The sun was a molten disk hanging low in the Nevada sky as John pulled his car off the freeway, the shimmering skyline of Las Vegas rising like a mirage ahead of him. The city stretched outward in a glittering sprawl of lights and illusions, promising escape, indulgence—and for him, something far more intimate. His fingers gripped the wheel a little tighter, knuckles whitening as he rolled down the window to let in the dr...