Page 33 of For You & No One Else (Say Everything 3)

He lowered his hand, a pondering look on his face. “I like how you’re thinking, Eli. Let’s gamify it. What happens if you fail on your quest?”

“My quest?” She smirked. “You’re secretly such a nerd.”

He gave her a droll look. “That’s definitely not a secret.”

No, she guessed not, but when did nerds get so hot?Focus.She took a breath. “How about if I can’t go six months, I have to delete my YouTube channel and all the videos?”

His brows shot up, and he leaned back in his chair. “Wow. Harsh.” Then he grinned. “I like it.”

“Stakes aren’t really effective unless they’re real. I have to have something that would really sting.” She rubbed her hands on her thighs, nervous at the thought. “And I’m on that channel giving advice. If I can’t take my own advice and follow through on this, then what am I even doing?”

“And if you do make it the six months,” he said, “how aboutyouget something fun, like a vacation?”

She sighed. “Sounds lovely, but I don’t exactly have extra funds for that right now.”

He shrugged. “I could help with that. I have a buddy who has a beach house in Florida. I do security for his site at no charge. He’d let you use it for a week if I ask.”

“You’re serious?”

He put out his hand. “Do we have a deal, Eli?”

She shook her head, amazed at the turn of events, but she put out her hand, taking his. He wrapped his fingers around hers, his skin warm against her palm. A little shiver went through her. “Deal.”

“Good. Now, that you’ve come over to the dark side, I can do this…” He released her hand and leaned over to grab the business card she’d set aside on the couch. He flipped it facedown on his desk, scribbled something on the back, and then handed it back to her.

There was an address in his neat, narrow handwriting and the wordECHOin all caps. “What’s this?”

“The first part of your quest. That’s the address and password for an event next Saturday for people who like to get together without phones getting in the way,” he said, twirling his pen between his fingers. “Some are friends of mine, a few coworkers, but I won’t know everyone there. It’s called a NoPho party, meant to be a mixer and networking thing, but they’re usually pretty relaxed and fun. You’ll have to give them my name and the password so they know you were invited, since they keep it private. And you have to lock your phone into this little pouch they’ll give you. They stay locked up until you leave the party.”

Her lips parted and she looked up, meeting his gaze. “You’re kidding. You’re part ofa secret club with a password?” She narrowed her eyes. “Is this some kind of kinky sex club?”

He gave her a patient look. “It’s not a kinky sex club, much to your disappointment, I’m sure. But it is a place that you could practice some non-dating-app meeting of people. And it feels private because no one can use their phones and everyone agrees not to post anything about the night. So it’s a safe zone. Which, honestly, can be good and bad. It wasreal badon karaoke night. The things people will sing when they know they can’t be filmed.”

She laughed. “This sounds bizarre but…”

“Interesting?” he offered.

Interesting.This guy and his “interesting.” She looked down at the card again, the whole idea completely out of her comfort zone. Unlike going on a date from an app, she couldn’t research at all. She’d have to walk into a room full of strangers. She wet her lips.Fear and growth. Fear and growth.“Are you going to be there?”

“Plan to. And if you want to bring a friend, you can. I get two invites under my name, and I don’t plan on using the other this week.”

She took a breath and nodded, knowing that she could bring someone with her making her feel a little braver. “All right. I’ll give it a shot.”

He nodded, looking pleased. “Cool.”

She ran her finger over the address. “What’s the dress code?”

“Oh, you leave your clothes at the door when you lock up your phone.”

Her head snapped upward.

He was wearing a shit-eating grin. “Kidding. You’re making this too easy, Eli. Dressing casual is always safe. It’s seventy percent tech or tech-adjacent people.”

“Why so many techies?”

“Because we’re the ones who know how the digital sausage is made,” he said, his tone frank. “We helped build the sites and apps. We know the internet, social media in particular, is designed to be a big dopamine-inducing slot machine. That doesn’t mean we don’t want to use it, but we know why breaks from it are important.”

“I feel like I’m stepping outside of the Matrix or something.”

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