The Love Wager (Mr. Wrong Number, #2)(23)

Hallie: Okay.

Jack: Atta girl.

Hallie: Why are you awake so early btw?

Jack: I like to get in a run before work.

Hallie: Same. But it’s SUNDAY. Why are you working on a Sunday?

Jack: Because I have work to do.

Hallie: Also please tell me you don’t wear those tiny little running shorts.

Jack: Stop tryna picture me and my luscious thighs, perv.

Hallie: Definitely not doing THAT.

Jack: Wait, were you asking for a pic? Was that what that was?

Hallie: Please don’t make me block you.

Jack: Have a lovely day, TB.

Hallie rolled out of bed and went for a run since she was already awake, and the entire time, she practiced what she was going to say to Ruthie when she returned later that day. I love living with you, but I really think it’s time for me to get my own place like an adult. We can still hang out all the time.

Only Ruthie never came home that day. She sent a text around ten a.m. that read, Having too much fun to come back to the States—will be back next week, and Hallie wasn’t really surprised to discover that her roommate was out of the country.

After showering post-run and going on a quick Starbucks jaunt, she settled into the couch and started scrolling. It took a while, but she found a guy whose profile looked good enough to swipe and began messaging.

He seemed funny and nice, so when he asked if she wanted to meet up for dinner and drinks on Wednesday after work, she called Jack.

He answered after one ring, but she wondered if he was working, because he said, “This is Jack.”

“Hey, it’s Hallie. What’s up?”

She heard the smile in his voice when he said, “I cannot believe you called me instead of texting, boomer.”

“Do you have a sec?”

“Of course,” he said, and she wondered if he was home or at the office.

“Are you still working?” she asked.

“Yeah, but I’m cutting out soon.”

“Okay, well, I just had a guy ask me out on the app. Do you have any potential dates that you can do Wednesday night at six thirty-ish?”

“Who’s the guy?”

“His name is Stephen, he doesn’t hunt or fish, and he is a dentist. He’s into running, bingeing Netflix, and getting railed.”

“Whoa, dentist? That’s a date with bonus points.”

“Right? Although I’ll probably be worried the whole time that he’s checking out my plaque situation.”

“?‘Plaques and racks’—I bet that’s Stephen’s motto.”

“You’re a pig.”

“Chill. It’s Stephen’s motto, not mine.”

Hallie said through her laugh, “So do you have any potential dates you can do Wednesday?”

“I actually have two.”

“Shut your stupid mouth!” Hallie yelled into the phone. “Since last night, you have chatted up two girls with enough of a potential connection to facilitate a date?”

“For the record,” he said, “I started talking to one of them yesterday before the speed dating thing.”

That made Hallie pause. She had no reason to expect him to tell her everything, but she felt a little . . . weird . . . that he hadn’t mentioned it. “So Wednesday . . . ?”

“That works.”

She went back to the dating app after they hung up and set the date up with the dentist, and when they closed out the chat because he had to go coach his niece’s little league soccer team, Hallie—ovaries imploding—was surprisingly excited about the date.

Stephen seemed promising, and if all else failed, there would be tacos.





Jack


Jack looked at the caller ID before raising the phone to his ear. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Olivia said, sounding confused. “Why?”

“Because we don’t talk on the phone. This is weird.”

“Yeah, but I’m super bored. Shoe full of broken toes, remember?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right,” he said, regretting the decision to answer the phone. He was trying to finish up work and go home, and he knew for a fact that Olivia’s boredom was only going to slow him down. Still, he asked, “How are the little nubbins, by the way?”

“Less swollen,” she said. “And marginally less purple.”

“Gross.”

“Right?”

“Listen, Liv, I’m trying to wrap things up here. Did you actually need something?”

“Rude,” she said under her breath, before adding, “I just wanted to tell you that I really like Hallie. That’s all.”

“Okay . . . ?” He said, “Me, too. What’s your point?”

“Nothing. I’m just really glad she’s around to push you into finding a match.”

“For fuck’s sake, Liv, why are you so obsessed with my love life?”

“Because I worry about you being sad,” she said. “Sue me for caring.”

“I was hammered at Billy’s that night. Will you please, for the love of God, just forget what I said?”

“You just sounded so sad and lonely, Jack.”

“I was lit, not lonely.”