Chapter 15

Emily King had never really thought much about the question of enlightenment. Where she’d grown up, the very word “enlightened” had meant someone who thought they knew the exact time and date the world would end. By that definition, she had been born enlightened. She grew up with a double dose of the surety normally reserved for fanatics and children that she knew exactly how the world worked.

After Armageddon had failed to arrive on schedule twice in her life and it had dawned on Emily that what Pastor Munsen preached and nearly every adult she knew believed was so much bushwa, Emily had lost not just her faith, but her belief in enlightenment or the worthiness of pursuing it.

As such it came as a shock to her to discover enlightenment years after she’d given up on it, not on some mountaintop or out on walkabout, but rather lying in Dennis Anderson’s bed with her bandaged ankle nearly touching her ear and Dennis’s cock finding a place inside of her that nearly made her faint with pleasure. With that enlightenment came the loss of fear, specifically the fear of Clive Whitehall-Stone. Emily had secretly been afraid that, as awful as Clive had been to her at times, he might know something about her that no one else would understand and that special knowledge might make him the best lover she would ever have.

Clive was not the best lover she would ever have. He’d been her first and he’d brought her pleasure unlike any she’d known before him But, his supremacy as a lover had been entirely a function of enforced exclusivity.

She hadn’t realized how afraid she was of Clive until last night when she heard that he’d tried to crash Nick’s party, been turned away, and simply slunk off. She didn’t know which of them was richer, but didn’t think it mattered to Nick either way. He was a great friend and, while Emily still felt bad about taking advantage of his generosity, she felt like she could rely on it if Clive tried to lash out at her.

Tonight with Dennis was tonic in nearly every way. He was practically polar opposites to Clive right from the beginning. He even asked her to choose the restaurant. She took him to L’Express, a French bistro she’d enjoyed with other models in the past. Clive had usually insisted they go to the same squat, brooding little oak-paneled steakhouse every time he came to the city. If he stayed longer than a few days, they would go to other dark, oppressive restaurants serving massive slabs of cow and catering almost exclusively to old men and young women.

Dennis was solicitous, polite, and treated her like she was giving him something worthwhile just by being there with him. When other models Emily had worked with came over to check him out, he was friendly, but his eyes returned to her as soon as they’d walked off. Even in the beginning, Clive had always treated her like everything she did with or for him was his due for pulling her out of that shitty, little town and paying the rent. Emily didn’t realize how much she’d internalized that attitude until she saw herself through Dennis’s eyes.

Even though Emily had made her intent to sleep with him known early in the evening, twirling in her little sundress and saying, “No pants to get in the way tonight,” Dennis hadn’t assumed anything. When he leaned in to kiss her, he gave her a moment to pull away. He undressed her slowly and purposefully and moved slowly and carefully inside of her until she urged him on with both hands, nails digging into his firm, hard ass.

Now that he’d found his rhythm, his cock driving deep inside of her with each thrust, Emily was finally starting to understand what all the fuss was about. Whether by design or because he’d been trying to protect her ankle, Dennis had hit on a much better angle to enter her than Clive. And he was so very hard. Clive had taken pills to promote his erections, but she now realized he should have taken stronger ones.

“Oh, Dennis! Whatever you just did, you should do it again.” Her hips undulated under him. Dennis kissed her and obliged. Soon, she was moaning into his mouth, arms crushing him to her chest. She loved the feeling of Dennis’s solid form on top of her as her body shuddered around him.

Afterwards, she cuddled up against his side, her head on his chest. He laughed and blew her hair out of his face before kissing the top of her head. When she whispered “thank you” in his ear, he laughed and said, “No. Thank you, goddess.”

Emily lay drowsing and thinking she both really liked Dennis and liked that she didn’t feel obliged to love him. Clive had never pretended to love her, but he’d tried to make her feel bad that she didn’t love him. She already knew she’d probably never fall in love with Dennis. Everything she’d done since realizing she was going to live to see her fourteenth birthday had been in the pursuit of getting away from her origins, getting a foothold in the real world, and trying to find some independence. If Dennis had ever had any ambition, Nick’s invitation to live in New York seemed to have killed it. Emily wished desperately that she could find the time to go to college. Dennis sounded like he’d never considered it. And that was all right. He’d made her feel good in so many ways. She wasn’t ready to start mixing love and sex in the same package.

