Page 13 of Going All In

I give her a side-eye. “Yes?”

“And remember how I said we’d take care of it?”

Alarm bells sound in my head. “What did you do, JJ?”

JJ holds up her hands in defense. “Nothing, I swear. Nothing yet. I just researched the best dating apps and started a profile for you. It’s not live, don’t worry.”

I open my mouth to protest, but the words catch in my throat. Maybe she has a point. Everyone uses dating apps these days, don’t they? Plenty of my friends have met their now-spouses that way, so it’s not something that’s going to look bad. It could work. Plus, I don’t have any other options right now.

I blow out my breath in a resigned sigh. “Okay. But I get to approve everything that goes on that profile. Every. Single. Thing, JJ. And I’m going to need chocolate to get through this.”

* * *

“What about this one?” JJ holds up her phone.

I wrinkle my nose. “I look terrible in that picture.”

We’ve been going through her photos for half an hour after everything on my phone was deemed unusable as a profile picture. By me, of course. JJ thinks I look fabulous in every picture. Everyone should have a best friend like JJ.

She rolls her eyes. “You do not. How about this?” She scrolls through the photos on her phone and holds it up. It’s me at a music festival, the music shell in the background. My dark hair is a wild, wavy mess that’s accentuated by the dandelions and violets woven into it.

I shrug. It’s not as bad as the first one.

Also, I’m trying to attract a guy who isn’t going only for looks, right?

She keeps scrolling. “So we’ll use that, and… this one?” She chooses a second photo, this one of the two of us with our arms around each other.

“Aww, I like that one.”

JJ grins. “Good. Now we just have to do the profile.” She taps on the phone for a few seconds. “How tall are you… five foot three, body type… athletic?”

I snort. “I wish. Put average.”

JJ’s tongue pokes out the edge of her mouth as she concentrates. “Single. Interested in men. Now we have to put something about you. How about… ‘I’m a social worker with a busy job and the most amazing best friend in the world. I love animals, Italian food, chocolate, and hiking’.”

I toss three peanut M&Ms into my mouth and chomp down. “Get rid of the best friend part. And I like hiking, but I haven’t gone in years. That seems disingenuous.”

“But the best friend thing is true!” She blinks her baby blue eyes at me with a look of pure innocence.

“Give it to me. I’ll write something.” I snatch the phone from JJ and double check what she’s already written. There are only a few words, but I delete them and squint my eyes in concentration as I start to write.

I love my job as a busy social worker. In my free time, I like hanging out with friends, hiking, board games, and…

I pause to think. What else do I like? I swear, every time someone asks me what my hobbies are, I draw a blank. I chew on my lip for a minute, then addcooking Italian food.

“There, that should cover it.” I hand the phone back to JJ.

She peruses it and nods, then shakes her head. “We need more. Plus, thecookingis a stretch. Re-heating pasta doesn’t really count as cooking. What are you looking for? What are your turn-ons?”

“Turn-ons? Nothing I would share with a stranger on a dating app.” This is sounding more and more like a bad idea.

Do I even need a date for my dad’s wedding?

Yes. Definitely, yes. Because there will be family there. The family that saw me at my mom’s funeral, being completely humiliated by Jared. I’m sure they already think I’m pathetic. I can’t give them more evidence to support that.

I tap my chin in thought. It’s time to move on with my life. That’s what my dad is doing. I can move on too. “Just say… I’m looking for someone to connect with and enjoy life. That sounds good.”

JJ rolls her eyes but taps away on the phone. “Okay. It’s done. I’ll let you know when your first date is. I don’t trust your judgment right now.”

---