Chapter One

FIERCE

Who am I fooling? Felicity James will never stop ghosting me. Beyond a one- or two-word response, I have yet to converse with her. It’s starting to give me a complex.

Scrolling through her profile for the umpteenth time, images of the sexy, curvy girl steal the breath from my chest…again.

Always.

She’s the kind of beautiful that hurts to look at. The kind of beautiful I can’t look away from, either. Which means giving it another shot…

ME

Salut

How are you?

I’m on the direct messaging app for Mountain Mates Dating Site. Like Instagram or Facebook, it allows me to send messages. If the other person’s online, we can also text without exchanging phone numbers.

Even when I catch Felicity online, she never responds to me in real time. But then I see this:

FELICITY


Finally!

My throat tightens in anticipation, and I remind myself all this means is she’s typing. It could be to anyone. I feel like I have heartburn as I think about the possibility of her conversing with other guys. It’s irrational. After all, why else is she on this app?

Suddenly, a text bubble pops up and then another. My heart races as I painstakingly read her responses.

FELICITY

Who seriously names their kid Fierce?

That has to be a military or mafia handle, right?

ME

You don’t want to know my real name

Congratulations!

Why?

You, sir, just clinched the record for the fastest dead-end conversation I’ve ever had with a guy on Mountain Mates

For fuck’s sake!Is she ending the conversation already?Play it cool, Fierce. Whatever you do, don’t act jealous or butt hurt. Just keep the conversation flowing.

ME

Really?

Aren’t most conversations on here grunting and groaning?

Shit! That came out wrong. I clamor to add:

ME