When she was almost asleep, he muttered a “be right back” and disappeared into the bathroom. Emily dozed and woke to the words, “Spread your legs.” She did so without much thought.

When she touched her with the warm washcloth and she realized he’d fetched a basin and warm water to wash away his seed before she fell asleep, Emily smiled sleepily to herself. Maybe she might fall a little bit in love with Dennis after all.

Shelby very much doubted Nick’s choice of the game room to ask her to “sidebar” with him was an accident. As they walked in, there was a bookshelf directly across from the door that she was pretty sure was full of the same books that had first tipped her off that he wasn’t quite the popular jock he’d suggested he was when they first met more than three years ago. There was even a chair by the shelf that he could sit in and make her stare at them while he lectured her if he was so inclined. But instead, he led her to the pool table. “Do you still play?”

Shelby took a cue down from the wall. “Not a lot. You?”

Nick took his own cue. “You’ll probably wipe the floor with me.”

Shelby smirked. She’d automatically understated her skill. You never admitted how good you were at pool. She hadn’t expected Nick to do the same. “Shoot to break?”

Nick won the break, but failed to sink anything when he broke and left an ugly cluster of balls in the middle of the table. Shelby smirked and lined up an easy shot. “Are you trying to shark me, Nick ... lure me into a false sense of security, then take me for everything I have when the betting starts?”

Nick laughed. “I didn’t grow up with a pool table in my basement, Shelby. I’m genuinely not very good at this. I just thought it would be better than sitting here staring at each other while we talked.”

Shelby sank the three ball and left herself a clean lay on the five. She focused on the shot rather than looking at Nick. “So, let me guess. You’re here to tell me you don’t want me here.”

“You know I don’t want you here, Shelby,” Nick confirmed. “I didn’t build this place and invite my friends to live with me because I wanted to be surrounded by drama. You’ve brought a lot of drama.”

Shelby sank the five, but put too much English on the cue ball and blocked herself out from the one ball. She frowned and leaned down to look for angles. “If you’re throwing me out, can I leave in the morning? It’s getting late and I already paid tonight’s rent.”

She could tell that Nick didn’t immediately understand what she was saying, so she focused on lining up her shot. She didn’t really have one, but she managed to bank the cue off the rail to brush the seven ball, avoid a scratch, and partially snooker Nick.

“Is it really that transactional?” Nick asked quietly.

Shelby shook her head. “I didn’t get a receipt if that’s what you mean. He could still tell me to go home tonight.”

Nick’s shot wasn’t lined up properly and, when he failed to overcome the laws of physics, he whiffed, not touching a single ball as the cue bounced around the rails. “I’ll give you a key to one of the guest rooms. If he pulls anything like that, you can stay there tonight and come find me in the morning. We’ll figure something out.”

Shelby hated the sound of barely-concealed pity in his voice and wanted to lash out. She collected the cue and lined up an easy shot. “So, I guess I shouldn’t come knocking on your door?”

“Your social climbing isn’t any more attractive when I’m the upgrade, Shelby.” Nick scowled and she thought she could see him regretting his words immediately. “I won’t be here tonight. I’m having a late dinner with a friend.”

“Amazing how you’re suddenly acquiring friends at an alarming pace, isn’t it?” Shelby sank another shot and banked the cue hard enough to shake off some targets from the center cluster. “Are you taking Lin out to show her a good time?”

Nick shook his head. “You have no idea what you’re talking about and I’m not going to let you bait me.”

Shelby sank another shot. “I don’t want to bait you, Nick. I want you to tell me what you pulled me in here for.” She stood upright. “Do you want to punish me for dumping you three years ago? Do you want another go with me? You’re not throwing me out yet, so maybe you want me to stay out of sight when I’m here.” Frustrated, she turned away to stalk around the table. “You’ve got all the cards here. Put one on the table.”

“I want to talk to you, Shelby. I don’t know what to do with you.” Nick’s voice was softer now. “I have decidedly mixed feelings about you. Why don’t you tell me ... what do you want me to do?”

He sounded so reasonable, but Shelby knew that trap. She went back to the table and took a combo shot that sank two more balls. “I don’t want you to do anything, Nick. Just let what’s going on with me and Simon play out. I can take care of myself. You don’t need to play the white knight here.”

