Or at least, I thought, until a stolen kiss behind the carnie games lit something within me. She was soft and curvy. Smart, funny, and all the things I never noticed in the time I’d spent with her. The only reason it didn’t go further was work. It was a complication and neither of us wanted to risk it. So, I shelved it and locked it in a box buried so deep it was gone, but not forgotten. Then I did what I always did. Moved on.
“Beers?” Kev asked, snapping my thoughts away from April and the possibility Jake just unboxed.
“Sure. Meet you out in ten.” I grabbed my stuff and headed for the showers.
The cold water did nothing to cool the burn inside me. Why the fuck couldn’t I just forfeit?Probably because I might like to have someone to come home to.
I slammed off the water and quickly dried off to meet Kev.Maybe I could pick someone up tonight. Forget the online crap. The guys were right. Time to go old fashioned.
As I walked out of the locker room, April stepped out ofher office. Her red hair was half-up and wavy. She’d changed out of her work uniform and into a yellow flowery dress that hugged her curves. Curves that were ingrained in my brain. She looked spectacular.
What Jake suggested ran through my mind. No one knew of our history, except Kev. But we’d moved on from that, and besides, it was still complicated. That would be off-limits for a bet and if it went to shit, I couldn’t risk it. I recalled the devastation on her face when she told me about her guy breaking up with her. Even if we were both in a dating dumpster fire right now, she was worth more than that. She deserved more than me using her to win a game.
CHAPTER 6
APRIL
Nora’s new profile for me was a hit. More people messaged me within the first few hours than in the past two years. I filtered through the typical messages asking for a hookup and focused on the ones with potential.
That left only two guys. One had beautiful eyes and a smolder that would take panties off. He was way out of my league. The other guy was a dentist. He was cute, older, had a nice facial structure, and dark brown eyes with a playful hint behind them that made me think he would have a good sense of humor.
His profile wasn’t terrible. There were photos of him at baseball games, bonus points for being a Twisters fan. I grinned, swiping through a few more photos of him in Vegas with a group of guys, some selfies, and one of him with a little girl captioned “my world.” You couldn’t see her face, but she seemed around seven or eight years old. It had me wondering if I could date a single dad? Would he expect more than a fake dating situation?
My hands hovered over the keyboard, pausing on messaging him. I went back to the hot, smoldering guy. Hisprofile was not what I expected. He had some family photos, some great vacation pics, and some gorgeous houses I could only dream of. It made sense, since it said he was in construction and lived north of the city. Maybe I was wrong about him. His message seemed innocent.
“I have a feeling you’re more than what your profile pics suggest? I’d love to chat more if you think we’d be a good match.”
Well, that line freaking worked. He probably used it on all the girls. Who talks like that? No one I knew. Most of the comments on the pic have been “nice ass,” “I’ll let you play with my balls,” or whatever guys thought got them attention. Should I message him? A guy like that? He probably had a woman in every city. Maybe a catfishing situation and he’s using someone else’s pic?Or you could stop making shit up and see what happens.
“Girl, who is that snack on the screen?” Nora reached over me, yanking the computer from my hands.
“Some guy.”
“And you messaged him back, right?”
Groaning, I covered my face with my hands. “I don’t know. He’s hot. Like deliciously hot, but no.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Guys like him aren’t into curvy redheads with flab instead of abs.”
Nora’s expression narrowed and her eyes turned to ice as she pointed her finger at me. “Don’t you dare do that. You are a fucking prize and if I’m not mistaken, he messaged you first.”
She was right, he did. “Okay, fine,” I conceded. “Let’s message him back.”
She clapped, then stole the computer. I tried to get it but she was quick. When she handed it back, she had already messaged him.
Summer Loving: Hi.
“Oh my god!” My jaw dropped. “You didn’t.”
“Sure did,” Nora waggled her brows. “Picture May’s face when you show up to your Papi’s birthday with him!” She thumbed at the computer screen.
A grin spread across my face.That would be amazing.
“I bet she’d shut her big trap then!” Nora laughed.
Pfft. “Yeah, right. She’d probably accuse me of paying him.”
