What in the world was going on here?
“Hey, Brenna,” Jackson called, seeing me, waving me closer.
“It’s Brielle,” I corrected him.
“What?”
What did he have me saved in his phone as?
I raised my voice, hoping that maybe I hadn’t heard him right. “My name is Brielle!”
“That’s what I said. This is Cassie.”
I blinked at the girl in front of me with long, wavy hair. “Hi.”
She looked me up and down with confusion on her face that I was pretty sure mirrored my own. “Um, hi.”
Then Jackson didn’t say anything else. But he did talk to her. “So, where were we again?”
“You just asked me if I have been in the city for long. I said that I have been here for the past three years,” she said.
“And you?” He turned to me for my answer.
“I just moved here in August,” I answered hesitantly.
What was going on here? This wasn’t an interview, but Jackson was sure treating it as one, looking between the two of us. I wouldn’t call myself the most date-savvy, but after my last two weeks of dates, but?—
“Wait a second.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Are you on a date with her?”
twelve
As soon asthe realization hit me, it sank in like a slap to the face.
“You’re on a date with both of us? At the same time? Here?” My voice was colder than the wind outside.
Of all places. Here?
Jackson nodded like I’d just asked him if he wanted fries with his meal. “Yeah.”
Cassie’s eyes went wide, her mouth half open, as if the words were caught somewhere in her throat. “What?”
“I don’t get the big deal,” Jackson said with a casual shrug, glancing between us like we were the weird ones.
Around us, conversations at nearby tables began to dip. People were starting to catch on. I could feel their stares behind me, the pause in their laughter.
“We’re all just trying to find someone, right? It’s not like I knew either of you before tonight. This way’s just more efficient.”
Efficient.
He said it like it was a spreadsheet and not two actual human beings sitting across from him with real expectations and at least a little bit of hope. His tone was matter-of-fact, even bored.
A lot like date number one.
They really were not all that original.
