Page 5 of Best Man
“Well, first, I’d have to find a man worth marrying,” Paulina said with a wink. “And sincethatdoesn’t seem like it’s ever going to happen …” She trailed off, not needing to state the conclusion.
“YouknowI made an app for that, right?” Piper countered rhetorically. Soulmate had become such a mega hit, it had basically replaced all the other big online dating apps. Because of Soulmate’s success, Piper was a millionaire at twenty-eight—an actual, self-made millionaire, and not just because she was marrying a rich and famous athlete. She and Jax were the very definition of a power couple.
“You did?” Paulina gasped. “I had no idea. Tell me more!”
Piper ignored her sarcasm. “Seriously, Paulie, why won’t you just give Soulmate a try?”
Paulina’s toned muscles showed as she lifted a heavy crate of produce from the pickup bed and hauled it to the table. “Ihavetried it.” She grunted as she carefully lowered the crate to the ground. “And I got paired with a dude who didn’t think it was important to tell me he wasalready married.”
She’d dated Scott for six months. He got her all excited with his talk of marriage and starting a family—was it way too soon for talk like that? Was that her first glaring red flag? Yeah, maybe; on the other hand, he was ten years older, and she thought he was just more mature and serious about life. When he talked about the future, she got excited. She started to believe him. She really thought he might be “the one.” Of course, that was before she happened to run into him with his wife and child a couple months back. Go figure, the guy promising to start a happy little family alreadyhadone.
Piper wore her guilt on her face. “I’mreallysorry. Just so you know, I banned that asshole from using the service.”
“Eh. It’s not your fault.” Paulina shrugged. “It just kinda left a bad taste in my mouth, you know?”
“I get it. But don’t you want to meet someone new?”
“Eh. Not really,” Paulina said. “Honestly? All I want now is a rebound. Some mindless, filthy and depraved sex.”
“That doesnotsound like you,” Piper said, making a face.
“Well, that’s all guys care about, so why should I care about anything more?”
Piper sighed. “Look, you’re disappointed. I get it. I just wish you’d give Soulmate one more try.”
“It’s not just Soulmate, though. It’sallthe dating apps.” Paulina wrangled another crate from the pickup and stacked it on top of the others. “I’m really not interested in meeting anyoneonline.”
“But Soulmate’s algorithm takes all the guess-work out of online dating,” Piper said, almost perfectly quoting the dating app ads that played between YouTube videos.
“That sounds weird to me, though.” Paulina paused and tried to put her finger on what, exactly, bothered her. “It’s like saying, ‘Hey, we managed to suck all the magic out of dating! Just let our algorithm tell you who to date!’ Where’s the fun in that?”
“Paulie!” Piper’s jaw dropped. “People swear by my app!”
“Sorry. I’m not attacking Soulmate. Obviously, you did something right, because your app is kicking the competition’s ass. If I hadn’t given up on dating completely, I’d want to meet someone the old-fashioned way:in person. Y’know, like how you and Jax met?”
Piper nodded, almost mournfully. “I hear ya. But it was a different world back when Jax and I met.”
Paulina giggled. “A different world? It was only eight years ago.”
“Yeah, but even eight years ago, the dating landscape was totally different. Back then, only about twenty percent of couples met online. Online dating was a quickly rising trend, yes—but more couples were meeting through friends, like me and Jax, or meeting at a restaurant or bar.” Naturally, Piper kept a mental Rolodex of dating statistics she could cite on a whim. “Today,more couples than ever are meeting online.Fortypercent of all current couples have now met online—more than any other category—and that number is only going to go up. Like it or not, online dating is the future.”
“Idon’tlike it,” Paulina said.
Piper snickered. “Yeah, but you’re stubborn. Of course you don’t like it.”
Paulina didn’t argue.
“But may I remind you,” Piper added, “that it was Soulmate that gave Jax and me the small push we needed to get together?”
“Fair enough.” Paulina was content to surrender the last word.The sisters were alike in a lot of ways, but different in many others, and she knew they’d never see eye to eye on this issue. Besides, the sun was up now and the farmer’s market customers were parking their cars and trickling in, one by one. It was almost time to sell some produce.
Paulina tied her money apron around her waist. “You all set? It’s almost go time.”
Piper put on her apron, too. “Yep.”
“Good. Because here comes our first customer of the day.”Paulina jabbed her older sister in the ribs and whispered, “Eugene.”
Eugene was harmless, but the seventy-something market regularwas a shameless flirt.
