Page 43 of Just Friends
I typed up a message for the chat room. “Hey everybody, sorry we’re late. Hold tight for just a few more mins.”
The chat went wild with a flood of replies:
“YAY HES HERE”
“HI JAX”
“KING”
“BIG RIG <3”
“hello future husband!!!!!!”
Soulmate officially released two days ago, and this was to be our fourth and final live-stream. And I have to admit, I was really kinda bummed that this was coming to an end.
I had no idea how much fun our streams would be. We didn’t just talk about Soulmate during our once-a-week streams—we talked about whatever we felt like talking about: dating, sex, hockey, fitness, whatever. It was truly anything goes. All we had to do to promote Soulmate was be ourselves on camera, and the people really loved getting an inside glimpse at our lives and friendship. We also fielded questions from the audience, and thatreallymade our live-streams popular. People went nuts trying to get their question seen.
So far, the promotion was a bigger success than either of us could’ve imagined. Each live-stream had more viewers than the previous one, and this one—the finalone—was already jam-packed with the most viewers yet, and we hadn’t even turned the camera on yet.
But today was the big day, after all—the big promo. The day when I submitted my Soulmate personality test and found my match, the girl I was going to take to the WAG party, live on air.
I should make it clear that it wasn’tjustwomen signing up for Soulmate for a chance at a date with me. Sure, a lot of girls were initially drawn to the date-a-NHL-player promo—but once the guys heard that a bunch of single girls were rushing to a new dating app,theystarted signing up in droves, too. And once they laid their eyes on Piper? Well, naturally, they fell in love with her. (How could they not?)
After our first stream, thousands of men started demanding thatshethrow her hat into the ring, too, and go on a date with her number one match. Piper agreed, of course—she knew more excitement could only be a good thing for Soulmate’s launch. And what’s more, she believed in the app she’d spent so many months working on.
What was the end result of our promotion, you ask? Well, after just two days, Soulmate had already rocketed to the number six ranking in dating apps in the app store. Only the big dogs—Tinder, Bumble, etc.—were ahead of us.
The chat, meanwhile, was growing restless:“is this thing EVER going to start????”
“Pipes!” I yelled again. “What’s taking so long? We’re late!”
At long last, her bedroom door swung open.
“Finally,” I said. “Took you long enou—”
She emerged in a periwinkle dress that brightened the living room and made me choke on my words. With its daisy-print and puff sleeves, her cute summer dress played innocent—but the low neckline and short hemline were anything but.
“How do I look?” she asked.
She twirled around and the short skirt flounced playfully in the air, giving me a flash of her smooth upper thighs.
Gulp.
“Damn, Pipes,” I croaked at last. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks!”
“In fact, between the two of us, I think you’re the bigger catch.”
“Oh, please.”
“Seriously. Look at all the love you’re getting,” I said, gesturing at the monitor. “Once we turn this camera on? Once they see you? It’s game over for me.”
“Whatever.” She giggled and took her spot in the office chair next to mine. “So how many viewers do we have so far?”
“We just passed half a million.”
“Half a mil—” She clutched at my forearm. “JAX!WHOA!”
