I left my friends in the living room, walking down the steps of my townhouse and jumping into my car. It was supposed to be a simple trip to the Publix around the corner; little did I know that my entire life course would be altered just because I forgot to restock on twelve-dollar bottles of wine. I could have stayed home, asked the friends who were on their way to pick up some wine for us. We could have had a dry night, sipping on water and Pepsi instead. I could have gone to the gas station or ordered it through a delivery service on my phone.

There was an infinite number of possibilities on how such a simple predicament could be solved. But only one of those possibilities pushed me directly onto a collision course with destiny.

2

JAKE PEREZ

“Ah, fuck,” I said to myself, looking in the rearview mirror and seeing the driver behind me distracted by something in his lap.

I let out a preemptive honk, which seemed to do the trick.

The car that nearly rear-ended me swerved to the left and pulled up next to me. The man started yelling and flailing his hands around. I had a sudden urge to Red Shell his ass and knock him off the road like we were in a game of Mario Kart. He was acting as if the red light we were both stopped at was my fault and forgetting all about the phone he had his nose buried in moments before he slammed on his brakes.

Instead of turning Peachtree Avenue into a bumper car arena, I sucked in a deep breath and did my best to ignore the still-yapping guy next to me. I already had too much shit on my mind to worry about some small-dicked driver forgetting the rules of the road. It had been way too long of a day, one I was more than ready to put behind me.

And this Grindr date would hopefully do just that.

I was tempted to slam down on the gas and leave this guy yelling into my dust but decided that I didn’t have the burning need to prove myself to a complete and utter stranger. Not when I was on my way to do something else with a complete and utter stranger.

Besides, my piece-of-shit car would likely brake down before the next red light.

This wasn’t something I was used to. Not at all. I had bounced from monogamous relationship to monogamous relationship for the last five years of my adult life. It left no time for random hookups and fiery flings. No desire either.

But things were different now. Very, very different.