“I’m not playing the white knight,” said Nick firmly. “I’m trying to make a deal with you, Shelby. I want something from you. What do you want from me?”

Shelby made her next shot, but Nick’s words startled her enough that she botched the follow-through. She’d thrown out the idea of “another go” just to put it in his head and keep him off-balance. She didn’t think Nick would seriously have it in mind. She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want to do with me, Nick? I can’t tell you what I want in return until I know.”

Nick took a deep breath. “If you’re going to be staying here part of the summer, I want you to try to tone down the drama.”

“And?” Shelby waited for the other shoe.

“And that’s it, Shel. Don’t provoke people. Don’t pick fights. Go easy on Max unless he really gets on your nerves. I know you don’t like Arwen, so if you can’t be nice to her, try to stay out of her way. Don’t keep bringing up Jenny’s porn thing.” Nick shook his head. “We’ve all been a little too stacked on top of each other this week, but once we start working, people should be getting out more. Try not to make this place seem any smaller than it already is.”

Shelby tried and failed to sink the eight ball. “Even if I try to stay out of Arwen’s way, she might come looking for me. She’s got a real hard-on for me.”

“You did try to steal Lev from her,” Nick pointed out.

“I told him he should try out for the football team!” protested Shelby. “He could have been our whole defensive line.”

“And you didn’t imply you’d be his girlfriend if he did?” Nick challenged.

“No! I was dating Titus at the time. Why would I want Lev?” She watched as Nick finally managed to sink a ball. “Did he tell you I said that?”

Nick frowned and lined up his next shot. “Arwen did, actually.”

Shelby laughed. “Nick, Arwen thinks everybody is trying to sleep with Lev. I was just recruiting for the team.”

He still looked doubtful. “So, Arwen just made it all up?”

“I’m not saying she lied. She probably thought I was flirting. I wasn’t. Do you remember Titus?” She made a gesture of broad shoulders. “Big, powerful guy, star running back. He’s at Penn State now and will probably get drafted into the NFL this year.”

“You didn’t like him enough to stay with him. You’re dating ... what’s his name? Beck?” Nick reminded her.

“Titus graduated and you know Beck’s name. You’ve been going to school with him since kindergarten,” Shelby snapped. “And I’m probably not going out with him anymore. I’ve been ignoring his texts all day.”

On cue, her phone chirped. She extracted it from her pocket and smiled, then typed something quickly. Nick said, “I thought you were ignoring his texts.”

“It’s not him. It’s Lexi.” Shelby hit send. “Her parents were pissed when they realized she snuck into the city with me last night. But, as I predicted, there were no real repercussions. Her dad wants to suck up to you, by the way.”

“Lexi was at the party last night?” Nick asked.

“Lexi was still here this morning,” Shelby sighed. “Simon told me she’d be Dennis’s date, but when we got here, he was canoodling with Wet Dream House Barbie. She wound up hanging out with us all night.”

Nick groaned. “Fucking Simon.”

“Part of the night, yes.” Shelby lined up and sank the eight ball. “She wants to come hang out this weekend. If you need someone to save and you don’t mind cock-blocking your friend, give her the key to that guest room. I get Simon and, now that that rubicon is crossed, I can probably convince him to find other girls for us to sleep with. But, Lexi’s too nice for him. Hell, she’s too nice for me and I’m her best friend.”

Nick looked at the remains of their pool game. “I really do hate the way that Simon talks about women. I don’t think I took him seriously enough when it was just talk.”

Shelby rolled her eyes and started to rerack the balls. “Honestly, Simon has so far treated me better than Beck does. He doesn’t play games and I don’t think he’s lying to me. Open dislike is easier to deal with than weasley contempt.”

Nick sighed and returned his cue to the rack. “Shelby, I’ve got to go. I’m going to take your word that you can handle Simon. But, we should really talk again soon. You’re my guest as well as Simon’s and that gives me some modicum of responsibility for what happens to you here.”

She really hated asking Nick for anything. She hated asking for anything she hadn’t earned or pay for. But, this wasn’t for her. Before he could leave, she asked, “So, can I have a room key for Lexi?”

“For Lexi, you can have an apartment key,” Nick dug into his pocket. “If you’ll do one thing for me.”

Ah, finally. Shelby always suspected that the difference between nice guys and creeps was that creeps got to the point faster. “Okay.”

