Brightsiding the One Night Stand
Can a hookup be rewarding for other things — or is that too big a reach?
“Maybe we can try again later?” Anne said and reached for her phone on the bedstand.
Dispirited, and self-loathing, Jeff had his doubts and they ran deep. Jeff told himself he was no Lothario, Casanova, Don Juan, or even Pete Davidson. But sheesh.
They’d met at a laundromat, eye contact filtering through battered pastel baskets and heaps of colored clothes. She wore a loose top and tight shorts and he was careful not to let his male gaze linger for fear of going viral for the wrong reason. He thought she looked quite — what could you say nowadays? Fit?
Women often told Jeff he wasn’t good at signals. A very attractive girl from high school ran into Jeff years later and confessed she’d had a thing for him and always “put a wiggle in my walk” whenever she’d passed him in the high school hallway. Jeff thought, hmmm. Really. Really?!
Another time, a girl in college complained to Jeff that she’d had to make the first move. He protested, pointing out that he was the one who made the long walk across the floor and asked her to dance. To which she replied, “Yeah, but only after I gave you that look.” Oh. In retrospect, she had looked at him, but to Jeff, it was just a look…
