"She's worried.We all are."Connor gestures to the whiteboard.“Which is why we're here."
"To list my flaws on a whiteboard?"
"To talk sense into you before you permanently fuck up the best thing that's happened to you since..."Grayson pauses."Actually, has anything good happened to you before Sage?"
"I have a very successful company?—"
"That's work, not life," Alex interrupts."Mac wants me to point out that you were actually happy with Sage.She used the word 'glowing.'"
"I don't glow."
"You smiled," Connor says."Genuinely.Without someone having to explain why something was funny first."
“I don’t even?—“
"You bought flowers," Grayson adds."Expensive ones.Without being prompted or threatened."
"You danced," Callum contributes."Voluntarily.In public."
"You let a goat eat your shoes and laughed about it," Alex finishes."That's not normal Luke behavior.That's happy Luke behavior."
"Are you all quite finished?"
"Not even close."Connor stands, moving to the whiteboard."Let's review the facts.Sage hacked your dating profile?—"
"A felony," I interject.
"A misdemeanor at best," Connor amends."I had legal look into it.Also, irrelevant.She hacked your profile to meet you, not to steal from you."
"She lied?—"
"To meet you," Grayson emphasizes."Her grand criminal plan was to...what?Get you to notice her?Make you fall in love?Save her family's legacy?These are not exactly supervillain motivations."
"She could have been honest?—"
"When?"Alex asks."Hey, nice to meet you, I committed light fraud to get you here?That's not exactly first date material."
"Or second date," Callum adds."Or third."
"The point is," Connor says, writing on the board, "she made a desperate decision before she knew you, then fell for you after.The order matters."
"Does it?"
“Fuck yes," all four say in unison.
"Look," Grayson leans forward."I created a dating app specifically for assholes like this who are better at working with machines than women.Was it hard as hell to change?Yes.Am I mad that I did?No.I'm impressed and married to the best woman I know.”
"That's different?—"
"How?"
"You weren't fucked over by your wife and cousin first!"
The room goes quiet.Finally, the real issue on the table.
"No," Grayson says quietly."But I was convinced I was unlovable.Roz proved me wrong.Just like Sage proved you wrong."
"Sage proved I'm an easy mark?—"