“I want you here Thursday afternoon,” said Nick. “Hall is running back-to-back games of Dungeons and Dragons. Arwen won’t want to play with you, but you can play in the session with me and the models.”

Once Shelby realized there was no punchline, she asked, “Are you fucking serious?”

Nick nodded. “It took me years to mostly get over that rant when you saw all my books and figurines and I’m not completely over it. I honestly shot that whole video you saw at the party based on the premise that pretty girls would be dismissive of the stuff I like even if I paid them to play. But, they had fun. I think if you actually played a game, you might have fun too. Humor me. If you play a whole session and you really don’t have fun, I won’t ask again.”

“That implied that, if I do have fun, you will ask again,” Shelby sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. “Christ, are you sure you don’t just want me to have sex with you?”

“Oh, sorry,” a woman’s voice said. Lin had come in just in time to hear Shelby proposition Nick. She looked at him, “I thought you might want to hang out, but I see you’re busy.”

“I’m actually going out,” said Nick. “Jennifer, you met Shelby. Right?”

“I did,” Jen reminded him. “She called me classy.”

“Right.” Nick winced. “Are you going to be around tomorrow?”

“Kiki said I could stay until Monday morning. After that, I need to get back to work,” said Jen.

“Right. We should definitely hang out tomorrow. Kiki will be here.” Nick extracted a key from his ring, handed it to Shelby, and trotted out of the room, leaving the two women alone. For a few seconds, they stared at each other awkwardly.

“Well, I guess we both struck out,” said Jen. “Want to go get drunk?”

Shelby gestured at her outfit - form-fitting sweats and a white athletic tee. “I think I’m in for the night.”

“All right. We’ll drink here then.” Jenny went to the wet bar and started opening cabinets. “What’s your preference?”

Shelby hadn’t been planning to drink, but the idea had some pretty strong appeal right now. “Something sweet. I’m not a big drinker.”

“You’re never too old to learn.” Jen brought her a highball glass with way too much Bailey’s in it.

Shelby sipped her drink and followed Jenny to a couch. “So, you’re Jennifer and you’re Lin? I thought maybe there were two of you.”

“I’m both.” Jen had a double tumbler of Jack Daniels and the bottle it came in with her. She set the bottle on a table set up with some complicated board game that Nick and his friends probably spent endless hours droning on to each other over. “So, you and Nick had a thing in high school?”

Shelby sighed. “Yeah. Right after I moved to town, before I started at school actually. We moved to the States after my freshman year.”

Jen and the Bailey’s slowly teased the story out of her. Before Shelby lived in Brownfield Mills, she’d grown up in a series of embassies - Ghana, Angola, Bahrain, and for the three immediate years previous, Saudi Arabia. Unstructured civilian life had come as a shock to both Shelby and her father, who seemed to take most of the summer to remember it was okay for teenage girls to leave their father’s house unescorted in America. Nick had been hired by the previous owner of their house to keep the lawn trimmed and Shelby’s father kept him on. For several weeks, Nick had been her only real contact and Shelby had reacted the way she thought any red-blooded, mostly-American girl would upon finding herself in a dating pool of one.

As she gained more freedom, Shelby had grasped it with both arms. Taught by embassy staff, she’d never been in a class with more than eight people. There were hundreds of people within a year or two of her age in Brownfield Mills and she wanted to know all of them.

Nick’s shrine to all things nerdy had been the last straw, but Shelby had realized fairly immediately that Nick wasn’t much for socializing. He had a very small group of friends that he talked about and wanted her to meet. Shelby, afraid that her father would be furious at her for losing her virginity, had sworn him to secrecy. She’d finally been ready to meet him friends the day she came over and saw where he lived. At the time she felt like she’d narrowly managed to pull her foot out of a hidden bear trap.

Jen gestured with her glass. “So, wait. You ran away from a billionaire to hang out with ... what exactly?”

“I didn’t know he was a billionaire. Neither did he.” Shelby looked at the liquid remaining in her glass and decided that maybe Jenny had poured just the right amount after all. “He was just a moody, quirky, kind of good-looking kid with weird habits and good abs.”

“Still, I bet you regret jumping off that train now,” Jenny insisted.

“Buy low, sell equally low.” Shelby laughed without much humor. Just then, a thread that had been running through her mind since Lexi kissed her that morning reasserted itself. “Simon said something about you doing lesbian stuff?”

