Steven, now exasperated, raised his voice slightly. “C’mon dude, think about it. What am I supposed to text? ‘Yo, Kimmie, I straight-up cheated on your sis and now she’s gone all Sylvia Plath and locked herself in my mother’s walk-in’? Dustin, do it for me. I’ll pay for your Uber, hell, seize the moment and take her to Serendipity 3 for frozen hot chocolate, which I’ll also pay for. Buy her the thousand-dollar sundae with the gold leaf, for all I care. Trust me, that’s a total panty-dropping move!” Steven pulled out his phone. “What’s your Venmo again? Seriously, let me assuage my guilty conscience by helping you with Kimmie. Vocab word! I win.”

Dustin laughed and then closed his eyes for a moment and tried to picture himself sitting across from Kimmie in a cozy leather booth, watching her perfect mouth blowing on her hot chocolate. He shook the picture out of his head and waved off any more talk of money, heading out the door without agreeing one way or the other. Steven called after him, telling him he should trust him because the only subject he was smarter than Dustin in was girls.

Dustin almost reminded Steven that his current girl problem disproved his last statement but didn’t. He was positive his friend wasn’t in the right mind-set to handle the hard truth.

V

Steven was staring up at the arrivals and departures board in Grand Central when he found himself standing shoulder to shoulder next to Alexia V. (known around town by his nickname the Count, or just Vronsky), who was also scanning the board above them. “Hey man, what brings you here?”

Vronsky gave him a big grin. “Would you believe I’m here to pick up my mother? She’s recovering from a broken ankle and is still using a cane. She attended a dinner party at my uncle’s in Greenwich, gave her driver the night off, and is now taking the train back by herself. She didn’t ask me to pick her up, but why else would she have sent me her arrival time?”

Steven returned his smile and decided that on close inspection Count Vronsky was every bit as handsome as everyone said he was. As they were both newish to Collegiate and Steven was a senior, everything he knew about Vronsky was strictly based on reputation. “If I was a betting man, I’d wager there’s another reason. Gotta bank some ‘good-boy points’ for the future, perhaps? That’s what I do whenever I can. What choice do we have when blessed with formidable women for mothers?”