Free The Overlap by Lynn Costa Page A

seconds or so that Dustin was in Chicago right now. As if reading my mind, after about five minutes of Chicago-oriented discussion Zack’s eyes took on a mischievous, probing look as he said:
    “I guess I could give you some suggestions of good places to eat to pass on to your boyfriend...”
    I was pissed with him for bluntly bringing up Dustin that way. I suppose all was fair here, though. We had laid our cards on the table Thursday night and both had agreed that Dustin notwithstanding, we both wanted to go out on this date and see where things went. I guess it wasn’t fair of me to expect him to not say a single word about Dustin the entire time. After all, I’m sure Zack was wondering just what in the world was going through my head at the moment, now that we were actually here at dinner together. I guess I should have given him credit for at least tip-toeing into the subject of “my boyfriend” rather than simply pretending that I wasn’t in a relationship. But instantly I could feel my eyes narrow and my lips tighten... not exactly a girl’s best look on a first date, right?
    Anyway, I was able to keep my cool and clear the pique from my face and respond with a somewhat whimsical “um, not sure that’s such a good idea...”
    Zack chuckled at my response.
    “Yeah,” he said as he looked down at his glass of near-empty glass of Chardonnay in his left hand and then after a couple of seconds back at me.
    “Sorry about that. You know, bringing up your boyfriend like that. That probably wasn’t fair. This is new territory for me, you know? I’ve gone out with a couple of women before who had boyfriends, but I didn’t know that at the time; didn’t find out till later. But this is the first time I’ve gone out with someone who told me up front that she was in a relationship but still wanted to go out.”
    He looked down at his wine glass again, and then back at me once more.
    “Anyway, my apologies.” He smiled warmly at me.
    “Besides,” he continued, “I’d rather talk about you. I’m having a great time.”
    I couldn’t help myself. I returned his smile.
    “Me too.”
    *     *     *
    We both passed on dessert but opted for after-dinner drinks as neither one of us was in a hurry to end the evening... or at least this part of the evening. Zack ordered port as our conversation proceeded into our respective college years. From our talk at Cerise I knew he had gone to UCLA, and he knew I had gone to ASU. We talked about classes, friends, epic parties... pretty much anything we could think of. Then the conversation shifted to our high school years.
    “So what was the most outrageous thing you did back in high school?” I asked him. That question had usually resulted in a lengthy story or two from guys on first dates back in college, and I was in no hurry for the evening to end. My friend Kallie had told me about this particular question during our freshman year, and it always worked wonders.
    In response to my question I saw a smirk immediately come to Zack’s face but then he seemed to will it away.
    “Come on, I saw that look,” I said, a grin coming to my own face as I spoke.
    He actually looked away from me for a couple seconds, smiling again but eyes downcast towards the table, sort of like a shy little boy would. This was definitely a different side of him than his brash best-there-is marketing consultant persona, but it wasn’t a turnoff. If he had been doing this on purpose – which I knew he wasn’t, but if he had been – it was working because now I really wanted to know what he was thinking.
    “Tell me!” I demanded... nicely, but I was definitely letting him know that he wasn’t getting off the hook.
    “Okay,” he shrugged, looking back at me with a big grin. “You asked.”
    The tone of Zack’s “you asked!” made me all of a sudden think that his story must have had something to do with a girl – specifically something sexual – and that’s why he was reluctant