“Want some snacks?” I asked.
“Yes!” Then with the most endearing look of excitement in her face, she cried out, “We can make a sharkcuterie board!”
I must have looked puzzled and before I could say anything she held her finger up, then bent down so that I could only see her hair bobbing around as she dug through the cabinet below. Kit eventually emerged holding up a large cutting board in the shape of a shark. “Sharkcuterie!”
Kit laughed at her own joke. “I never thought I’d need this again.”
“Why do you have that?” I asked, reaching for the bottle of wine and the opener.
“Well,” Kit said, placing the board on the counter, “every year my friends throw a pun potluck, and this year I brought sharkcuterie.” Kit looked satisfied as she reached for the food to start arranging it on the board.
We agreed we needed to eat more than snacks and wine, so we put some pizza bagels in the oven. I poured each of us a glass of wine. Across the kitchen, Kit hopped up onto the counter to sit and wait for the pizza bagels. I leaned against the opposite counter with one hand in my pocket and the other holding my wine glass. Kit told me stories about past pun potlucks.
I liked seeing her like this. She seemed happier, less guarded, and definitely less annoyed with me. My expression must have shown that I was thinking about her because sheshifted her weight the way she did when she was feeling self-conscious and asked, “What?”
“Nothing,” I said, looking down at the ground. I was trying not to look at her legs. “I guess I’m just glad you’re still talking to me after I won that bet about the Christmas Tree Competition.”
Kit sighed and said, “Well, I am bound by honor to say nothing negative about your work.”
I took a breath and said, “I know, but you really seemed to dislike me as much as you dislike my work, so I just didn’t think you’d ever be this…friendly toward me.” I chuckled. “I’m just glad I’ve finally figured out how to get on your good side.”
“Oh, yeah.” Kit raised an eyebrow. “And how is that?”
“Ridiculously expensive wine and snacks,” I joked.
“Well, I do love sharkcuterie,” she said with a coy laugh. “And I guess you’re growing on me.”
Kit jumped down from the counter and pulled the pizza bagels out of the oven.
She added them to the cutting board. I refilled our glasses and said, “Why don’t we take this sharkcuterie into the front room?”
“Oh! Let’s watch a holiday movie,” Kit said, practically bubbling. I followed her into the front room. I had to admit that I was enjoying this friendlier side of Kit.
We put the food and drinks on the table. Kit set her cell phone down as she started putting logs into the fireplace. I asked, “Need any help with that?”
“I got it,” she said and looked over her shoulder. “I didn’t think city boys knew much about building fires.” Kit finished putting wood in the fireplace and started the fire. She sat on the far end of the sofa from me.
I pulled the coffee table closer to us so the food would be easier to reach. I heard a familiar cell phone chime. I checked my cell phone, but I saw that it wasn’t the one chiming. I looked atthe coffee table where Kit’s phone was sitting face up, and I saw the familiar SingleMingle icon pop up and another chime.
“Wait a second!” I said playfully. “After giving me such a hard time about SingleMingle, you’re on the app, too!” I snatched the phone off the table before Kit could grab it.
I read the text alert banner out loud. “MountainMan2000 has winked at you!”
Kit’s face looked shocked and then determined. She lunged at me to grab the phone from my hand, but I quickly held it above my head just out of her reach. “Oh, no. Give me back my phone!” She laughed.
Kit struggled to grab the phone from me. I liked how she brushed against me as she reached for her phone. I wanted it to last longer, but after a few seconds I finally gave it back to her. Kit settled back on her end of the sofa. She gave me an annoyed look, but she was still smiling. She swiped across her phone as she popped a few chocolate-covered pecans in her mouth.
“Well,” I said impatiently. “Is MountainMan2000 cute or what?” I hated that I was feeling a little jealous of the interest Kit was showing in this app.
She tilted her head from side to side, as if she wasn’t sure, then finally showed me. “I don’t know. I guess he’s cute.” The guy in the photo was a little older than me. He was wearing a fishing vest, in a boat, holding up a fish. He wore a cap, sunglasses, and had a full beard.
“You can’t even see this guy’s face!” I said, “How can anyone tell if he’s cute or not?”
Kit laughed, raising an eyebrow at me. I hoped she wasn’t picking up on my jealousy.
“Well, was that woman from the bar the other night—what was her name? Peach? —was that womanyourtype?” Kit shot back.
“No, not really,” I said taking a bite of a pizza bagel, then I realized something. “Hey, if we’re both on this dating app and it pairs you with people you’re geographically close to, then why haven’t we matched?”
