“How exciting! Your assignment for the week is to capture a photo of a beautiful man. That shouldn’t be hard, right? You could ask whoever has been taking you on all these dates recently,” my mother pried. I could hear her motherly nosiness clearly through the phone call.

My brows furrowed. “I haven’t been going on a bunch of dates recently.”

“And that’s part of the problem,” she joked, giggling hysterically.

“Why are you like this?” I laughed. “You’re a crazy person, you know that?”

“Yes. And it’s where you get it from, my child.”

I smiled. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.” She paused. “But I do worry that you work so much and don’t have much of a social life...”

My mind flashed to the night before and my body stirred. Just thinking about the ways in which Carlos had satisfied me was almost too much to handle.

“…Once this photography class is over and you get into more of a flow at Re-Mix, maybe you’ll have time for a date. You know who has been asking about you? Nancy’s son, Eddie.”

“Mom, I’m fine.”

“I know you’re fine. I just don’t want you to be lonely.”

Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “I’m not lonely, Mom. And I’m not interested in Eddie.”

“Why? Because he’s a little lanky?”

“No, I don’t—”

“Because your high school boyfriend was a little lanky, too.”

“Good Lord, Mom,” I snickered. “Calm down.”

“I’m just saying, maybe Eddie—”

“Mom, it has nothing to do with what he looks like. I’m more concerned about who he is as a person. And Eddie isn’t the great kid you think he is.”

“He isn’t a kid. He’s a man now. He’s twenty-two.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not the issue either.”

“Is it because of that time he teased you and said you had a big butt when you were in elementary school?”

I laughed. “No. But I still remember you telling me that having a big butt was something to be proud of and that I’ll grow to appreciate it.” I paused. “You were right.”

Mom giggled. “Well, let me be right about you and Eddie.”

“You know he posted a status update on social media about how the only thing a woman can offer a man is sex and a sandwich.”

“Oh!” The surprise in her voice was evident. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what he had going on in his life, but he’s posted a lot of questionable things about women.”

“Hm.” I could hear my mom’s lips pursing. “Well, then he’s out. I know you don’t play about stuff like that, so I won’t bring that up again.”

“Thank you.”

“But you still need a date to our recommitment ceremony next month...”

“I don’t need a date. You want me to have a date.”

“True. Your dad and I just want to make sure you’re getting out there. We don’t want you sitting around, cooped up in your room with your laptop. If Meghan didn’t live there, I’d be worried you didn’t have any social interactions at all.”

“I have plenty of social interactions.”

“But are any of them romantic?”

“I can be happily single, Mom.”

“You can be. But are you? That’s all we want, honey. And single people socialize.” She sighed. “You don’t need a man to make you happy. Just make sure you’re doing something more than writing. Go out and have some fun.”

I had some fun last night.

“Mom, I’m happy. I swear. And as a gift to you and Dad, I’m coming with a date to your ceremony.”

“Yes!” She was giddy. “And will you go on a date soon? Maybe someone in your photography class will catch your eye.”

Carlos.

I cleared my throat, blinking away the vivid images of the night before. “I’ll see what I can do. But in the meantime, I have an article to write and a good-looking man to photograph.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

I grinned, warmth and happiness filling my soul. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I’ll let you get back to work. Have a good day, Kiki.”

“You, too. Love you!”

“Love you, too.”

I ended the call and then did a double take when I looked at the screen.

A text message from Carlos.

I clicked my email icon on my phone and clicked on the first Re-Mix email I saw. As I read the short email and reviewed the chart, tears pricked my eyes. We not only were one of the most viewed articles, but we had the most clicks and shares online.

I stared at the phone for a few seconds and then I hit the button to place the call.

“Hey,” Carlos greeted me.

Hearing his voice put a smile on my face, but I kept my tone even. “Hey, how are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

“I’m good. Just working on my stuff about Rich Gallery.”

“I finished my first draft during my planning period. I need to take another pass over it. I was a little distracted.”

“Oh?” I blinked, trying to clear my mind from our night together. “Distracted?”

“Yeah…”

I licked my lips. The small flutter in my belly became even more noticeable as the idea of me being on his mind settled upon me.

“…the kids were wild today and didn’t want to listen.”

Wait, what?

“Oh.” Covering my eyes with my hands, I squeezed my eyes together. “Yeah, of course. It’s Monday. They were probably still riled up from the weekend.”