Jennifer laughed. “I do. Curious about how the other half loves?”

Shelby blinked her eyes. “What makes you think that I’m the other half? I could be that half.”

Jennifer tapped her temple. “I have excellent gaydar.”

Shelby sighed and took another big swallow. “I have absolutely none. I realized this morning that my best friend has been crushing on me for years and I was completely oblivious.”

“And you’re considering it?” Jenny poured herself more whiskey. “You must be a pretty good friend.”

Shelby shook her head glumly. “I’m a terrible friend. Simon wanted me to ask her to join us last night and I did. I didn’t realize she’d do it to be with me. And now she’s texting me about coming back for a repeat performance.”

“I guess she didn’t stoke your fire?” Jennifer asked.

“She didn’t really get near my fire. It was more performance art than sex. I fucked Little Boots. She fucked him. In between, we did ... twizzles,” Shelby traced a horizontal elliptical in the air with her finger.

Jenny frowned. “I think you dropped some Arabic in there. I didn’t understand like half of that.”

“Sorry. ‘Little Boots’ is my brand new nickname for Simon that I’m trying out. It’s what the soldiers called Caligula when he was on campaign with his father, Germanicus. I think Simon will like it.” said Shelby.

“And ... twizzles?” Jenny asked.

“They’re what ice dancers do in between jumps while they’re catching their breath,” said Shelby. “They’re not the main event, but they’re pretty to watch.”

Jenny took Shelby’s mostly-empty glass from her and placed it on the game table. Shelby tracked it slowly and, when she looked back, Jenny was much closer. “It sounds like you want me to help you find out if you’re into girls or not.”

Shelby leaned back to get a little space. “I, uh ... no. I’m going to have to say no. That wasn’t what I meant. I...” To Jennifer’s little smirk, she added, “I ... don’t remember what I wanted to ask now, but I don’t think it was that.”

“And now that I’ve put the idea in your head?” Jenny leaned in and traced a finger up the outside of Shelby’s thigh.

Shelby watched that finger longer than she meant to. “I’m still going to have to say no, I think. But, if it’s any consolation, the Bailey’s voted yes.”

“You might be outvoted then,” said Jennifer. “Jack and I agree with the Bailey’s.”

Shelby laughed in spite of herself. “Jack doesn’t get a vote. He just wants to watch.”

Jennifer didn’t advance, but she didn’t back off either. Shelby was dimly aware that, if a guy acted like the petite Chinese girl was right now, she probably would have kneed him in the balls. But Jen wasn’t a physical threat. Shelby was physically larger than her and almost certainly stronger. It was a bit like being propositioned by a kitten. Shelby knew Jennifer was behaving like a predator, but she was so small and cute, it was hard to be angry at her.

On the table, Shelby’s phone chirped that she had another message. She gestured towards it and Jen might have taken it as a “come here” gesture because she was kissing Shelby, mouth open, tongue moving into her mouth. Shelby let the kiss happen and even kissed her back a little. When Jennifer leaned back to look in her eyes, Shelby said, “Nope. Didn’t do it for me,” but her voice was a little hoarse.

Jennifer smirked. “Well, that was more of a declaration than a definitive test. Is this the best friend ... Alexis?”

Shelby didn’t understand the question until she realized Jennifer was now holding her phone. She froze. In a situation like this, it was important not to show fear. She nodded. “Yeah. Lexi.”

Kneeling at Shelby’s side, Jennifer flipped through some of the message history, reading what Shelby and Lexi had texted each other. Shelby tried to remember what it was that she would be reading, but Jen didn’t scan long. “The last message says, ‘Should I come in Fri?’ We should tell her yes. Right?”

Shelby gestured for the phone. “I can do it.”

“I’ve got it.” Jennifer started typing, reciting as she went. “Yes. Exclamation point. Come. Exclamation point. I have a room key for us if we can get away from Little Boots.” She turned the phone and held it out so that Shelby could see she’d typed what she said. “Should I hit send?”

Shelby thought about it and was still thinking when Jennifer turned the phone back to face her. Shelby grabbed it, but it was too late. Jen’s finger hit send just before the phone was snatched away. She stared as the text client confirmed the message had been sent, then turned and shoved Jenny. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

Jennifer laughed and pushed her back, playful where Shelby had been rough. “Because you didn’t stop me. You could have, but you just sat there and waited. Now you can worry about regretting what happens instead of regretting that it never happened.”

