Page 33 of I'd Never Date my Brother's Best Friend

I mull over his question. I am nervous, but not for the reason he thinks. I don’t care about the men I’m about to meet at the event; they don’t make me anxious. I don’t care what they think. The cause of my anxiety is the man beside me. The air he exudes threatens to intoxicate and drown me until I’m unable to come up for air. He’s the reason I’m sitting stiffly in my seat instead of relaxing and anticipating the night ahead. How am I supposed to enjoy tonight when he’ll be right there?

“No,” I answer. “Not nervous, just indifferent.”

“Indifferent? I thought you promised to keep an open mind?” Sean asks, glancing at me.

“And, I will.” I nod, stiffly.

“Promise,” he stresses.

“Sean,” I say with annoyance. “I promise.”

He turns his attention back to the road.

“Do you also promise to keep an open mind?” I ask him.

Sean chuckles. “It’s not my day, Jess. Today is all about you, but I promise to keep an open mind. Who knows? Maybe I can find the perfect match before the night ends.”

“Good.” I force a smile. I hope he finds the perfect match so that I can get him off of my mind for good.

We arrive at Bake My Day. Evelyn’s bakery is never empty, but tonight, it’s full of people laughing and looking excited about the upcoming speed dating event. Sean parks the car on the street and then switches off the engine.

“So, how does this work?” I ask, starting to feel uncomfortable and awkward with my bright outfit. I am so used to blending in, and this outfit is meant to stand out.

“Evelyn is the host; she’ll walk you through exactly what you need to do.” He looks at me. “You’ve never been to a speed dating event, have you?”

I try to relax my face but I can’t seem to get rid of the frown as I shake my head. “No. I haven’t. But it can’t be that hard, can it?”

“Not even a bit. You got this. Just be yourself. No wait. I take that back, don’t be your normal self. Be the Jessica that I got to spend time with yesterday. The one who had fun shopping and picking out new clothes.”

“Sean, you’re such a jerk.” I growl at him and reach to get out of the car.

“Hold on, I’ll help you out.” He walks to my side of the car and opens the door.

“Wait. Aren’t you coming in too?” I ask, feeling frustrated since he said he was going to participate too.

“Not yet,” he says. “I don’t want us to go in there together.”

“Why not?”

“So it won’t affect your chances.” He smiles. “We don’t want your prospects thinking we’re together.”

“Okay.” I nod while narrowing my eyes at him. He better not be lying. I make my way into Bake My Day. As I step through the entryway, I rub my palms down my dress, feeling like everyone is staring at me. Evelyn walks up to me, smiling. She’s in a cute black dress with a pair of black flats. Before I speak, she winks at me, holding out a card.

“Jessica, you look amazing.”

“Are you sure it’s not too much?” I ask hesitantly, taking the card and skimming through it. It’s a score sheet with lines and boxes you can tick.

“No. Sean really does know what he’s doing. That color looks amazing on you. Your eyes look so blue.”

I take a deep breath and feel myself relax at Evie’s words; she would never lie to me. I look at the card again.

“What is this?”

“It’s your scorecard.” Evelyn leads me toward a table where other ladies are seated. “When a guy comes to you, you write his name and tick the yes or no box. You can also note the minor details about each person. It will help you to remember what you like or don’t like about the men you talk to.” She stops by a chair. “This is your seat.”

“Thanks, Evie.” There’s a wine glass in my space, and as Evelyn walks away, I pick it up and take a sip.

The women beside me are chatting, and although I have half a mind to join them, I can’t bring myself to do it. My nerves are taut, and since I’ll be doing a lot of socializing tonight, there's the need to conserve my social battery. I take another sip from my glass and see Sean enter the room. Evelyn and Jamie immediately approach him. They’re too far away, and I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I watch them talking and laughing with each other, wishing I was with them instead of sitting here. Jamie leads Sean into the back room, and I lose sight of him.

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