Hate to Date You (Dating #4) - Monica Murphy Page 0,92

drunk.

“You need to find yourself a man,” I tell her, trying to hide the fact that I’m offended by keeping a neutral expression on my face.

But yes. I’m totally offended.

We’re at a local bar on a Saturday night, drowning our sorrows in booze after our friend Caroline’s bridal shower. Kelsey and I are the only single ones left from our friend group. All the rest of them went home to their boyfriends. Fiancés. Side pieces.

Whatever you want to call them.

No, wait. None of our friends have side pieces. That’s such a gross term, so I’m taking it back. I know I would never be a man’s side piece. That implies I’m not even worthy of being his main piece, if you know what I mean.

Huh. Does that even make sense? I might be a little drunk too.

Milligan’s Pub is one of our favorite places to hang out, considering its central location. I can walk to the bar from where my salon is located. I’m a hair stylist at Inspirations Salon and Day Spa in downtown Carmel. I’ve been there for seven years. It’s the first and only salon I’ve ever worked at, and it’s one of the most popular in the area. My mom worked there before me and got me the job.

But she’s retired now, living in Florida with her husband, my stepdad. I see her twice a year if I’m lucky.

I really miss my mom.

“I think I found one,” Kelsey says, pulling me back to the here and now.

I frown at her. “You found what?”

“A man. Okay fine, I’ve found a couple, and we’ve started chatting.” Kelsey rolls her eyes and slaps her hand on the table, making our empty glasses rattle and me jump a little in my seat. “Keep up, lady! There’s a new app that I’ve been trying out since last night, and I like it. A lot.”

“A dating app?” I wrinkle my nose. That is not the way to find true love, if you ask me. Shouldn’t you meet your true love in person? Or have one of those cute accidental meetings? Like oops, you picked up my coffee order by mistake! Let’s swap drinks—and phone numbers.

Okay look, I’ve had a few I want to meet my true love in the Sweet Dreams Café fantasies, okay? My friend Stella who works there would tell me I’m being ridiculous if she knew this fun little fact.

I can’t help my romantic thoughts and ways.

“Yes, a dating app. Don’t say it like it’s a dirty word. You should give it a try. I bet you’d find someone. In fact, I know you would.” Kelsey picks up her phone and starts tapping away. Her brows furrow in concentration. “How tall are you?”

“Um, five-four? Maybe five-five?” Why is she asking me this?

“Blonde hair. Hazel eyes, curvy.” Kelsey’s fingers are flying as she types. “Hair stylist to the stars.”

“Not quite,” I say sarcastically.

“Close enough.” She shrugs before she starts tapping away at the screen again. “So…you have a positive attitude, you’re kind and thoughtful, and you’re looking for a man who can commit and isn’t afraid of making those big romantic gestures.”

Alarm rises in me, making my entire body go stiff as I watch her. “Wait a minute. What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Her voice is deceptively innocent. She keeps her gaze fixed on the screen. I want to snatch that stupid phone out of her hands and see exactly what she’s putting together, but I restrain myself.

Barely.

But after approximately one minute of restraining myself, I can’t take it anymore.

“Kelsey.”

“Eleanor.” She’s still typing, a little smile curling her lips. “Oh, this is gonna be so good. You’ll thank me for this, I promise.”

Unable to stand it any longer, I grab the phone from her hands.

“Hey!” Kelsey glares at me, reaching over the table to take her phone back, but I turn away from her, holding it up in the air. “Give it back!”

“No way.” I keep my back to her as I study the screen. It’s a dating profile on what must be that new app she’s talking about. Rate-A-Date.

Huh.

The information is all about…me.

The profile pic is one of…me.

The user name is qtstylist926. September 26th is my birthday…

“Kelsey, this is a dating profile for me.” I turn to face her, my mouth hanging open in shock. Holy crap, I need to delete this. Stat. Beyond stat. Like yesterday stat. “What in the world did you do?”

“I did exactly what you just said. Created a profile for you, so you can be