Page 7 of The Swiping Game
Tawny met Dean once a few years ago when I forgot my phone at home and she needed to bring it to me. What she didn’t know, and of course, what Dean will never know, is that I had gotten a call from a collection agency that morning, and when I was done having them tell me how much I owed, I threw my phone across the room.
When Tawny showed up with my phone, it led to a round of teasing from Dean about me not being able to remember things. The next time he came into the office, he brought me a play cell phone in case I lost mine again.
Just thinking about the next few weeks makes me want to scream. I know I’ll be seeing Dean almost daily. Maybe I can ignore him and his tailored suits and smug smile. Maybe if I don’t pay attention to him, he’ll get bored and not try to aggravate me.
Or maybe I’ll win the lottery. All of those odds are about the same.
“While I don’t think it’s a bad thing to see the hottie agent, I don’t like that you have to go back and work for your former boss, even if it’s for a little bit,” Tawny says as she tucks her legs underneath her on the orange monstrosity. “I hate that you feel you have to go back and work for an asshole because of another asshole. Not Hunter—he’s a saint and it’s stupid he’s engaged. But you know, Brad. That asshole. It isn’t fair that you’re paying off his loans, and he’s just living his life.”
I shrug and take a drink from the bottle, because at this point, that’s all I can do. “Life isn’t fair. If there is one thing I know, it’s that.”
“Cheers.”
I never thought I’d be in this position in my adult life. I honestly didn’t. Tawny and I didn’t have it great growing up, but we knew that we wanted more, and we worked our asses off to make sure we didn’t end up like our mom—broke and working two jobs to support her daughters after our deadbeat dad ran off. We both worked hard at school, got jobs when we could, and were determined to build a better life once it was our turn.
I really thought I had done it. I earned an academic scholarship to Middle Tennessee State and majored in business administration. I held down a job while going to school and even made some friends along the way. I got a job with the Fury as soon as I graduated, and for the first time in my life, I wasn’t counting down the days until the next paycheck.
Then I met Brad.
I remember the night we met like it was yesterday. Me and a few girls from work went down to Broadway to hear Tawny sing at an open mic night. I was getting a drink from the bar, and this guy slid up next to me and used a cheesy as hell pickup line. It made me laugh so hard that I didn’t have a chance to turn down the drink he bought me. But that cheesy pickup line somehow worked, and we spent the entire night together.
A year and a half later, we were married. We had a house right outside the city, I had just been promoted to the assistant to the general manager of the Nashville Fury, and he was named assistant professor at Vanderbilt, where he taught history. Everything was in place. Our future was bright, and the word children had even started coming up in conversation.
That was until I tried to use a credit card for groceries to find out it was maxed. And that our bank account was empty. Little did I know that my loving husband also had another love—being a sugar daddy to co-eds. When I caught him with his pants down, metaphorically speaking, he had accumulated one hundred thousand dollars in credit card debt and opened up many new cards—all in my name. I tried to sue for fraud, but I lost. I’m pretty sure the judge was also a cheating asshole. They all have the same look.
So here I am—divorced at thirty-two, living with my sister to save money, and an empty refrigerator because payday isn’t until next week.
“Wait!” I say a little too loudly, popping up from my spot on the couch. “I thought you had a date tonight with the guy you met at your show last week.”
Tawny lets out a sigh and reaches for her own bottle of wine. She, too, has given up on using a glass. “I did until this afternoon, when he texted me saying that something came up.”
“Why are men such assholes?” I say before taking a healthy swig. “Don’t these men realize what a catch you are?”
Tawny lets out a small burp and then takes another chug of wine. “Me? What about you? You’re beautiful and smart—and did I say you were beautiful?”
I laugh, though I feel a burp of my own coming up. This five-buck chuck might not be the best wine, but it will get you drunk in a hurry. “You did. And thank you, sister.”
“You’re welcome, sister,” Tawny says, polishing off her bottle. “We deserve men who will treat us right.”
“Speak for yourself.” I don’t continue right away because I have a bottle to finish off. “I’m done with men. They can go to hell and then fuck the college girls down there.”
“Nope!” Tawny says, standing and stumbling back to the kitchen. A minute later, she reappears with what looks like a bottle of alcohol that might have been cheaper than the wine we just drank. “Let’s download that dating app, Left for Love. I’ve heard so many good things about it. Let’s find love!”
“I don’t think so,” I slur, starting to feel the effects of the wine. “I’m not going on a dating app.”
“Yes, you are.” Tawny hands me my phone as I plop onto the couch. “We’ll do it together. Maybe we’ll meet single brothers.”
This really isn’t a good idea. I know that and I just drank a bottle of wine, literally from the bottle.
“I don’t think so,” I say. “I don’t want to meet some rando on the internet. What if he’s—what’s the word, a goldfish?”
“Do you mean a catfish?”
“Maybe. I’m not hip to the lingo.”
“Well, what about him?” Tawny says, shoving her phone in my face. “Maybe if you downloaded it, you could match with him? I bet he’s not any kind of fish.”
I take Tawny’s phone from her hand and blink about twenty times. This, by far, is the hottest man I’ve ever seen in my life. This man is like model good-looking.
“He’s on there?”
Tawny nods. “What do you say, sis? What do we have to lose?”
She’s right. What do we have to lose? We’re two single women who men would be lucky to date. She’s a beautiful blonde with the singing voice of an angel. I’m a petite brunette, and while I might not be my sister, I don’t think I’m hideous to look at. I mean, even as drunk as I am right now, I’d still give myself a seven out of ten.
And if I really think about it, going on this app could be a great distraction for me over the next few weeks. Maybe this will give me a form of entertainment to make me forget I’m going back to work on the third floor, and that I’ll probably be seeing Dean more than I’d ever like with his stupid suits and his perfect body and his perfect face.
“Oh, what the hell.”
“Woo!” Tawny yells, bouncing on the couch. “Now let’s start swiping Left for Love!”
