that sounded perfect to me. I went to stand up to go talk to her.
Tanner grabbed my arm. “Seriously? I just said she isn’t a good fit for you. I told her you owned a finance firm and she asked what a finance firm person does.” He blinked at me. “Finance firm person. Who the hell says that?”
“It doesn’t matter if she understands what I do. I’m not going to marry her, I’m just going to fuck her.”
Tanner shook his head. “I don’t get it. You had young love. You know how wonderful it felt to have that. And now you just never want it again? Don’t you miss it?”
“Do you?”
He exhaled slowly and then took another sip of his drink. “Yeah. Every fucking day.” He didn’t offer any more.
I sat back down. “Then why aren’t you trying to find your true love?” I sounded ridiculous saying it out loud. But actually, unlike most people, I did believe in it. Because I’d had it and lost it. And I’d never have it again.
He took another sip of his drink. “I am. I just…haven’t found her yet.”
Tanner dated a lot of women. Every time we went to any high society function, he had a beautiful woman on his arm. Always a different beautiful woman. Same as me. So I wasn’t sure why he was judging me here.
“Well, same with me,” I said.
He narrowed his eyes at me.
Sometimes I hated that he was part friend part therapist. “Fine,” I said. “Every woman I go on a date with is someone I 100% don’t see myself with. Happy?”
“No, that doesn’t make me happy. What would make me happy is if you let me find you someone instead of Penny. Well, not instead of. If you want Penny, I’m all for that. I just mean, if you are actually looking for someone, you should let me handle it instead of her. She has zero experience. She’s an amateur.”
“I thought you liked Penny?”
“I do. But she’s not a matchmaker.”
“She kind of helped push Mason to Bee. And Rob to Daphne. In a weird roundabout way. She didn’t actually introduce any of them.”
“Great. Two sort-of success stories. And even that’s stretching it. I’ve introduced hundreds of happily married couples.”
I lowered my voice so no one nearby could hear us. “Tanner, you own a sex club. Not a matchmaking service.”
“It’s not a sex club. How many times do I have to tell you this? It’s a club to find true love. If you would just come see…”
I laughed. I was just messing with him. It was hilarious that he truly thought he didn’t own a sex club. I was in charge of all his finances. And there was no other way to describe those expenses. “I have to politely decline the offer. Again.” Yes, I was pretty sure it was a sex club. But the way Tanner talked about true love did freak me out a little. I didn’t want that. And if there was any possibility of stumbling upon it in his club, I wanted nothing to do with it. I liked being alone. I ran my fingers down the condensation on my glass. No, I liked being with Penny.
He shook his head. “Excited for your game tomorrow?”
I didn’t mind the change of subject. I’d heard enough about true love for one night. And it was actually really nice that he always came to my games. Mason, Rob, and James never stepped foot in our old stadium. “Yeah, it’s going to be fun. Penny’s coming. And Bee and Daphne I think.”
“Great. I’ll sit with them.”
“You can’t harass Penny about the dating app thing. It’s our little secret. I wasn’t even supposed to tell you about it. And I don’t want anyone else knowing about it either.”
“I wasn’t going to harass her. I might ask her some questions about how she feels about you though.” He downed his drink and stood up.
“Please don’t do that.”
He laughed and picked up his binder full of women. “Just you wait and see. I’m going to matchmake her to you before she can matchmake you to some rando.”
“Tanner…”
“I have to get going. I’m going to be late for a date at my sex club.” He put the last two words in air quotes. “Let me know if you change your mind about the car fire,” he said a little too loudly as he started walking away from me. “I’ll see you and the lovely Penny tomorrow.” He waved his hand through