vehicle and opens the door ajar. Before she gets inside, she turns around and looks at me. “I had a really nice time tonight, Joe. Thank you.”

“Me too. You don’t have to thank me.”

“Okay then. I guess that’s it.”

I should shut up, but I can't. “Are you sure you don’t want to see me again?”

“Joe...”

“Look, I’m not trying to be a creep. I know you’re not in a place to entertain anything, but if we had met at another time, maybe six months or a year into the future, you know this could be something amazing.” Even in the faint light of the parking lot, I see her body stiffen. “What I don’t understand is why me talking about this makes you so mad,” I say.