An uproar of screams comes from the other side of the room. A bunch of guys are cheering over something on one of their phones. Before I can look back at Matthias, my gaze catches on Colt’s date, standing at the bar, looking like someone kicked his puppy. I can’t help but feel bad for him. Showing up here with no knowledge of what he was walking into. I love Matthias, but he can be super intimidating.
“I’m going to get going. You good?” Matthias asks as he reaches for his coat. Best-case scenario, he’s going home to open a bunch of spreadsheets. At this hour, it’s more likely he’ll go back to the office.
“Yeah. I’ll head out in a minute.”
I don’t know what makes me do it, but instead of heading for the door, I find myself walking toward the bar.
“Hey, you okay?” I ask, putting a hand on the guy’s shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to get in the middle of anything.” He winces as he says it. “We met on an app and, I don’t know, he seemed like a good guy.”
“I know. You aren’t in the middle, not really. And I think Colt is a good guy, but there’s some old baggage that seems to be resurfacing.” That’s the best way for me to explain it. Nathan swears up and down that whatever there was between him and Colt is in the past, but that’s clearly not true.
“Either way, I didn’t mean to step in it. This was our first date.”
“Well, at least you’ve got a good story to tell people.” He cocks his head to the side and stares at me. Okay, that wasn’t the right thing to say. This is why I don’t date much. There’s always way too much drama. And I definitely stay away from the apps. The women I meet on them are never what I’m looking for. Not that I know what that is.
“I guess so. I’ve got plenty of stories. I was hoping for something different tonight.”
“Oh yeah, what were you hoping for?”
The question seems to throw him for a minute, and he turns his gaze toward the floor. Poor thing. Those apps were going to eat him alive. “I guess just some company.”
“Well, if you want company, how about a drink?” One drink never hurt anyone.
“Um…” He glances toward the door.
“They won’t come back. Even if they do, you didn’t do anything wrong. No one’s cheating on you or with you.”
“Then okay. A drink sounds nice.”
I wave the bartender over and order another round of beers.
“I’m Aaron,” I say, offering him my hand.
“Oliver.”
“So, tell me why you’re so upset over Colt?”
He chokes on the sip of his drink he’d been taking, sputtering and coughing for a few seconds.
“Sorry, I tend to be a little blunt.”
“I can appreciate that.” He stares at his lap for a second before answering my question. “I’ve had a run of bad dates lately. This was supposed to be the one to end the streak.”
“I thought I was the only one who picked the worst folks off those apps.” I deleted every single one last year after a particularly bad night. “What was your worst?” Of course, a few of them have made their way back onto my phone.
“I don’t know if it was my worst, but this one guy showed up and yelled at me for not looking like my photo.”
I start to tell him it seems reasonable, but he holds up his hand.
“The picture I use is only a month old. He literally thought I would look like my photo, right down to the clothes. He kept asking where my red t-shirt was.”
“Okay, that’s pretty bad.” I give him a minute to take a drink before I start again. “I can top it, though. One of the women I went on a date with brought her boyfriend.” From his gasp, I’m guessing I’ve done a good enough job one-upping him. I’d had the same flabbergasted expression on my face that night. “Apparently, he’d been her ex when we set up the date, but they got back together earlier that day. Instead of calling it off, they both showed up and expected the three of us to have dinner together.”
“Okay, that’s bad. You might win.”
“I’m not sure if I should feel good about that or not.” That story isn’t even the worst, but it’s the one I’m willing to share. There’s a reason I’m hopelessly single.
