Page 11 of Tight Spot

“Live and learn,” he said and took a seat next to me.

“Noted,” I agreed and drained the rest of my beer. I’d ordered pizza after I got a hold of them, but we’d already demolished the five pies while I was telling them all the bullshit that went down.

“So, if you don’t trust meeting someone at a club, how can we help? I mean, Eden’s made some friends in Marysville. I think Nora and Sarah are both available. They have pretty normal lives. I could talk to them.”

Nora was a vet, and Sarah owned a local dog rescue. Talk about perfect professions for me to be associated with. I’d met them both when I spent time with Cole in the small town he and his new wife lived in. They’d hauled off right after the Super Bowl and been married in the Caribbean with only their families in attendance.

Not a step I ever saw myself taking, ever wanted to, but more power to Eden and him because they were happy and together after years of being apart.

As far as Nora and Sarah? They weren’t right. Not for what I wanted. Not for the time I needed. If I was actually desperate enough to pull something like this off, it needed to be believable.

Besides, when this was over, I would see them again.

“No. Not them, but that’s the problem. I don’t know what Rick expects from me and how in the hell do I find it without potentially hurting someone?”

“I’ve got it,” Davis said, head down in his phone.

Mason leaned over and his black brows rose right before his tan lips curled. “Oh, yes.” He punched Davis in the shoulder. “Perfect. Yo, check this out.”

He grabbed the phone from Davis and handed it to me.

“What the hell is it?” I really hoped it wasn’t porn. We weren’t that close.

Cole leaned toward me, and I tilted the screen so we could both see it at the same time.

Meredith’s Matchmaking. The Most Successful Matchmaker in the Southeast.

“Is this a joke?” Had to be. What woman could claim she was successful at setting people up?

I read the website in between taking turns to scowl at Davis. “You’re joking. I’m not looking for long-term love, you idiot.”

I went‌ to hand the phone back to him, but Mason practically jumped over the table and snagged it first.

“No. Yo, it’s serious. Check this out.” He came around the table and shoved the phone in my face. “She’ll be able to help. Check out her Instagram.”

Two thousand happily married couples and counting…

That was her Instagram bio. As I scrolled, there was picture after picture with the caption of their wedding date and how long they dated before getting married.

All right, so maybe this woman had a good business going for her.

She still wasn’t selling what I needed.

“Could be worth a shot,” Cole muttered and shrugged. “Better than a random at some club, you know? Never know.”

“I don’t want long-term.”

“Maybe whatever you’re offering to pay would help someone change their mind in the short-term. Besides, wouldn’t it help them in the long-term? Connected to you after you break up?”

“We wouldn’t break up because we wouldn’t actually be together.”

Cole sighed. Davis chuckled.

“Fine,” Davis said. “I’m just sayin’, the women who go to this Meredith are looking for something. There has to be something you can give them more than money, maybe the status of dating an athlete would help. And when your business deal comes to its mutual, contractual end…everyone walks away satisfied.”

Mutual, contractual end.

At least he was getting it. That was vastly different from a breakup.

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