Shelby gestured at her phone. “You’re a fucking psycho. You know that. Right?”

Jennifer laughed again and kissed her. Shelby made a warning sound in her throat, but Jen kept kissing and pushed her back against the arm of the couch. Whether from the kiss or the circumstances surrounding it, Shelby realized her heart was triphammering in her chest. Her next protest was weaker and there wasn’t a third.

The woman who answered Jasmine Abdul-Stone’s door when Nick arrived was not Jasmine Abdul-Stone at all, but a statuesque dark-skinned woman who spoke English with a London accent and wore a pink silk robe. She shook Nick’s hand. “You must be Nick. Cousin Jazz is running a little late. Can I offer you anything while you wait?”

Nick shook his head. “Just a chance to catch my breath. Apparently, I’ve forgotten how to climb stairs.”

“I guess it’s easier when you’re carrying a model,” called Jazz from the other room.

Nick glanced over to where her voice had come from and saw that the door between rooms was wide open. “It definitely wasn’t easier carrying Emily. I just wasn’t about to let her see I was winded. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.”

“Keep that in mind if you have to carry Jazz up the stairs at the end of the night,” said the young English-sounding woman.

Jazz emerged from the other room wearing tight black leather pants and a pink top that was basically a bra with a gauzy drape falling to cover her stomach without really obscuring any skin. “You won’t have to carry me. Part of the charm of living in a third-story walk-up is that you can only afford to get so drunk.” She sat on the arm of the chair Nick had taken and kissed his cheek. “I was going to dress up more, but Gwen’s flight was delayed and I wanted to check out some color swatches against her skin so I could get my nearshore putting together some prototypes while we’re at dinner. We’re in crunch time for Milan now.”

“Did the party take you away from that?” Nick asked.

“Yes and thank you. It was good to have one last huzzah before going full nose-to-the-grindstone.” Jasmine rose to go back in the bedroom. “Just let me grab my purse and we can get going.”

Gwen leaned in and said quietly. “That top is one of Jazz’s original designs.”

“You look really nice,” Nick called out. “Is that top an original?”

Jazz came out with a purse tucked under her arm. “It is. It’s part of my unreleased ‘sexy Persian’ line, which I mostly design just for myself.” She kissed Gwen on the cheek. “You can let yourself out?”

Gwen nodded. “I’ll see you downstairs tomorrow morning.”

“Morningish,” said Jazz as she led Nick out the door and down the stairs. On the second floor was an office with the Intimates By Jazz logo on the front door. At the ground level was a boutique with scantily-dressed mannequins and a life-size cutout of Emily and Pilar in bra-and-panty sets in the window. As they reached street-level, Jazz said, “I’m glad you liked my setup so much that you thought to copy it.”

“I’m apparently underutilizing my ground floor by just having a lobby,” Nick held the car door for her. “Maybe I should sell lingerie.”

In the car, Jazz said, “I got us a reservation at Sushisamba on Seventh Avenue. I think you’ll like it.”

They chatted amicably as the car brought them downtown. Nick asked, “You said ‘sexy Persian.’ Are you Persian ... like from Iran?”

“Half Persian, all sexy,” said Jazz. “You don’t have any hang-ups on the subject. Do you, Nick?”

“I don’t think I know enough to have any hang-ups,” said Nick. “I just want to be sensitive if there are ... uh, sensitivities, I guess.”

“My grandparents left Iran just before Khomeini took over in the seventies. I was raised in New York, went to Montessori schools and Riverwalk,” said Jazz. “I’m about as Western as they come. All of my sensitivities are the good kind.”

Nick laughed. “Fair enough.” As Jazz moved in closer, he cleared his throat. “Just ... before we get our signals mixed, I want to make sure I’m not misleading you about anything.”

Jazz nodded. “You’re with Kiki. I’m okay with that and assume she’s okay with it, too. I have my own entanglements, but nobody I’m exclusive with.”

“Oh,” said Nick. He hadn’t been expecting such a straightforward discussion of the subject. He knew Stones tended to play by different rules, but hadn’t really seen those rules in action. “I’m also planning to bring Pilar to Montana with me this weekend.”