Page 24 of The Valentine's Bet

Aw, man.

My chest pangs with unwanted sympathy.

No one—not even Amy—deserves to hearI told you so.

“Can I sit here?” I gesture to the seat across from her.

“Uh ... I guess.”

“Cool, thanks.” I pull out the chair and sit down across from her.

“Are you not going to say anything about how stupid blind dating is?” she demands, sniffling. “I figured you’d be having a field day right about now.”

I shrug. “I might be a cynic, but I’m not a jerk.”

She rolls her eyes and huffs. “Okay.”

“No, really. That guy is a jerk for not showing up, Amy. Did he say anything to you?”

“I haven’t heard from him since he texted me last night inviting me to coffee. I replied and said I’d come. Then he said, ‘Great.’ Butnow ... he’s apparently dropped off the face of the earth. I texted him that I was here tonight, and he saidnothing.I almost called—”

“No, no, no,” I stop her, shaking my head. “Don’t ever call a guy that’s late to the first date. That’s just not a good idea. If a guy stands you up or ghosts you, he’s not worth your time.”

“But he might be sick or something...” Amy says, dabbing her eyes with her sleeves. “I mean, that’s a legitimate excuse.”

“Uh ... maybe if he’s in the hospital, but I highly doubt he is. What’s his name?” I pull out my phone.

“Nate.”

“What’s his last name?”

She looks down at her phone. “Vincent.”

I open up my Facebook app and type his name into the search bar. I scroll through the profiles until I spot the guy who was sitting across from Amy last night. I click on his profile, andright thereon his newsfeed is a post from fifteen minutes ago, where he checked in to a club VIP party.

“This is why he didn’t show.” I slide my phone across to her. “According to his Facebook status, he’s currently partying it up at a penthouse in the financial district. So ... there’s your answer. He might need a hospital later, but that’ll be completely irrelevant to you.”

She lets out a sigh. “So he had something else to do tonight. Maybe he’ll text me later to reschedule.”

I blink at her. “You’re kidding me, right? This dude blew you off just to hang out at a club. He’s probably skirt-chasing wannabe models right now.”

“But he seemed so nice...”

“Okay, but just because someoneseemsnice doesn’t mean theyarenice. Come on, you don’t want to be with a guy who puts going to the club above seeing you.”

She finally nods and then lets out a sigh. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to say sorry. And you definitely shouldn’t have to put up with guys who stand you up. You’re worth more than that. If a guy can’t give you what you want or need out of a relationship, you shouldn’t waste your time on him.”

“Well, I’m almost thirty. I think it’s perfectly fine to see people’s flaws and choose to love them anyway.”

“I hear you, but seriously, Nate isn’t the guy. I promise.”

She picks up her coffee and wrinkles her nose after taking a sip. “Ugh, it’scoldnow.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Were you waiting for him to show up before you started drinking your coffee?”

“Yeah. I thought that would be nice. You know, it shows that I’m a courteous person.”

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