His face sobered. “Perhaps you’re not ready.”

“Oh, I’m ready. I am so ready, you don’t even know.”

“So what is the problem, then?”

Was she going to tell him the truth? Well, why not? Relentless honesty, right? “I think I’m afraid I’ll get my heart broken again.” She winced as soon as it was out.

He wasn’t as surprised as she would have expected. “I thought you were post-love.”

“I am! But what if I have sex with one of these guys, especially one of the decent ones, and . . .”

She didn’t realize she was making yet another gesture until he mirrored it. “Is this the ‘I had sex with this relative stranger one time and his moves blew my mind so much I accidentally fell in love with him’ gesture?” he asked.

“Uh, I guess so?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make fun. I’m trying to understand. When you rejected HarlemHipster, you said it wasn’t about the risk of heartbreak.”

“I know! It doesn’t make sense! I just . . .” She pulled out her phone and opened the Notes app. She had never imagined showing anyone besides Leo the list. But it was as good a way as anything to explain since she couldn’t seem to do it. And this was Max. He knew everything anyway. She handed it over.

“‘Things I Will Never Again Do for a Man,’” Max said, because of course he was going to read it out loud. He paused a long moment before saying, “Ah, yes,” as if he recognized the list.

“Number one: ‘Be financially dependent.’ Good. Number two: ‘Pretend to like things I don’t or pretend not to like things I do.’ Ah, that’s the ballet bit, isn’t it?” He looked up, and she nodded. “Number three: ‘Work with him in such a way that his interests are advanced at the expense of my own.’” He snorted. “Fucking Picasso.”

See? Max did know everything. Nothing on this list was going to surprise him.

‘Number four: ‘Move.’” He looked up at her questioningly. “I don’t understand that one. I thought you liked your apartment.”

“I do. I do now. But I had a great rent-controlled apartment before. It was closer to campus, too. I wanted Vince to move in with me, but he wasn’t into it. He said we needed to have a new place for our new life together.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, I don’t regret it. I wouldn’t have ended up being neighbors with Leo otherwise, but the larger point stands.”