Friday

THE NEXT MORNING, traffic was lighter, but Gabe spent a solid fifteen minutes sitting at a dead stop. He flipped Cruised open again.

SilverFoxxx’s message was there, along with Gabe’s last unanswered response. It had been fun to flirt with someone new, but no response generally meant “no,” so Gabe had to let it go. He wasn’t going to be some pushy creeper just because he liked talking to the guy.

A little green dot lit up next to SilverFoxxx’s name. Gabe’s heart thumped in his chest.

He shouldn’t message. Definitely not. He should wait for SilverFoxxx to decide if they were going to keep chatting.

Ping!

Gabe almost dropped the phone.

Morning grind again?

It was so hard for Gabe not to make a grinding joke. But they’d kept it clean so far. Sexting before 8:00 a.m. seemed a little extreme.

every monday through friday. u too?

Most days.

The response had come back immediately. Gabe grinned even though someone honked at him.

are you in traffic again or am i lucky enough to drive past your office?

Asking personal questions was usually frowned on with these kinds of apps, but Gabe liked talking to this guy. He wasn’t going to sleep with him anyway, so if SilverFoxxx blocked him for trying to have a conversation, so be it.

But Gabe really hoped he didn’t.

I’m driving in. Traffic seems to get worse every day.

that’s what I’ve been saying!!! y is it so bad all of a sudden? are there more people? can people not drive?

Gabe was so excited someone agreed with him on the state of the highway he almost missed an important fact.

hey, hipocrit! u told me not to text and drive yesterday

Gabe managed to smash that out before he had to focus on the road to move forward a couple of car lengths. A minivan cut in front of him, forcing him to slam on the brakes. If he weren’t in such a good mood, he’d have beeped at them.

That’s not how you spell hypocrite.

Gabe laughed out loud, alone in his car, like a dork.

guess your an english teacher

The flow of cars around him started picking up. This was normally when Gabe would try to change lanes and jump around to wherever seemed to be moving the fastest. But he stayed in the lane second from the right, bumping along at an okay pace but not as fast as if he’d merged left. He didn’t want to lose SilverFoxxx.

He wasn’t going to think about why. This was only a diversion to keep him from getting too grumpy on the way to work. Maggie would appreciate that.

He tapped his brakes a little too hard again after getting taken by surprise by how close he was to the car in front of him. This diversion may cost him his front bumper, but it might be worth it.

Definitely not a teacher. English or any other kind.

Gabe wanted to pry and ask what SilverFoxxx did for a living. If they were meeting for a drink instead of breaking the law by texting and driving, he would have asked. Dating apps seemed to make things so much harder.

But this wasn’t really a dating app. It was a hookup app. No wonder it was hard. He wasn’t using it for what it was intended for. But SilverFoxxx didn’t seem to be either.

He came to another stop and, for the first time in a long time, wasn’t even a little bit mad about it.

i wonder how often i’ve driven past you or if i’d recognize your car

Did that sound stalkerish? Shit, Gabe had never been any good at this.

Or if you’ve checked me out?

Gabe shifted in his seat. He was not going to hook up with this guy. He was a reformed man, but a man who liked to flirt.

as long as your not secretly the woman in the blue hatchback with the pink hair. or is it green this wk?

It seemed like a good time to risk an emoji. Gabe sent a winky face before SilverFoxxx was able to respond. Only two exits from work now. Shit.

I promise I’m entirely male, and my hair is neither pink nor green.

A frisson of lust snaked through his chest and settled in his gut. SilverFoxxx sounded so proper and formal. It made Gabe want to take him apart. Or be taken apart. Or just fight a little over who got to do the taking apart. God, he was a mess. This was why hookups were a bad idea.

i’m at my exit gotta go

His last message was open enough that SilverFoxxx might talk to him again. It was probably for the best if he didn’t, but Gabe couldn’t bring himself to block him.

I’m in a black Lexus. Look for me next time.

Shit, that wasn’t good.

 

“YOU FINALLY MADE it on time!”

Gabe didn’t bother to turn around. “Can it, Maggie.”

She laughed at him lightly, like a tinkling bell. God, he hated that.

“Oh, come on.” She bumped her shoulder against his as they walked down the hall toward their workspaces.

“I’m in such a good mood I’ll forgive you.” Gabe bumped back as he dumped his messenger bag on his desk. The flap wasn’t buckled, so some pens and his phone slid out.

Maggie rested half a butt cheek on the corner of his desk. “What’s got you so cheerful?”

Don’t look at your phone. Don’t look at your phone.

Of course, Gabe stared right at his phone.

“Oh no.” Maggie groaned. “Is it an ex? Or are you back on the dating apps?”

Gabe snatched his phone off the desk before Maggie made a grab for it. “Neither.”

“Uh-huh.” She stood and moved toward her own desk, directly across from him in the open workspace. “At least all of our client meetings are conference calls today, so nobody but me has to look at your dopey grin.”

He wasn’t grinning. He just wasn’t as grumpy as he usually was in the morning. That was all.

Gabe studied SilverFoxxx’s message. How many black Lexuses could there be during morning rush hour?

Okay, maybe he was grinning.