Page 78 of Unmatched

I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but then I think of Mom’s face on our wedding day, and this lump in the back of my throat makes me choke. I end up grinding my teeth instead, and maybe Seth can hear that because he seems to get the message.

“Sorry,” he says. And it’s clear he means it. “I’ll get the check.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

The absolute worst part of coming home is the empty house. The silence reverberating through every room. The deserted backyard with no one weeding or playing with the dog. The vacant couch with no one stretched out snoring. Even with Heartthrob here, following me around with unusual attentiveness, everything still seems too quiet. Like I’ve stepped into a vacuum.

I take out my phone when I get home Friday night and pull up Anton’s number. Maybe he’d answer if I actually dialed. But what would I say?

I swipe away instead, selecting the number I’ve called every evening for the past five days.

“Hey. This is your daily check-in. Have you been abducted or murdered?” I ask, scooping food into Heartthrob’s dish.

“I am alive and well at this moment, thanks,” Caprice says with a dry laugh. “Not even any new threats. I actually haven’t had one in...three whole days.”

“Good,” I breathe. “Maybe this has blown over enough you can finally relax?”

“The Bustle follow-up drops Sunday, so . . . I kind of think not.”

I open the fridge in an effort to feed myself. “Have you considered other areas of journalism? Sports and fitness?”

“Maybe if I hadn’t already been fronted payment for the next two articles. Marital happiness is on the decline, and people are eating up the married-dating thing.”

I close the fridge and sink to a kitchen chair, thinking of the lists of faces on Unmatched. Anton hasn’t been back on the app. At least, not that I can tell. I can’t really see him scrolling for girls at his mother’s bedside. But I suppose I’ve been wrong about him before.

“Hey,” Caprice says gently. “How are you doing?”

I let out a slow breath. “Oh, you know...”

“Any word on your mother-in-law?”

I swallow. “Seth says nothing’s changed and she could be that way a while. Says Anton hardly speaks to him. I—I just wish I was there. For both of them. For her.”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I know this is hard.”

I shrug to myself, straightening the napkins in front of me. “You want to hang out tonight? I upgraded my streaming subscription.”

“Actually, my brother’s on his way here from the airport,” she says, sounding distracted.

“Oh.” I furrow my brow. “I thought Theo was still overseas.”

“Apparently he’s on leave, and he just has to see me about...Um, well, it’s complicated. Maybe we can meet up for lunch next week and I’ll be able to fill you in.”

Something in her voice sounds off, but I pull the phone away from my ear and swipe over to my calendar, figuring she’ll tell me more when I see her. “I think I can do that.” I grimace. “Though maybe not till Thursday.”

She chuckles. “Sure you don’t want to reconsider the Pooches offer?”

A pang shoots through my chest. I filled Caprice in about everything—Anton, Sharon, the offer from Henry—right after he left Sunday. The amount of money also blew her mind, but after I explained my business goals, she supported my decision.

“Hey, I was just joking,” she says when I struggle to respond. “You made the right choice. Anton’s a douche for not seeing that, but you don’t need him. I’m excited to watch you blow the top off the Denver pet industry.”

“Thanks,” I say quietly. Heartthrob finishes licking his empty dish across the floor, and I stand to let him out in the yard to chase a squirrel. “I’m going to go walk my dog. Then maybe binge-watch that new mystery series.”

“Uh, not to sound like a broken record, but a trip to the gym might make you feel better...”

“Yeah, I think you have said that before,” I quip, staring at an old pair of running shoes Anton left by the back door. Caprice has been trying to convince me to drown my sorrows in endorphins, but I much prefer Ben & Jerry’s.

“Fine.” She huffs. “Wallow, if that’s what you want. But eventually, you’ll need to do something for yourself.”

---