Courses Portable: My Cougar

Simone gave us our final assignment: "Approach a man. Use everything you've learned. And for heaven's sake, don't pretend to like NFTs."

I walked over. No hesitation. No fake stumble. I leaned on the bar next to him and said, "That book will break you in the best way. Read it last year. Cried for three days." my cougar courses

We practiced in pairs. My partner was a timid accountant named Linda, who kept whispering, "I feel like a streetlamp." Simone gave us our final assignment: "Approach a man

But I did end up dating someone. A thirty-four-year-old librarian named Ash who wore cardigans and knew more about fungi than anyone I'd ever met. On our third date, he said, "You move through the world like you're not asking for permission." No hesitation

I didn't end up dating Theo. He became a friend—a reminder that I could still connect, still surprise myself.

We talked for two hours. About ghosts. About mothers. About the strange math of loving when you're older and know exactly what you're worth. He didn't flinch when I said I was forty-seven. He said, "Good. Then you know what you want."

I chose a tall, shy guy named Mateo, who was staring at two kinds of kale like they held the secrets to the universe.