Massage

When I saw her name on the screen, I knew what was coming. Her husband would work a double shift, the girls would be with her friend, and she’d be available all day.

I closed my eyes beneath the blindfold and my father’s voice built every detail. I wasn’t in my room anymore: I was with Rodrigo, and he was doing exactly what I’d dreamed.

Thirteen kilometers on foot, thick socks, and closed sneakers. That night I was going to give him the gift I’d been preparing since I boarded the plane.

I was fifteen and didn’t know what I was seeing. Now, at twenty-two, every memory of those afternoons takes on an entirely different meaning.

I boarded in Cologne looking for rest. What I found in that group was something I had never known how to ask for before.

Marco was still holding his coffee when she looked him in the eyes and said she needed two men at once. Neither of them expected that morning to change the rules of the game.

Twelve people who had never met, a pool house in the country, and two nights with no clothes. I set it all up. No one left disappointed.