Page 95 of Degrees of Control

Hayley sighed. “We’re not gonna sleep. We’ll socialize, try and find Jordan a husband.”

“No redheads,” Jordan said, pointing a finger at her. “I mean it.”

Hayley fluffed her own bright orange hair. “You don’t deserve a redhead.”

They had barely risen from the table when Hayley was derailed by one of Sophia’s uncles and Jordan excused herself to pee. Temporarily alone, Charlie wandered over to the food. Sophia had laid out an entire table dedicated to non-animal based snacks. As the only vegan in the vicinity, she was feeling a lot of pressure to eat. She grabbed a coconut apricot ball and was just shoving it into her mouth when a dark haired man in a pea coat wandered up.

“Hey,” he said, grabbing a carrot stick. “Vegan too?”

Oh wow, two vegans at a southern belle’s house party. It had to be some kind of record. Her mouth full, Charlie pointed to the sign that said ‘vegan food’ and then herself and gave him a thumbs up.

He smiled. “Nice. Well I guess we’re in the right place for it, huh? Makes for a good change.”

Charlie forced herself to swallow the remainder apricot ball. “Yeah. How’s your night going? How do you know Sophia?”

The man did a double take. “I’m friends with her husband, Parker. Are you Sophia’s friend from Australia?”

“I am! Nice work with the accent.” Charlie had only lived in Minneapolis for a little over a year but she learned to loudly praise those who guessed she was Australian without suggesting she was British, Irish, Scottish, South African or a Kiwi first.

The man grinned. “Parker and I studied in Perth for a year. That’s actually how we met.”

“Oh wow, are you a lawyer too?”

The guy shook his head. “Swapped my major. I’m an eighth grade English teacher these days.”

“Cool.”

He grinned. “Not really, though I try and bring some Dead Poets Society to it—without the standing on the desks thing, that’s a violation of our health and safety code. How’s it feel to be back in the US of A?”

“Well I’ve only really been here for like two hours, so pretty tiring actually.”

The man laughed. “Okay, I’ll ask the question now; why did you become a vegan?”

“I felt really bad about eating animals. Yourself?”

“Same. Most annoying thing people ask you about being a vegan?”

She didn’t even have to think about that one. “’Don’t you miss bacon?’ Yourself?”

“Why aren’t you dead yet?”

They both laughed and Charlotte felt the warm glow that came from bonding with another not-insane vegan. The cogs in her brain started whirring. Could this man be a match for Jordan? True, she ate more chicken wings than anyone in the history of everything, ever, but love wasn’t about pairing off due to your dietary requirements. Besides, James ate more barbecue spare ribs than anyone in the history of everything, ever, and they were a great match.

This guy was a teacher and he seemed sweet and friendly. He was good looking as well, a practical home-grown handsome, like a strong oak desk. He dressed a little dorky for Jordan’s tastes but she could work with that. There was nothing she loved more than giving someone a makeover. Charlie scanned the room but couldn’t see Jordan anywhere. What she did see were a lot of speculative glances from Sophia’s single friends—this dude was clearly generating interest. It was officially her duty to lock him down until she could introduce him to Jords. She held out her hand. “I’m Charlie.”

He shook her hand, his palm strangely oily. “Fredrick, but you can call me Freddie. I like to put that out there first because some people go with ‘Rick’ and I hate that.”

Charlotte sensed him sending out flirtatious vines and was determined to snip them in. “That’s a good idea, I’m actually a Charlotte but no one calls me that except my boyfriend.”

She saw the little light of sexual interest go out behind Freddie’s eyes. She’d been expecting that, but still, she needed to get him to stick around and be introduced to Jordan. She gave him her biggest smile. “I feel like we have a lot more to discuss in the way of people being dicks to vegans. Drink?”

“Sure,” he said. “As long as it’s not alcohol. I don’t drink alcohol.”

Charlie gaped at him. “Are you serious? I don’t drink, either! Except by accident, like the time I ordered a virgin margarita and someone put tequila in it.”

Freddie chuckled, a nice rich laugh that got deeper as it went on. “We might be birds of a feather. Let’s go get a soda and see what else we have in common.”

They spent the next ten minutes dissecting veganism, teetotalling and the reasons why both of them had chosen said paths. The entire time they talked, Charlie kept an eye out for Jordan but couldn’t find her anywhere. She could sense Freddie starting to get antsy. She’d made it clear she was happily taken and he obviously wanted to invest some time in someone who might actually suck his dick, but Charlie kept the conversation going strong. Freddie was a freaking catch—he owned his own apartment, tutored disadvantaged kids and played the saxophone in a funk band. Charlie would be damned if she let him be snapped up by Sophia’s more ambitious friends. Jordan had done so much for her over the years, from helping her leave her trashbag ex Dale, to showing her how to successfully apply gold eyeshadow. The least Charlie could do was sandbag this dude while she spent an hour in the toilet.

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