Chapter 48: Double Date
“Who are we going with?”Hallie asked.She finally managed to get her shoes off and went to collapse on the couch.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all planned,” Jessica said.
It turned out Jessica had been carefully plotting a double date with the “teddy bear” and “news anchor,” two eligible guys she kept running into at the gym.It turned out that the guy she thought looked like a news anchor actually was one.
She invited each of them separately to “hang out with some friends” so they wouldn’t feel too much pressure.
“I just can’t decide which one of them I like better,” Jessica said, “so maybe if we get to know them in a date setting, we can finally get them sorted.”
“Oh, so I can get your reject?”Hallie pouted.
“It’s not like that!”Jessica exclaimed.“You can actually get first dibs if you want.”
“I thought you had dibs on both of them,” Hallie reminded her.
“I can change my dibs for my best friend.”Jessica smiled serenely, rolling up a strand of hair with one finger.
“You’re up to something,” Hallie accused, though she could not exactly name what it was.Her mind was too scattered at the moment.
“You just rest, dear,” Jessica said, “Gotta look fresh for tomorrow.”
***
THEY MET THE TWO GENTLEMENat a trendy bar the next evening.
“This is my best friend, Hallie,” Jessica introduced her.
“I’m Andy,” said the “teddy bear”, who was indeed very cute.His body had a large girth, but it was mainly just a stout, muscular build rather than fat.
“I’m Finn,” said the dark, handsome guy.Hallie thought his gaze lingered on her.
Jessica sat across from the “teddy bear” while Hallie sat across from the handsome guy whose cheek bones were like finely sculpted bluffs.
This seemed to work well because Hallie found Andy the teddy bear sweet but a little boring.
“So, I hear you’re always hanging out at the gym,” Hallie said.She didn’t really know much about him, but suddenly she thought maybe it sounded like a cheesy line.
“Yeah, I’m training for a triathlon,” Finn said, his dark eyes looking confidently into hers.“Maybe you’d like to join me for a workout sometime?It could inspire me.”