So yes.

He’d wondered what home was for the girl who was his but not.

Like I’d wondered about what home was for him.

He didn’t turn and give me a thumbs-up.

He did one better.

He looked at his boots and he did that grinning.

I took that as a stamp of approval.

And even with some weirdo leaving bondage rope on my welcome mat, again came the joy.

I unearthed the bagels and got both the current men in my life drinks.

Axl started in when we were sitting at my bar, eating.

“You date anyone recently?”

I was surprised it was getting-to-know-you time with Sly leaning on a kitchen counter right across from us.

“Uh …”

“Let me explain,” he said. “This shit that’s happening to you does not stink of stalker. This stinks of wronged asshole.”

“Oh,” I replied.

Axl explained further.

“First, he knows your cell number. It’s not impossible to find a cell number, but it requires some work. Second, the threats are not escalating. He’s telling you what he wants to do to you and sticking with that. Third, it’s sexual in nature, which does not preclude a garden-variety stalker, far from it. But he seems stuck on one theme like he either thinks that’s the threat, or he thinks that will fuck with your head or … ” he hesitated, “that was something he wanted that maybe he didn’t get and he’s pissed about it.”

“I didn’t recognize his voice over the phone,” I noted.

“If you know him, in order that you wouldn’t recognize him, he could have farmed that part out.”

Great.

I looked to Sly. “Can we have a second?”

Sly readily lifted his lemon-lime ICE and stepped out on the deck.

Yeah.

I understood his reaction.

I didn’t want to be in on this conversation either.

I looked to Axl.

“The last guy I dated was a somewhat long time ago and he was really boring in bed.”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Axl replied.

Though, in saying this, he looked both sorry and like he thought something was funny.

I homed in on the last part.

“Bad sex isn’t funny, Axl,” I told him the god’s honest truth.

“I know, baby. Christ, you poor thing,” he soothed at the same time teased.

I looked away and took a bite of my bagel in an effort to share I was miffed.

“Back to the subject, Hattie,” Axl called.

I looked back at him, and in an effort to get this done, got over being miffed.

“Do you think he might feel like you done him wrong?” he asked. “Did he want to end it? Was there a guy before him that might be a red flag?”

All right.

Well …

This sucked.

Maybe one day, in the distant future, when we were enjoying a glass of wine in his Jacuzzi, I could share about lovers past.

And maybe not ever, since there was not much to share.

But before we even had our first date?

Not a big fan.

But he needed what he needed so none of the men in my life felt I needed a bodyguard.

And thus, I had to give it to him.

“The last guy I dated was a couple of months before Lottie met Mo,” I shared.

“Whoa,” he muttered.

Yeah.

It wasn’t years ago but it wasn’t weeks ago either.

The curse of the shy girl.

I sallied forth.

“I think he was excited that he was dating a stripper. This could be why we had about three dates before he was all in to introduce me to his friends, and about a second after he said my name, he told them I was a stripper. Therefore, we had about three dates after that so I could give him the benefit of the doubt. Then I quit taking his calls. I slept with him twice in that time, and like I said, it was boring. But I didn’t get to know him well enough to know if he had any latent or non-latent kink tendencies. He could be sweet, but in the end, I realized that hid he was mostly a jerk.”

Axl didn’t look amused anymore.

“The guy before that,” I went on with a shrug. “Big spender at the club. He was the first and only patron I dated. I did this because he bought four lap dances from me and he acted during them like it was less about the lap dance and more about getting to know me while I was giving them to him.”

Axl looked anything but amused now.

Nevertheless, I kept going.

“He was definitely sweet. Treated me really well. Had a nice house, a flashy car. Was decent in bed, but it could be good. A couple of months into it, he shared that he wasn’t a one-woman guy. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be a one-woman guy. He was seeing two other women as well as me. And he wanted to continue seeing me, but he didn’t feel it was right to do that unless I knew what the future held. I liked him and he treated me great. But I wasn’t a big fan of feeling like a number instead of feeling special. I ended things with him. He was disappointed and told me so. Said if I changed my mind, all I had to do was call. But he wasn’t too broken up about it, even though I kinda was. And even if I was, that said I’d made the right decision.”

“And before him?” Axl asked when I quit speaking.

“No one of note,” I answered.

“You’re sure?”

“I’ll think on it, but yeah, pretty sure.”

He nodded.

Then he launched in.

“I had a girlfriend sophomore through senior year in high school. We didn’t last through basic training, and that was mostly on me. I loved her in high school, but halfway through basic, I knew my feelings were in a way high school was where they ended. I’ve dated a lot but not as much as other guys I know because I find the game playing annoying. If I ask a woman out, I know her and know I definitely want to know more about her. Not know how many days she makes me wait to get a return text. Being active military isn’t conducive to relationships, but I saw a woman at the base who was also enlisted. We broke it off before I got out. Had one long-term relationship since, that lasted nearly a year. She wanted marriage and babies and made that plain. I wasn’t ready, which made it plain to me she wasn’t the one. And that’s it.”

I stared at him, liking that he leveled the playing field straight off the bat, making something awkward and not fun at this stage in our relationship something that was quick-hit sharing.