Page 31 of Swiped
Nick:No way really????
Nat:OMG totally. The kids called me Not-alie. I was that unpopular.
So far, Nat had been pretending like nothing had changed between her and Jo, which was much easier to do when she had a screen to stare at.
The twins carried on their conversation around the random bursts of laughter from their boss.
“OK, but a face is only one part of how you recognize someone,” said Jo, spearing a chunk of ahi tuna. “Wouldn’t she notice that her husband’s entire body is different?”
“Maybe it was different in a good way,” said Justin. He wiped some mustard from his purple corduroy joggers. “Let’s ask our elder millennial for the social context.”
Nat picked up her fork and blinked at them. She still didn’t trust herself to speak non-work-related sentences to Jo.
“You still with us, boss?” asked Justin.
Nat’s phone pinged. She hunched over.
Nick:Aww, I hate those kids!
“Nope,” said Jo. “And you know our jobs kind of depend on this thing not turning into a dumpster fire live on BuzzFill, right?”
Justin sighed. “You’ve mentioned it.”
They watched a seagull glide past. Nat giggled at the message, hand still clutching her fork mid-bite. It was even easier to avoid thinking about how Jo secretly hated her when this guy was so clearly into her.
Nick:And you’re totally hot now, so joke’s on them.
Jo squinted in thought and brushed a crumb off her white button-down. “So, you’re saying the wife was like, ‘Finally! The love of my life has transformed from the neck down.’” She waved her napkin in dismissal at her brother. “Nat, are you hearing this trash?”
Nat glanced at the twins as a blush crept across her cheeks. She supposed she could say just one thing to them to keep up appearances. “Yeah, airplane prison. Funny!”
Justin reeled as if he’d been punched. “Whoa! That’s apples and oranges.”
Jo got up and scooted close to Nat on the picnic bench. She gestured to the phone. “Catching some good ones today?”
Nat felt her body tense up and pull away from Jo. “Oh yeah . . . this guy . . .” She trailed off.
Nat:Hbu? Were you super popular or something?
Jo smiled and adopted her perkiest tone. “Ooh, so a guy is texting you?”
At this, Nat saw an opportunity to flaunt. “Texting me for three days. Like, all the time!”
Jo brought her hands in front of her chest in a miniature clap. “Yay! That’s awesome.”
“Itisawesome! We talk about really deep stuff. Things it took me months to tell most people. And Nick just totally getsit.” Nat took a bite of sun-softened avocado. “We’re an eight-five percent match, you know. Which feels spot-on.”
Jo tilted her head. “Well, he’s an eighty-five percent match to the person represented by your profile, but do we even know who that person is?” she teased.
“That person is me,” said Nat, an edge flaring into her voice in spite of herself.
Jo’s eyes narrowed with playful mischief. “Is it, though?”
It was a tone of banter with Jo that Nat usually loved, but it seemed a lot less fun now. “Well, I’m the one messaging him, right? So, he must like something about me!” she snapped.
Jo blinked in surprise. “Sorry!” She searched Nat’s face for an explanation. “I mean, it’s cool that he likes you.”
Nat rolled her eyes.
