Page 16 of 28 Dates
Teagan expects it from me by now, and she’s only been with Corbin since last August.
After grabbing out a few different blocks of cheeses, I head to the pantry, loading down my arms with multiple boxes of crackers.
Teagan grins at me and points to the dishwasher. “Your favorite knife is in there, but it’s clean.”
This is why best friends rock. They know you have a favorite knife and keep it clean just in case you make an emergency, post–horrible blind date visit.
At least that’s what I tell myself as I grab the knife and slide the cutting board on the counter in my direction. I begin slicing cheeses, Gouda, Havarti, and my favorite—Merlot BellaVitano. “Where’s the guy you’re chained to forever?”
“You and your fear of marriage. I swear, I’m almost hoping this app thing works out for you and you’re swept unexpectedly off your feet like I was.”
I point the deadly knife in her direction. “That’s not even funny.”
She laughs again and reaches for the wine bottle, refilling our glasses without me even needing to ask. This, and the knife…it’s why I love her so much. For so many years it was just Corbin, Trey, and I, and then Teagan rear-ended Corbin on the worst morning of her life, and three weeks later she was so in love with him, she still can’t see straight.
And giving that kind of control to someone? No thank you very much. Not for me, but more power to them for being so gosh-darn happy all the time.
She snags a chunk of the BellaVitano and chews, making a moaning sound as she chases it with wine. “To answer your question, Corbin’s in town all day pitching to a few local stores to see if he can get more of them to carry his furniture.”
I almost slice my finger off. “Seriously? That’s amazing!”
“Yeah. He’s been working so hard at building up some inventory. I’ve been on pins and needles waiting for him to get back, so I’m glad you showed up to distract me. But in all seriousness, I think if you’re going to do these blind dates, maybe you should meet them somewhere else, somewhere you feel safe and know people in case anything else scary happens.”
Somewhere safe where I know people?
There’s only one possible location. But with the way Jonas reacted to my using the dating app, is that even the best place? I haven’t even returned since he verbally backhanded me.
“You’re probably right,” I concede and pop a chunk of cheese into my mouth. “I’ll think about it.”
“And keep an open mind—and heart, Caitlin. Who knows, maybe you really will find someone.”
That I highly doubt. Still, my sweet friend has a smile on her face that makes her eyes sparkle. Who am I to dim her shine? “We’ll see.”
Chapter 6
Caitlin
I toss my phone to the coffee table in front of me and shove my fingers through my hair. Strips of red curls fall down, and I push them back, gathering my hair on the top of my head before dropping all of it again. It’s too early to be working, but it’s the cost of having lawyers on the East Coast.
“Trey,” I call out. He’s in my kitchen, fixing himself eggs for our regular Monday morning breakfast meeting. The benefits of working at home definitely include holding weekly meetings in my pajamas and my boss coming to me. “The lawyers have the contracts ready.”
It’s a six-figure deal for a sports app he designed. Not quite gambling, more fantasy-style sports with money involved, but you can play for any sport, and you put money in whenever you want, either for a set of weekend games, or nightly depending on the sport.
The coolest part is that it’s only for professional women’s sports. And it totally got me hooked on women’s football. I never even knew there was such a thing, but the owners of other similar apps wanted one solely devoted to women’s sports.
If people are betting money on them, the odds of watching them increase, thereby increasing their popularity. I can see the string of thought, and I myself haven’t missed a women’s football game since I started watching.
“Good.” From the muffled tone, I can tell his mouth is shoved full of eggs and toast. Why he insists on cooking my food, I’ll never know, but I’d rather have him come to me at seven in the morning than trudge up the ten flights in an elevator to his penthouse. “Are they overnighting them?”
“Mm-hmm. Should be here tomorrow.”
I push my feet off the coffee table and sit up, reaching for my coffee. On my phone screen is a list of notifications from some of the men who contacted me over the weekend. I’m trying to do what I promised both Trey and Teagan, but that first date really threw me for a loop. Are there that many creepy men in the world? Or do they live behind their screens, waiting for a normal girl to scare the pants off of?
One of them started sending me messages Thursday evening, and we’ve sent several back and forth. His face is hidden in his profile picture. He has his back to the screen, short black hair that’s almost in need of a haircut. He’s wearing a white thermal shirt, and from the view, it looks like he’s standing on the coast at sunset. Could be Photoshopped, but the vibrant-colored coast as the backdrop to his muscular shoulders is kind of sexy, too. And yet his face is hidden. Isn’t the point of the profile picture to show how attractive you are to gain immediate attention?
I flip back to my own profile photo and snort. My hair is cute, the front section is braided around my temple down to the side, where it’s gathered with the rest in a ponytail and sits right on my shoulder. It’s a selfie I took last summer from Corbin’s back deck, and while my makeup and hair are on point, I’m also wearing my pajama shirt. One I wear too often out of the house to truly call it a pajama shirt, but there you have it. Besides, I get the most compliments on the threadbare T-shirt featuring Yoda fromStars Wars. He’s giving two thumbs-up and there’s a conversation bubble that says, “Yoda loves this chick.”
Yeah…not exactly my best first impression, but it says a lot about me. I’m sweet and playful, down to earth, and a hugeStar Warsfan.
