“Smart of you to team up with someone right in the thick of things when it comes to the single life.” I nod my approval.
“The things I’ve seen would blow your mind.” Joey shakes his head slowly with his eyebrows up as he lets out a breath.
“I’m sure there are things I’d rather not know about when it comes to what happens at bars in New York City.” I cringe at the thought.
“Believe me, you don’t. That’s why I’m hoping this app helps people. Seeing desperate single people try to find someone day in and day out is not fun.”
“You’re single, right?” Matthew asks me. “Did you sign up?”
I nod and take out my phone, opening up the app. “I did, but I need to add friends on here. I didn’t have time to look at it much after the initial setup.”
“Add all of us,” he responds, looking around the group to signify everyone here.
I agree by just handing my phone over to him. “Here, you know how to do this better than I do.”
He requests the other guys at the table, then watches as their individual phones ding with a request and hands the phone back to me. “You’re all set. You’ll need to add some of your closer friends though since they know more about you.”
“I don’t know. This could be fun, guessing what his type is like.” Chad brings the phone closer to his face so I can’t see what he’s doing as he swipes through pictures. “No. No. Huh.” He pauses for a second, glances up at me, then nods with a smirk on his face. “That would be a yes.” He moves the picture he’s staring at up to my name on the app, then puts the phone face down.
I reach for it to see what she looks like, but he’s quick to swat me away.
“The point is, you don’t get to see who I chose for you.”
“I just met you. I hardly think you know my type.”
He shrugs. “She seemed as businesslike as you are, so I figured you’d be a match.”
I shake my head and bring the bottle up to my mouth to take a drink. If only finding a girl was that easy.
A few minutes later, my phone dings with an alert, so I pick it up and laugh instantly when I see I’ve been matched with whoever Chad just swiped to my name.
I turn the phone to show the guys. “We have a match!” I announce with excitement for them that their app seems to be working.
They all celebrate their success like it’s their first confirmed match with cheers and high fives.
I bring the phone back to me and click Accept. “What do I do now?”
“You message her,” Donny replies. “Get to talking. Once you’ve gone back and forth for seven days, the app will ask her if she wants to take this conversation off the app, and if she agrees, then it will give you her real number.”
“Is there an amount of time we have to spend each day for it to qualify?”
Donny shrugs. “Yes, and no. I think we set it up that you have to be engaged with the conversation for two to three replies after the first connection for it to count. We figured if you make it past the first day of conversation and the person wants to talk to you again, then time spent doesn’t matter as much. Seven days is a decent amount of time to wait if you’re just looking for a hookup.”
A sarcastic laugh escapes my lips. “Desperate times call for desperate measures for some people.”
He blows me off with a chuckle.
“But what if I don’t want to give her my real number? Why is it up to her?” I ask.
“Life in general is up to the women, so why should this be any different?” Chad asks with a sarcastic laugh that I join in on.
I pick up my beer and point it in his direction. “Facts.” I take a sip like we just clinked drinks in a cheers fashion.
“If you’re not feeling it, just don’t talk to her on the sixth day, then you won’t have to worry about it,” Donny clarifies.
“So, ghost her. Got it.” I give a sharp nod, showing the assignment is understood.
“Text her back. I promise, she’s a hottie. I wouldn’t do you wrong. We want this app to really work, remember?” Chad tries to encourage me.
