The black leather passenger seat in Finn’s coppery brown Toyota Yaris was comfortable, which was more than I could say for the first half hour of the drive home. Finn pretended to be intently focused on navigating the traffic on the FDR Drive, and I feigned believing he needed complete silence to concentrate.

But the quiet in the car was anything but peaceful. Finn wasn’t my Uber driver. He was my…I shook my head. What was he? My gaze landed on his hands—those perfect hands that had touched every part of my body so proficiently.

Was it worth asking him to elaborate on the conversation we’d started the night before—about his father? Should I come clean and admit I’d overheard him call me his colleague and ask why? Did it matter? Did any of it matter? Observing him through my peripheral vision, I laser-focused my thoughts: Say something. Say something. Say something!!

Finn turned his head toward me and quickly back to the road. “Did you say something?”

I gave a sigh of satisfaction that my mental telepathy had worked. Only now, the onus was on me to break the ice. “I shouldn’t have invited you tonight.”

“What? Why?” Finn turned to me in surprise, then quickly back to the road.

Lost for an easy explanation, I dropped my gaze to the black fabric floor mat at my feet.

“I’m glad you did. Everyone was great.” His voice nearly broke on his next words. “Seriously, you have a special family. Loving…supportive…” He sucked his lip into his mouth. “Did I do something to offend them?” His forehead wrinkled with worry.

“Not at all. It’s just…I invited you for selfish reasons.” I clucked my tongue. “I had this stupid idea that if I nurtured you with enough brisket and noodle kugel, you’d come clean with me about your dad and why you don’t want a girlfriend, especially if the two go hand in hand, and why it’s so complicated. It was stupid.” Now I was repeating myself. “But I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to be with someone so secretive anyway. I need trust that goes both ways. So we’re good. It’s all good. I just wanted you to know.”

I fanned myself, then rolled down the window and stuck my head out like a dog before sliding back into the seat against a backdrop of silence.

The unpeaceful quiet resumed. Finn snuck glances at me every few minutes, but I pretended not to notice. I fiddled with the radio, settling on an episode of NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast, and passed the time privately mocking pretentious vanity plates on the George Washington Bridge. My faves: HTMESS and GR8DOC.

“All the phone calls—not just tonight but at Brothers and in my hotel room? It’s always my dad. Or about my dad.”