“Do you think you’re going to have your work done today?” he inquired, seemingly unaware that I was slightly embarrassed.

Get your shit together. It was a one-time thing.

“Yeah, I spent the morning trying to find my subject for Luca’s assignment, I reworked my article about the happy hour at Koi, and then I started my prewriting process before talking to my mom for over an hour.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Your mom lives far away, right?”

“Not too far away. My parents live in Virginia. Maybe an hour and a half away. With traffic, four and a half hours.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, the DC traffic is crazy. I was thinking they were in Georgia for some reason.”

I shivered. The sound of his laugh always managed to infiltrate my soul. “That’s where my mom is from, but my parents live in Virginia now. Your family is from Philadelphia, right?”

“Most of my family is in Philly, but my parents live right outside of Richland. We moved here when I was in fifth grade and they moved to the suburbs after I graduated high school.”

“If I’m understanding this correctly, she’s close enough that if you wanted to, you could call your mom and ask her to make you that cake you swore would change my life?”

His laugh cracked the air like thunder. “Yeah, pretty much.”

My toes curled. “Interesting. So, I would imagine I’d have a slice within the week.”

“You’re killing me.”

“Let me eat cake!”

His amusement was still evident in his voice as he spoke. “I can’t believe you’re not a spoiled only child. Are you older or younger than your sister?”

“She’s a few years younger.”

“That’s cool. I had to join a frat to get brothers.”

“She’s one of my best friends so I get that.”

Speaking of best friends…

“Um,” I started slowly. “Speaking of your fraternity… Luna wanted me to focus on the parallels between Date Night and Brad.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“And that’s what I did.”

“I had no doubt.”

“I just wanted to be sure you knew…”

He chuckled under his breath. “You wanted to make sure I knew that last night didn’t change anything?”

I took a breath. “Work wise, no.”

“Work wise, no,” he repeated. “And what about otherwise?”

I tugged at the edge of my shirt. “What do you mean? It was a one-time thing.”

“So, it helped… it took your mind off of me?”

I hesitated, not willing to let myself be embarrassed again in the conversation. “Mm hmm.”

“So, you’ve been able to get through the day and not think about last night?”

I swallowed hard. “Mm hmm.”

“Because I have to tell you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about last night.”

“I mean… it may have crossed my mind once or twice,” I lied playfully.

The sexy rumble of his laugh sent a jolt through me. “Once or twice, huh?”

Grinning, I switched the phone to my other ear. “Mm hmm.”

“It was a one-time thing.”

It didn’t sound like a question. It sounded like a reminder. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to remind me or remind himself.

“It was a one-time thing,” I agreed. “But it was a hell of a truce though.”

“Yes, it was,” he agreed with a groan. “Allegedly to help with the sexual tension.”

I bit my lip. “Allegedly.”

“Maybe it’ll start helping after a good night’s sleep,” he joked softly.

“After a good night’s sleep, we won’t be starring in each other’s thoughts.”

“I’ve been starring in your thoughts, huh? That sounds like I was on your mind more than once or twice,” he pointed out, causing me to laugh.

“And on that note, I need to get some work done,” I snickered. “I’ll talk to you later—about the article.”

“Akila?”

“Yes?”

“You can hit me up about more than just the article or photography class. I know a truce doesn’t mean we’re…I know the truce doesn’t change anything. I just wanted you to know.”

My voice faltered a bit. “Okay.”

“It was nice talking to you.”

“You, too.”

After we said our goodbyes, I found myself sitting and smiling for a solid minute.

“What is this? A school girl crush? You’re a grown ass woman with work to do,” I muttered to myself, massaging the smile from my cheeks.

Newly focused, I immediately opened my laptop and continued writing my He Said, She Said article. Because I wanted to focus without any distractions, I put my phone on silent. I was in the zone and didn’t realize how much time had gone by until I heard the front door opening.

“Akila!” Meghan shouted.

“In my room! I thought you were going to the gym after work,” I replied, still typing. I glanced at the time.

Wow, it’s late.

“I did!” She burst in my room, sweaty and wigless. “Why haven’t you been answering the phone?”

“It’s on silent.” I turned back toward the laptop. “I’m almost done and then I’ll cook dinner. I chopped a bunch of veggies while I was talking to my mom earlier.”

“Have you talked to Alex?”

Grabbing my phone, I checked my missed calls and messages. I turned to face Meghan. “No. She called once, but I missed it.”

