Page 10 of Swiped
“OK, fine!” she cried, collapsing back into her seat. “I’ll make a profile and find a great guy to date on BeTwo. Done! It’s not that hard!”
Rami flinched with shock as Tracy spoke up. “Now that is an interesting story. The guru tests her own medicine . . .”
“Or drinks her own Kool-Aid,” he grumbled.
Ever the professional, Tracy turned to the audience. “What do you all think? Post on social with the hashtag ‘BeTwoChallenge’ and help me pitch this to my editor!”
The applause Nat had been looking for filled the auditorium, and she felt in her bones that something big had just happened. A surge of victory rushed through her as a few voices called out in the din.
“Do it!”
“This is getting off topic!”
“Snakes!”
She covered her mic and leaned back to call out to Rami. “Checkmate, asshole!”
He covered his mic and called right back, eyes gleaming as he smirked and hit her with his perfect dimples. “Rest in peace, BeTwo!”
“Well, the people have spoken,” said Tracy with a dazzling smile for the cameras. “Keep an eye out for this BuzzFill exclusive series as we follow Nat Lane as she uses her own app to find love—”
“Wait!” cried Nat. “To be a true test, we need a complementary vector.” She smiled at her rival as triumph pounded in her ears. “Isn’t that right, Rami?”
“What? No!” His face fell as he bumped his lips on the mic. “I never said that.”
Nat now rose and strode across the stage toward Rami. “It’ll be a race.” She stopped in front of him, close enough to smell his woodsy-sweet cologne and see the sweat rising on his smooth olive skin. “Can Rami, here, find a date before I do, but without using any apps?” She popped a hand on her hip and smiled at him like they were old friends. “You know, the old-fashioned way!”
“No way.”
The audience booed as Nat laughed. “Aww, get back on the horse! When was your last date?”
Rami balked. “‘Back on the horse?’ Nice one, boomer. And it was only eleven months ago.”
The audience laughed as Rami winced. Nat almost felt sorry for him as she watched him register that pretty much everyone else in the room actually did feel sorry for him.
“Those terms sound fair to me. Rami, what do you say?” asked Tracy. “Nat has to find a date online and you have to find a date IRL?”
Rami ran his hand through his curls and looked at Nat from under his thick lashes. She could practically see the resolve swelling up inside him, and it suited him. He stood and fixed her with a confident gaze. Nat’s stomach flipped, despite the adrenaline surging around her body. “You know what? Yes.” He smiled, and at the words, his chocolatey eyes softened, just like when they had been strangers joking on an ugly floral sofa. She couldn’t believe that it had only been an hour ago. “Nat Lane and the only modern way to enter a depressive state,” he quipped on her tagline as he held out his hand. “You’re on.”
The crowd roared their approval as she took his hand and gave it a firm squeeze. Through the noise, her mind pinged at how soft and strong his hands felt in hers, but she just tossed her hair and laughed. “Excellent.”
Chapter 4
Technically, Rami beat Nat in getting off the stage first, but she made sure that she wasn’t too far behind. She dodged the other panelists, the flocks of their people, and the congratulations of the producers as she tracked Rami backstage, closing in on his mop of dark curls and slightly sad posture.
“Listen, weatherman,” she began as he whirled around. “Let’s get one thing straight right now—”
“Please, can we not?” He waved his hands to his ears. “I’m pretty sure I just publicly humiliated myself on at least five different levels out there, and I just want to take a moment to really soak that in.”
Nat scoffed. “Are you kidding? This wasyouridea!”
“I’m sorry, did you enter an alternate dimension and completely miss what you, yourself, said into a microphone in front of hundreds of people and the entire internet?”
“Did you miss the part where you told the entire internet that my app is garbage and that I’m garbage for not using it?”
He frowned. “Oh no, I stand by every word of that. Thinking of having T-shirts made, actually.”
Nat felt her cheeks flare. “Good idea. You’ll be needing a consolation prize for when I destroy you.”
