Chapter 44: Plan B. Not that one.

Autumn looked around, partially to conceal the blush creeping across her face, but mostly on the lookout for a man who wasn’t an absolutely hideous physical specimen. She passed over those who were too old for her to comfortably consider calling them anything other than grandpa, and passed those she would have to pick up from school. It was getting colder out and there weren’t quite as many people out at the parks. The times of summer, when women would lay around and display themselves like wares at a meat market, and men would go trolling like packs of hungry wolves, were over. There wasn’t much left, except guys walking around already in couples, either with girls or with each other.

She finally spotted one couple walking alone. “Look there,” she said, pointing to them. “What do you think of that guy?”

“You want me to tell you his story?” Steve sounded a little nervous. Maybe he’d never really gotten the hang of that game.