“She called me, but my phone was in the car while I was in the gym. I called her back on my way here, but she didn’t answer.”

The sound of the front door opening made us both look at each other quizzically.

“Alex?” I called out, standing up, following Meghan toward the living room.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Alex answered.

My brows furrowed at the dejected sound of her voice. As soon as I came around the corner, I searched her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to talk and neither of you picked up the phone and… I’m so fucking mad!”

“What’s wrong?” I repeated.

Alex started pacing across the living room. “Date Night with The Lost Boys,” she grumbled.

Meghan and I looked at each other.

“What about them?” Meghan asked slowly.

I hadn’t told Alex about the sex dreams about Carlos. I also didn’t tell her about the actual sex with Carlos. I didn’t know what she was about to say, but I knew that it was going to make telling her about him that much more difficult.

“You know how people email them questions and stuff?” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Well apparently, people email them stories and pictures, too.”

“For what? It’s a podcast.” I wondered, folding my arms across my chest.

“Apparently for their newsletter.” Alex’s tone was bitter.

“They have a newsletter?”

“They do now. And guess who was featured in the debut newsletter.” She dropped her head into her hands.

“What?” Meghan screeched.

My blood was boiling. “I need more information.”

She unlocked her cell phone and opened her email. After a shaky breath, she began to read. “Date Night Announcement: In honor of a certain ‘journalist’ who can’t keep our name out of her mouth—”

“They’re talking about you,” Meghan gasped.

I nodded, fuming.

Alex’s jaw dropped. “Really?”

“They got wind of the article I wrote for the Times and weren’t happy about it. I said they objectified women so I’m assuming it has to be me they’re talking about. Keep reading.”

“Wow,” Alex muttered before reading again. “And since the colder weather is coming, we are bringing you something special. With fall here, there are only a few more days remaining for unobstructed fun bag sightings. Send us your favorite photos and stories about big, beautiful breasts that need to be celebrated before it’s officially fall. We want to see the cleavage! Show us the fun bags. To get us started, here’s a few we’ve received.”

“What is wrong with these people?” Meghan burst out as photo after photo of women in low-cut tops were displayed on screen.

When Alex paused, I nervously waited for what was coming next.

“HistoryBuff says he was distracted by his date’s fun bags all night. Here’s his story and why his date gets Fun Bags of the day.” She lingered on that spot before she read the story aloud. “My date for this weekend is hot and I couldn’t stop staring at her tits. It was the first thing I noticed about her, but after getting to know her, I thought she was cool, too. But this weekend, in this yellow dress I’d never seen her in before, I couldn’t think about anything else but fucking her. When I tried to make a move, she said she wasn’t ready. I said okay and didn’t try again, but I’m confused. She was flirting with me. She went out of town to this important event with me. She was wearing this dress, for God’s sake. Am I wrong for just wanting to fuck her or was she sending mixed signals?”

“That tutor did not submit your picture to Date Night with The Lost Boys,” Meghan fumed.

She scrolled down, and a picture of Alexandria filled the screen. Although the photo was cropped to only show from her mouth down to her waist, it was clear it was her.

“So, not only is he a Date Night subscriber, but he submitted your photo to them?” I asked in horror. “Who does this?

“Someone with no friends and no game.” Alex continued looking at her phone. “HistoryBuff, you’re not wrong. She’s wrong. She wouldn’t have had that dress on if she didn’t want it. So, stare all you want, fantasize all you want, and when she gives you the green light, motorboat those puppies. Women like that piss me off. She’s hot, but she loses points for dressing like a slut and then not acting like one. Attention, fellas, if you see these tits, know that she’s a little cock tease. The honor of fun bags of the day goes to HistoryBuff’s tease because damn!” Alex let out a growl and stood up. “How is this okay?”

“It’s not okay. Not only were you and the other four women objectified, this whole thing is just gross,” I commented.

“This should be illegal,” Alex stated, hands on her hips.

“Was this picture taken without your knowledge?” I asked, pulling out my phone to research.

“Well, no.” She stopped walking. “I posed for the picture.”

“You’re not doing anything wrong. You are wearing a dress that looks damn good on you. The fact that it’s being twisted into something different by The Lost Boys is wrong on their part.”

“Yeah. That tutor guy, Jay, is lame and completely wrong for sending it in, and for seeking advice from those assholes, but The Lost Boys are the real villains of this story,” Meghan pointed out.

