Page 25 of Just Friends
The darkness started to creep in, like it usually does when I start thinking about my parents or money. An anxious pressure gripped my heart and squeezed.
“If I’d known their crops were going to get sprayed again this year?” I began, “I wouldn’t even have developed this stupid app in the first place.”
Jax looked shocked. “Whoa,what? Why do you say that?”
“Because I’ve sunksomuch money into Soulmate, Jax,” I admitted with a gulp. “What was I thinking? God, I’m so afraid it’s going to flop.”
He shook his head. “It won’t flop. It’s going to be a hit, Pipes.”
While I appreciated the encouragement, we both knew there was absolutely no guarantee of that at all.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
A silence filled the air. Everything felt so hopeless. I was so afraid I was just wasting my time and money with this stupid app.
Until Jax broke the silence. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
I dropped my gaze and guiltily stared at the floor, hesitant to speak.
“Well?” he asked. “Is there?”
I never wanted use Jax for his celebrity … but …
“Pipes. Talk to me. I want to help.”
If I wanted to help my parents? If I didn’t want all the money I’d put in this project to go up in a puff of smoke?
I let out a deep breath and said, with an air of uncertainty, “I don’t know—maybe?”
“Okay, what is it?”
“The thing is, the dating app market is pretty well saturated. There’s Tinder, Bumble, Hitch, OkCupid, Match dot com, on and on. I’ve been trying to figure out how to promote Soulmate more effectively to break in and make it stand out from the competition, but—” I shook my head. “I hate to say it, but there’s no grassroots interest in Soulmate. I’vetriedto get people excited. I’ve paid for all sorts of interviews, ads, tech articles, SEO keyword optimization, blah blah blah.”
“Say what?” the athlete muttered, his head tilted askew.
“The point is,” I said, cutting to the chase, “nothing I’m doing is moving the needle. At. All. Soulmate launches in a matter of weeks and there’szerointerest in it. All people are saying is, what’s the point of another dating app? They don’t care about Soulmate’s unique features. I can’t even get people to sign up for the beta. And you won’t have much of a dating app if you can’t get people to sign up for it in the first place.”
“Just tell me what I can do to help.”
“Ihateasking you this,” I said, my skin crawling at what I was about to ask, “but would you be willing to help me promote Soulmate?” Before he even had a chance to answer, I rambled off a lengthy, run-on disclaimer, “And please don’t feel like you have to say yes, it’snoproblem if you’re not comfortable doing it, I’ll totally understand, the last thing I want to do is take advantage of your fame, so please don’t feel obligat—”
But he put all my fears to rest with a simple shrug of his shoulders.
“Sure,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at me. “I’d be happy to help.”
My jaw dropped. “Seriously?!You will?”
“Yeah, Pipes. No problem.”
“Jax!” In a fit of excitement, I hopped behind him and drummed my hands against his wide back with athump-thump-thump. “Thank you, thank you,thank you!”
Jax pulled the drain plug, and the sink emptied with a gurgle. Jax dried off his hands and faced me.
“Of course,” he said with an easy chuckle. “Why didn’t you ask me for help earlier?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t want you to think that I’m using you for your money or your fame. I’d hate for you to look at me like I’m one of those gold-digging puck bunnies, like that girl you brought home last night.”
He looked at me like I was nuts. “Pipes, I’d never think that about you. You’re my best friend. I want to help you.”
