Hudson shook his head. “Okay, Nova, some of these elements are definitely sounding culty, however—throw a rock in FiDi, and you’ll hit three sugar daddies. What you’re describing is pretty standard New York City. There are hundreds—thousands—of men here who have so much money, they barely know what to do with it. Trust me, I’ve dabbled.”
“That is not normal!” I argued. “Regular people don’t get their entire shit paid for by old bankers.”
Delilah sighed. “Hot people do,” she said with a shrug. “Sorry, I agree with Hudson on this one. Even I’ve taken a dip in the sugar bowl.”
“You’d be propositioned the same if you didn’t ghost everyone before they could offer,” Hudson said.
I didn’t want some lonely finance bro’s money. I wanted my own money.
“You have no idea our plight on those godless apps,” I said, looking to Delilah for support as I defended my dating behavior. Men should’ve been paying me for merely attempting to talk tothem on a dating app when, nine times out of ten, they were either boring or evil or overly horny—and also evil.
Maybe I was old-fashioned, but I wanted love, not some guy named Chadwick telling me in the first message thattheinnocent-looking ones were always the most secretly naughty. Insert winking emoji.
Nor did I enjoy wasting my Friday evening on a first date with men who failed to ask a single question about me, turning dinner into an agonizingly dull one-way interview. Last time I tried using one of the alternative dating apps, I received a ping from a man who used the wordsanal gapein his opener.His opener!That was his attempt at a glowing first impression he thought would surely win me over.
It was far less disappointing to not try at all.
“And now I’m with Nova again.” Delilah nodded in support, seeing her own endless horrors play out across her mind’s eye. “Okay, what else?”
“I saved the juiciest bit for last,” I said.
“Hottie alert,” Hudson interrupted, looking over my shoulder.
Delilah oohed and ahhed in appreciation.
“Hey!” I snapped my fingers to get their attention back.
They both slowly returned their gazes to me.
“There werepregnant womendoingreikiin aback room.”
Hudson appeared slightly more intrigued now. “To play devil’s advocate…”
“As always,” I muttered.
He continued. “People do get pregnant, Nova, especially if they’re having a lot of sex. Or, you know, want babies for some reason.”
“Two of them!” I hissed. “Holding hands like sister wives! They were in their early twenties, Hudson. In the city! Is that even legal?”
“Early twenties in New York is like preteen in Midwest years,” Delilah agreed with an enthusiastic nod and wide, shocked eyes.
Hudson pretended he was weighing this information fairly rather than just being difficult for difficulty’s sake. He tilted his head from side to side as he pursed his lips. “Okay, yeah, you’re right—that’s fucked up,” he finally conceded. “The reiki part especially.”
“Exactly.” I drank more chocolate goodness.
“Well, did you ascend?” Delilah asked animatedly.
“Not yet. But I got an invite to this second glorified meet and greet that is apparently going to be spicier than the first.”
“Well, I would hope so,” Hudson said.
Ignoring him and his perpetually unimpressed attitude, I continued. “The thing is, the girl I met had been at it for six months trying to ascend. I don’t want to do all of that.”
Hudson made a face of pity. “Well, that’s just sad. Stand up, girl.” He sighed. “My vote on all of this isno. Not because I think the cult sounds particularly insidious—to be honest, it just sounds like rich people misbehaving and preying on struggling, spiritually-lost devotees. I even think it could be fun for you if you were into it, maybe help you loosen up a little. But given your real motivations, I think it would be most psychologically sound not to proceed. Judasreallyisn’t worth all this.”
I knew Hudson was saying this because he cared about me, and he didn’t want me to waste my time and sanity doing things I didn’t want to do for someone who might not deserve it. But his callous approach was deflating, and I was sick of trying to explain my and Lorelei’s connection—why it wasn’t so easy for me to give up on her.
I just needed to make sure she was okay. Then, life could resume as normal.
