I squint at her.
“Answer a question for me, Josh.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” I sip my drink.
“Did you sleep with someone while you were in New York?”
I choke on my drink. Jesus. This woman’s gonna be the death of me.
Under any other circumstances, I’d lie right now. But after what she told me about Cameron, that’s obviously not an option.
I take a long, deep breath. “Yeah.”
Her eyes light up. “I knew it. Such a hypocrite.”
“I’m not a hypocrite. I slept with a girl I used to know a long time ago. We both just happened to be in New York at the same time, by sheer coincidence. Completely meaningless.”
She smiles. “Ah. Blast-from-your-past sex—definitelynota fantasy of mine.” She shudders. “That can be dangerous.”
“Dangerous? How so?”
“It can bring up old feelings—and usually only foroneperson, which isnevergood.” She shudders again.
I scoff. “There were no old feelings to bring up. We dated for, like, four months seven years ago, and I don’t think we had sober sex more than twice.”
She purses her lips. “How’d you guys wind up hooking up after all this time?”
I exhale. “It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got time.”
I have no desire to tell this story. I exhale and run my hand through my hair.
“Come on, Playboy. Spill it.”
I roll my eyes. “My good friend Reed happened to be in New York last week because one of his bands was doingSaturday Night Live.Coincidentally, Reed’s ex-girlfriend Isabel and her best friend—the girl in question—had just come back from a week in France and stopped in New York so Isabel could do this TV interview thing. The girls figured out Reed and I were both in New York by total coincidence—thank you, Instagram—so they invited us to go to the show taping with them. After the show, we all went out for dinner and drinks and I... got... shit-faced... and made an impulsive and extremely stupid decision.” I feel sick. I wouldn’t normally be saying a word of this to anyone, let alone a woman I’m interested in sleeping with. Why am I saying all this?
Kat sips her drink quietly. “So your friend Reed’s in a band?”
“That’s what you want to know after everything I just said? You wanna know if my friend Reed’s in a band?”
She shrugs. “To start with, yeah.”
“No, Reed’s not in a band—he owns a record label. He also co-owns a dance club here in Vegas. Maybe I’ll take you there tonight.”
“Oh, I’d love that. Iloveto dance. Who’s the band that played onSaturday Night Live?”
I pause. “That’s really what you’re curious about? You’re not gonna ask me abouther?”
“Oh, I’m getting there, trust me. I’m just playing it cool.”
I laugh. “Ah, stealing a page out of my book.”
“It’s a good page.”
“Red Card Riot.”
“That’sthe band on your friend’s label? Wow. I love them.”
