The speed dating was chaotic. I was also not dressed for it. All the other women appeared to have showered, changed, and put on fresh makeup for the event. I looked down at my chest. There was melted ice cream on my blouse.
“Maybe I’m not right for this event,” I said,
A tall, blond man in a sharp suit grinned at me and waved me over. “Find your name tags, ladies.”
“Just stay for one round,” Sophie pleaded as we stuck our name tags on our shirts then went up to the bar. A slightly doughy man smiled at us.
“Can I buy you a drink?” he offered.
Sophie peered at him suspiciously as he motioned to the bartender.
“I thought the ratio at these things was going to be in my favor,” he complained as the bartender mixed the drinks with more of a flourish than I really thought was necessary given the circumstances. “But of course, all the women here just flock to the top ten percent of guys.” He jerked his head toward the back of the bar.
I followed the motion to see that Sophie had already ditched me and was in line for an Eddie Redmayne lookalike. “Sorry!” she mouthed from across the room.
“Fair-weather friend!” I mouthed back. “I’ll, um, do a speed date with you,” I told the guy and took a sip of my drink.
“You will?” he seemed shocked.
“Sure,” I said weakly as he led me to a table near the gaggle of women.
“You get out often?” I asked him, taking my seat.
“I try.” He sighed. “I guess you want to know if I have a job and a house.”
“I uh—”
“Well I have a high-paying job, but I live with my mom!” he said defensively.
“Well—”
His eyes narrowed, and he exploded, “You women are all the same! Always judging us men. And after I bought you a drink and everything!”
“Dude,” I said, “I live with my parents. No judgment here.”
“Oh,” the guy said sheepishly. “I just get a lot of flak. I’m a little defensive.”
“I bet,” I said.
“So you want to hook up?” he asked hopefully.
“Can I think about it?”
Thought about it and no.
Gunner came over to the table next to me to herd the women away.
“There are other men here,” he told them. He pulled me out of my seat and pushed a thin blond woman down in front of my former speed date.
“We have to keep it moving,” he told me, shoving me into the seat in front of a dark-haired man who was looking down at his phone.
Great. Another person with zero social skills. I took a sip of my drink then choked on it when the man looked up.
“You!” I hissed as the red alcohol dribbled down my chin.
“You shouldn’t drink that if some strange man bought it for you,” Mark said with a frown.
“I’m not paying twenty dollars for a cocktail,” I said flatly. “So this is a risk I’m willing to take.”
