Matched

She smiles softly, and I can almost imagine I see regret in them. "Okay. See you then."

I turn and walk away, taking the stairs to the main floor. I get to the landing and see Mermaid standing talking to Marina. I cringe and hope I can escape Marina's wrath unscathed. I hope neither of them see me. My plan is to take the back door and leave without saying anything, even though it's rude.

All I want is to hop in my car and drive off into the night, try to put the kiss out of my mind before it's time to go to bed, but from the way my body feels, a deep ache in my balls and a slight thickening of my dick, I won't get to sleep without yet another bout of masturbation to images of India lying on my bed, her body slick with coconut oil, her eyes closed in pleasure as I lick it off her hard little clit.

Marina's got to either fix that app or go into another line of work.

Chapter 7

INDIA

I go back down the stairs after Jon, grinning to myself when he turns around and goes back up because Marina and Mermaid Girl are standing blocking the doorway. He can't escape and so he goes back upstairs, probably planning on waiting until they're somewhere else so he can escape.

Of course, I'm hoping for the same, but I'm also out of luck because before I can get to the back door through the kitchen, I'm corralled by Evan.

"There you are," he says, all pleased to find me. "I thought you might have skipped out on me."

"Why would you think that?" I say, a little bit too emphatically, my laugh nervous, my pulse still up a bit from Jon's kiss.

"I looked around but you were gone. I asked Marina and she thought you might have left without telling anyone. She said you do that sometimes."

"She shouldn't be telling stories," I say, shrugging. "I was just upstairs using the ladies’."

"Want another drink?" he asks, pointing to the kitchen.

"Sure," I say, sighing. "I'll take a Corona."

"Oh, don’t have a beer. I make a mean mojito."

I don't want a mojito. I want a Corona. But I acquiesce.

"That sounds great," I reply, forcing a smile, resigned to my fate of putting up with Man Bun for another hour or so before I can ethically escape. I glance around and see Jon trying to slip past a small group of people from Marina's grad class. He tries to do what I'm planning, but then Marina calls out and he stops walking, his body stiff. He turns to face Marina, and his smile is so fake, I'm surprised anyone is fooled.

Marina drags Mermaid Girl over and pushes the two of them together. She says something and then leaves them alone.

Poor Jon. Like me, he's trapped by his own unwelcome date. Now that they're alone, she stands really close, and they're almost eye-to-eye. He's smiling back at her and she runs her hand over his chest suggestively.

I know he doesn't think much of her, but she seems really interested in him and I wonder if he'll go home with her, like he has dozens of women when we've been at parties like this. He thinks she's a flake but she's got a good body, and that's always been good enough for him.

She stands even closer, and he leans forward, his head tilted to one side. She leans in and whispers something in his ear and he smiles and raises his eyebrows. I just know she's asking him back to her place – or inviting herself to his.

God, what ovaries.

At that moment, there's this part of me that wishes I was more of a slut so I could go home with Jon and it wouldn’t matter. I wish we could be friends with benefits and still maintain a successful partnership. It's not like I haven't imagined Jon in bed before – I have. I just know that the first time after we fucked that he took someone home besides me, my heart would break.

I'd resent him, and then how would we work together?

Jon opens the door and the two of them leave, Jon closing the door behind him without even a glance in my direction.

Before I can do anything, Marina comes over to stand beside me. She's grinning from ear to ear.

"Guess who just left with his new MATCHED date?"

"I saw," I say, trying to hide my displeasure. "It's not all that hard to get Jon to leave with a beautiful woman. He does it every weekend. I wouldn’t credit MATCHED for that. In fact, he told me he thinks she's a bit of a flake."

"Jon likes flakes. He always picks them out of a crowd of women. He just doesn't want to admit it."

I turn and look in her eyes. "You think so?"