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“Hey.”
“Charming, Dee.” She smiles. “You’re the only beautiful, smart,coolwoman in the county.”
The flattery fills me somewhere deep. Not that it’s false. Lexi truly believes this. She truly believes I’m the smartest, coolest woman she knows. It’s not that she doesn’t mean it.
She does. She really sees me that way. Even though I’m hopelessly out of place here, I still seem like her in-control, intelligent older sister.
But if she’s lying to herself…
“Anyway…River.” She mentions him casually. Too casually. “Have you seen him?”
“No.” And I need to close this Jake thing. “What if you find someone else?”
“Surely, you don’t acknowledge that possibility.” She smiles at me, certain she’s found a flaw in my logic. After all this time in a relationship, she still doesn’t believe she’s a serious relationship person. “The algo is perfect. Jake is Mr. Right.”
Yes, he is a 99 percent match, but Lexi had a lot of high matches. And the algo is assuming people want a serious relationship. It can’t control their self-sabotage. “He’s the most compatible guy within fifty miles, yes.”
We only know the compatibility of people on the app, but we have enough users to make a strong statistical case. There are plenty of very compatible men out there. Lexi is a catch and Southern California is highly populated. But even if we got every single guy in the state onto MeetCute, Lexi and Jake would still be a top match. They’d still be in the 99thpercentile.
“Then I’ll see other guys, realize they’re not as compatible, see the light.” She tries to speak my language, but she doesn’t quite understand it. She doesn’t see relationships the way I do. Few people do.
“If you don’t?” I ask.
“Dee, you worry too much.” She pats me on the back and returns to fixing her cosmo. “Now, have you seen River? I’m sure he’s looking for me.” She pulls out her cell phone and sets it next to her cocktail shaker. “Do you want, one too?”
My stomach gnaws at me while I watch her add vodka and ice, close the lid, shake. She pulls two martini glasses from the freezer and strains.
She pushes one to me, even though I didn’t say yes. “How about a toast then?”
“To…?”
“Possibilities.”
Okay, that confirms it. She’s looking for River for one reason. And I need to stop her, before she makes a mistake.
I have to look out for her.
And the app.
This is our future. Not just mine.Ours.But how? I’m not good at solving problems on the fly. I need time to plan and strategize.
So I do the only thing I can think of.
I take my glass, I raise to toast, I tap my glass against hers, and I tilt it forward, so it sprays all over her dress, legs, and shoes. It’s not the smartest or most effective delay, but it’s something.
“Dee!” Lexi drops her glass as she jumps back. “What the fuck?”
“Sorry. Butterfingers.”
She looks at her dress, now stained a darker shade of pink in unusual splotches. “Shit. I better change. But I’m supposed to…” She looks to the house next door again.
“Meet River?”
“I know you don’t approve,” she says.
“No.” I cross my fingers behind my back. “You’re right. You should see what else is out there. So that you know for sure Jake is it.”
“I should?”
