“I think it’s Raine,” Stone says. “Seb said they grew up together in Chicago.”
“Has anyone seen a picture of her?” Ricky asks.
“I don’t think it matters what she looks like, Rick. She sounds way out of your league,” Paul says. “Sophie said she works for the State Department.”
“Oh that’s cool,” I say. “What does she do for them?”
Everyone turns and looks at me. “Uh, not sure,” Paul says, “but Soph said she travels a lot, speaks a bunch of languages, so probably some kind of envoy.”
“Damn, she already sounds way more interesting than any woman I’ve met in years.”
“Interesting?” Ricky looks at me like I’m crazy. “You can’t be serious. She sounds boring as hell. She’ll probably want to talk about politics and shit.”
“I don’t know,” I say. “That sounds kind of great to me. Maybe someone with a little more substance.”
“Substance takes too long,” Ricky says. “We’re just here for the weekend.”
“Yeah, like I said, you’re good, Rick. No one wants to talk to you about world events,” Paul says. “She’s definitely out of your league. Maybe try something from the college friends’ group. Some of them seem stupid enough to tolerate you.”
“I hate this weekend so much already,” Ricky says, looking over at me. “Alex, let me know early who you have your eyes on, so I won’t waste my time there.”
“Sorry, man. This isn’t going to be that kind of friendship. We’re not in this together.” I stand up and throw my car keys to Stone. “I think I’ll go to the airport with them. Will you take my car back to the resort?”
“Yeah, I’ve got you.” Stone stands up and nods toward the house. “I wouldn’t go in there for at least a half-hour, though—”
I hold up my hand. “I learned my lesson on a road trip earlier this year. I had the room next door to them. I never want to hear those sounds again. My butt is firmly planted on this patio until I hear Maisie’s car pull up.”
“Maybe wear headphones, too,” Pauls says, shaking his head. “We’ll see you over there tonight.”
“Sounds good,” I say, pointing at Ricky. “Don’t let him drive my car.”
“We don’t let him drive.” Stone laughs as they walk away. “We barely let him in the car at all.”
As they walk through the gate, my mind switches back to Raine. In the last five minutes, I’ve learned that she likes to read, she’s smart, she has an interesting job, and she makes up fake boyfriends so Sophie won’t try to find her a match. She sounds perfect and honestly, I’ve never wanted to be set up with someone so badly in my life.
* * *