Page 42 of I Choose You

“What about this one?” Nelly repositions my phone in her hand, extending it over my desk to show me a picture of a match on my Fish4U account. It’s the fourth one she’s shown me in the last twenty minutes. This one is scruffy bearded with surfer hair, an interesting appearance this far inland for Maine.

“He’s not my type.” I try to turn my concentration back to my work. “Don’t you need to get back to the animals?”

She leans back in the armchair across from my desk; her attention still focused on my phone. “Candy helped me do rounds. With fewer kennels filled, it doesn’t take as long to get it done. I don’t have to do another round for an hour. Plus, with how fast you’re placing animals, we won’t even need that high school student Jessie wants to bring in.”

We placed seven animals this past week, and I’m working on the eighth. Well, I’m trying to work on the eighth, but Nelly keeps distracting me. She knows about what happened between Mason and me the other night, and she is adamant about helping me find a remarkable distraction—her words, not mine. “She offers it to the local school district every year. It’s a decent way to show we’re part of the community.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll talk about her later. Let’s focus on the bigger fish we need to fry. We have to find you a replacement pronto.”

I love that she’s as focused as me on getting me out of the rut I’m in with Mason, only I wish it weren’t happening this exact minute.

Also, I’m not so sure I want it anymore. Mason has bigger things to concentrate on than having a fling with me. Still, I wonder if I need to sit in this space and move through it—instead of around it—before I toss myself at a guy I have no intention of committing to. While she’s convinced all I need is a one-night stand, I’m not so sure.

“I’m going to send this one a message.”

I sigh, and my pen drops to the desk. “Which one?”

“The last one I showed you. Not surfer dude, but the guy before that. Hang on, I’ll pull him back up.”

“Do you really think this is a good idea? I mean, going out on another date.”

She remains focused on my phone as she taps away at the screen. “Do you want to get over Mason or not?”

No.

“Yes.”

Will adding another man into the picture make my feelings for Mason evaporate?

Ugh.

I’m really trying to take Owen’s advice into account. He seems to know what he’s talking about, and I can’t say that his advice doesn’t make sense because it does, at least more sense than messaging another guy on Fish4U.

What was I even thinking when I installed that app anyway?

A shiver runs down my spine at the thought.

She looks at me over the phone. “What do you want me to say?”

“Hi?” I don’t have the energy to think of something witty and charming. I want to get this dog I’m working on placed into his forever home. I want to go home. I want to see Mason and figure out what the hell is going on and where he stands after the other night. We’ve texted in our group chat since then, but there’s no way to know how he’s feeling through words and emojis.

“You’re kidding, right?” Imaginary creepy crawlies slink over my skin when I think about what she’s typing since our personalities are so different. “There. I sent a message for you. His name is Theodore.” She swipes the screen. “He enjoys trivia, football, and his family’s cabin in Vermont, where he likes to fish, hunt, and do outdoorsy things. Sounds like a total stud, huh?”

I pick my pen back up and scribble words across the paper in front of me to push this adoption to a close.

She tosses my phone back on my desk. It slides over my papers, crinkling them. “You’re welcome. Now you don’t need to worry about doing it yourself. Besides, that mood will definitely pass through to text, and we don’t want that, babe.”

“It’s been a busy week. Jessie wants to host another event next month that I have to prepare for, and my personal life is in shambles, Nel.” It comes out snappier than I intend. “I’ll deal with my personal life at the end of my shift, but right now, I need to focus on this.”

She lifts her palms in surrender and stands. “Alright, alright. I’ll back off.” She walks to the door. “He is handsome, though.” She wiggles her brows. “Just what you need to get your mind off, you know who.”

One night with Theodore won’t change a damn thing, though I don’t tell her that. It makes me want to ask her about Trent. If he meant what he said and they split, or if they communicated through it and are still seeing one another. I don’t, though, because I need to get this done. I decide to push the question off to another time and appreciate it when she shuts the door and leaves.

After fifteen minutes, I grow suspicious and reach to check my phone to see what she said to this Theodore guy. Nelly’s approach is very different from mine, so I know whatever she said isn’t something I would say.

To my surprise, I have a message from him when I open the app. I click on it, scanning the messages.

Me: Hey, babe. Want to meet tonight? Give me an address & I’ll meet U.

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