dog that is only loyal to you and chews up my shoes.”
“That’s why we don’t need a puppy,” I whispered to Chris.
“But they’re so cute,” he said in a low voice. “And I donated a huge chunk of my inheritance to that animal rescue.”
“It wasn’t that much,” I hissed back. “Don’t pat yourself on the back.”
“How about we hear from our next married couple?” Dr. Kwame asked.
The sporty brunette glared at her husband.
“He said he was all in, that he wanted to make it work. Except all he wanted to do was have me work for him as a maid-slash-mom, picking up his shit off the floor, cleaning up after him, and cooking for him. He even had me invest in his failing businesses.”
“See?” Chris whispered to me. “For all my faults, I am a good businessman.”
“You do have the provider box of the husband checklist thoroughly covered,” I replied.
“A pet rock app!” the brunette railed. “Can you believe it? Of all the dumb ideas. And he wanted me to somehow get that claptrap off the ground. Which, not to pat myself on the back, I did. It is now a very popular app.”
“That you stole from me!” the tall lanky man next to her complained.
The brunette was smug.
“It took off like a rocket, and none of the paperwork had my name on it. She kicked me out of the house. I’m penniless. Homeless,” he spat.
The brunette didn’t seem at all apologetic. “You spent exactly zero hours on developing the app and invested zero dollars. Unlike Teddy.” She beamed at the short man sitting next to Linneah.
“We weren’t even officially divorced before she moved him in,” her ex-husband complained to the three moderators. “Tell her how wrong she was!”
“A marriage is a partnership,” Priyanka said, “and it sounds like you were dead weight that needed to be let go.”
“But she’s my wife! She’s supposed to support me.”
“Yes, but you could have supported her by doing housework, offering a kind ear, cooking,” