Page 32 of It's a Date (Again)

Maya looks to me. “Yes.”

“So, that’s a good thing?” I squint.

“Could be. But then again, maybe you thought it was weird you had oysters on the first date. It is an aphrodisiac. You may have thought he was looking for a one-night stand or something like that.” Maya shrugs and writes down a dollar sign with a smiley face next to it.

I’m not sure her notes are helping, but at least she’s having fun with it. Plus, I am learning more about the guys in a very cryptic way.

“Write downoysterstoo,” I say. “Just in case I remember something later on.”

She nods and gestures for me to turn the page.

“We had our second date a week later at Loyalist.”

“I am impressed with his restaurant picks.” The corner of her mouth perks up. “Their burger is to die for.”

I point to the page and look to Maya. “I wrote downoystersagain.”

“What is wrong with you?”

“I don’t know. It must have meant something.”

Turning the page again, I see my third date with him was supposed to be at Gretel but it’s crossed out, so that was a canceled or rescheduled date. But the day after,coffee date with Nashis written down.

“See this?” I ask, turning the planner to Maya so she can get a glimpse.

“That’s interesting. I wonder if you went to Gretel and got stood up, and then you met Nash there since that’s where he works, and boom, another date.” She looks to me.

“Or maybe after the canceled date, I accepted another on one of the dating apps and thought it was meant to be since my date was supposed to be at Gretel and Nash works there.”

“Actually, that sounds like you. I’ll write downforced kismetin Nash’s column.”

I continue leafing through my planner, relaying information to Maya. On average, Shawn and I had one date a week, with two cancellations and one reschedule. So, altogether we’ve been on six very nice dinner dates, and we’ve definitely made out or maybe more. Nash and I typically went on two daytime dates a week, usually over coffee or lunch. So we’ve been on ten dates, but I can’t tell if he and I have ever even kissed. I’m not sure if I should be concerned about that or not, so I shrug it off.

“What about Tyler?” Maya asks.

“We went on our first date six weeks ago. He took me axe throwing, and then we had dinner at Tuman’s Tap and Grill.”

“How manly. I can see why you got down and dirty with him. I wonder if he wore flannel on your date. That would have got me going,” Maya says, fanning herself.

“What? Why?”

“It’s those damn thirst traps on TikTok of men chopping wood. I never knew I was into that until it popped up on my For You page.” She shakes her head. “That dang algorithm knows me better than I know myself. Anthony will hear the same sound on loop over and over and be like, ‘What are you watching?’ I always say it’s a makeup tutorial, but it’s shirtless men chopping wood.” She laughs.

“Wait. Who’s Anthony again?” I ask.

“My boyfriend of nearly a year. We met at the comedy club when he was working security. It was actually the night I had Robbie heckle me.”

“Wait, whydidyou have Robbie heckle you?”

“I needed a heckler for my set material. Plus, I figured it’d be good for word-of-mouth marketing. People would be like, ‘She’s great at crowd work.’”

I give her a confused look.

She waves her hand. “It’s an industry thing. Anyway, Anthony was the one that threw him out. Love at first sight. After the show, he asked me on a date. Kismet.” She beams.

Her face practically lights up, and I realize how badly I want that. I want to glow just talking about the man I love. But first I gotta figure out who that is.

“That’s really sweet. Not the part about Robbie getting thrown out,” I say with a laugh.

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