“Urgh, I’m really not ready for this.” I roll my eyes. “I wanted a break from dating.”
“But then you screwed around with Carter, so now you don’t have any choice. So, it’s time to download your app again and get back to it. Find a man the old fashioned way by seeing his picture on your phone screen.”
“Oh yes, so romantic. Just what I want.” But I do pull out my phone and do as she says. “You’re going to have to help me pick out a man though. You are much better at it than I am. I seem to pick out losers all the time.”
“I would normally disagree with you, but since things are going so swimmingly with Randall I will have to say yes, I am better at it than you. So, here give me your phone and I will sort it out.” She gives me a look. “Come on, hand it over. You need to just trust me; I won’t steer you wrong. Plus, you asked for this.”
I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m sure it’s a mistake, but I give her my phone. Her eyes widen in delight, she looks like a kid in a candy store as she swipes left and right and sends a load of messages. I suppose this makes sense, it’s what I need to do to move on. And as much as I might not really want to, I do need to move on from Carter. He might be hot as hell and there could be something between us, I might even suspect that there’s something more to him than meets the eye, but we work together. It’s a bad idea.
“I will find you the man of your dreams here, trust me,” Abbi warns me with a wicked glint in her eyes. “And you are about to go on lots of dates to purge this man out of your system, okay?”
“I thought you didn’t want me to move on from Carter?” I chuckle and raise one eyebrow at her. “I thought you wanted me to keep screwing him. Now, you’re trying to get rid of him completely.”
“Oh, I don’t.” She clutches her hand to her chest. “But if that’s what you want then I’m here to help. There are lots of guys here who could be perfect for you. You just need to give them a chance. Hey, maybe we could even end up having a double wedding with the men we meet online. Could you imagine that?”
“I’m just going to ignore that you’re massively getting carried away here and hope that you know what you’re doing. Because this is important. If I don’t meet the man of my dreams soon…”
“Then you’ll end up fucking the one who’s bad for you again. I get it.” She rolls her eyes again. “I wouldn’t let you fall off the trail and do something a little bit wild… even if that’s been your behavior recently.”
The one who’s bad for me… Carter is definitely that. But Abbi definitely shouldn’t have worded it like that. Now she’s made him like a delicious piece of tempting fruit who I want to taste more than ever before…
I scroll through the endless messages that I have received back as I lie in my bed, wondering how Abbi has managed to have far more success than me, while being me. It’s crazy. Not only do I only attract the weirdos, I must seem like one too because usually, no one is that interested in me.
Adam: Hey there, sexy lady, it’s good to meet you, thank you for swiping on me…
Peter: Thank you for the message, it’s always nice to get a compliment from a…
Tex: Would you like to meet for a face to face date? I’m much better at dating…
Mitch: Wow, it’s been a long time since I got a message from someone like you…
Jamie: I’m going to start with a joke as an ice breaker. I hope that’s okay with you…
I scroll through them all, filling up lots of screens, trying to find one that stands out to me. I actually have a choice now, and I want to pick the right guy. Maybe this is something I should do with Abbi but she’s at her place now and I want to think that I can at least handle this part of things.
“Ooh, Thomas,” I comment as I see a blond surfer looking guy smiling back at me. “You look nice.”
His profile isn’t too bad either. He has a good job in a bank, he seems to have a good life traveling and socializing, a better work life balance than me, and he doesn’t say anything too weird. He might be a good place to start. I open up his message, just to check, and again I’m left happy.
Thomas: Hello, Raelyn, thank you for messaging me. That was really kind of you. I know that this online dating field can be a bit crazy, so I just wanted to message and say hey.
Raelyn: Hi, Thomas, thank you for your message. How are things with you?
Thomas: Good, thank you. Work has been a little crazy, but aside from that, all good. And how are things with you? From your profile it looks like you have an important job as well. Tell me about that.
We message back and forth for a while, and he actually manages to make me laugh. I ask questions about him and get good answers, and he seems really interested in me as well. It hasn’t ever been like this before. I would like to go on a date with this man, he might be the one to help me get passed these stupid feelings for Carter. This man isn’t complicated, he can’t affect my company, and that’s why I need to focus on him and forget about Carter. At least Thomas is cute, I bet we’re going to have just the best time together. I smile to myself just thinking about how sweet and romantic this could be.
This might be the start of my happy ever after, Thomas might be the one for me, who the hell knows?
15
Carter
Work has been a bitch today, an absolute bitch. I’ve been in meetings all day long, all over the city, which is good in one way because it means that business is doing well. Since Raelyn and her guys came to be a part of my company, things have been booming, especially since I started listening to her. But on the other hand, it’s bad, because all I want to do is see her and I haven’t had that chance today. I want to stare into those beautiful eyes of hers, to see if she wants me to touch her again, to know that a part of her still belongs to me.
We had sex again last night, and I need to know that she’s still here with me and that she hasn’t run off again. I don’t think she has, when I spoke to Gary earlier, he mentioned her being around, but I need to see her with my own eyes so I can be sure. Plus, I want to know how she feels, how she’s going to act around me. This is so important; I have a feeling that it will dictate what happens next between us.
I glance at my watch as I step out of the last meeting