“Definitely,” I agreed. “Jay could’ve told a friend that he was disappointed that you didn’t want to sleep with him. He shouldn’t have reached out to Date Night. But what Date Night did is disgusting.”

“And it’s not even on a website that can be taken down. It’s part of a newsletter that went straight to their subscribers’ inboxes,” Alex wailed. “Do you know how many people asked me if it was me?”

“How many?”

“Five people! And two of the people asking weren’t even subscribers. They were just forwarded the email by someone else.” Alex shook her arms at her sides. “And because my face is cropped out and it doesn’t use my name and it’s a picture taken in a public venue, it’s not illegal. But all these skeevy guys are sitting around looking at my breasts, calling me a slut.”

“I’m sorry, Alex.” I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a squeeze. “They thought I was giving them shit before, but they have no idea what’s coming their way now. What can we do to make you feel better?”

Meghan went to the other side and hugged her from behind. “Whatever you need, we have your back.”

As we stood in our three-person hug, we waited for Alex to tell us what she wanted us to do. But my mind was racing. It was one thing when they verbally attacked me. But they elevated their objectification of women by using pictures to shame and disrespect women.

“Can I stay for dinner?” Alex asked.

“Of course.”

“Akila’s cooking vegetables,” Meghan added with a hint of sarcasm.

“I have another question,” Alex announced, lifting her head from my shoulder.

“What’s that?”

“Can Meghan cook?” she joked, untangling from our hug.

We laughed, breaking the revenge fueled thoughts that flooded my brain.

“Thanks for making me feel better, guys,” Alex sighed when her giggles subsided. “I know I can’t do anything about the situation, but I feel better.”

“Good. And I will make sure I add this to my article,” I informed them as I headed into the kitchen.

“No!” Alex’s reaction took me by surprise.

I turned around and looked at my sister. “Why not?”

“It’s only going to make things worse. Once word is out that there’s daily photos of breasts being sent out, they will have even more subscribers and even more listeners,” she argued.

I considered what she said for a minute. “You’re right. But we can’t let them get away with this. They basically called me out and then used a picture of my sister. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Maybe there’s another way to call them out about this. Because Alex is right. Giving the newsletter attention will only make things worse,” Meghan pointed out.

I walked into the kitchen and they followed me. Washing my hands, I considered a few different things, but my mind kept coming back to one. “I’m going to confront them face-to-face.”

“What?” Alex screeched.

“How?” Meghan inquired.

I smiled.

Drying my hands, I walked over to the kitchen table where they were seated. “I’m going to call them out on their own show.”

“How are you going to get on there? From the looks of things, they don’t like you too much.” Alex stopped. “Your photography partner! I know he’s one of them, but you liked him! You said he wasn’t that bad. Maybe you can find out something.”

I swallowed hard. “Yeah. Maybe.”

Meghan tilted her head. “Why do you look like that? You don’t think he’s involved, do you?”

They both stared at me, waiting.

I couldn’t tell them I slept with Carlos—not yet, anyway.

I shook my head. “I-I don’t think so. I mean, I know he couldn’t have done it last night because we were together—for an assignment… for Re-Mix,” I stammered. My eyes shifted between the two of them.

As the people who knew me best gave me critical looks, I felt embarrassed and ashamed. I busied myself pulling out the ingredients to make stir-fry.

I slept with someone who willingly and knowingly associates with the type of people who send out newsletters of breasts. And calls them fun bags, of all things. I slept with someone who condones the disrespect that Date Night encompasses. What have I done?

“Um, Akila? Hello?” Meghan summoned.

“Huh?”

“I was asking if you thought Carlos seemed different last night? Like he knew?”

Different? You mean before or after he fucked my brains out?

“No. Not that I could tell,” I answered, pouring extra virgin olive oil into the pan. “He seemed… he seemed different in a good—positive way. He seemed okay.”

“Hm. Do you think he was just being nice because he knew?” Alex wondered aloud.

Was he just being nice because he knew the shitstorm was coming?

“I don’t think so.” My words were slow, measured.

“Did something happen?” Meghan eyed me suspiciously. “You’re being weird.”

With my focus on sautéing the veggies, I replied, “I’ll ask Carlos if he can get me on the show and I’ll settle this once and for all.”

When I glanced up, Alex was staring at her phone, but Meghan was watching me. She quirked an eyebrow when our eyes met, and I looked back down at the pan.

“Do you want rice?”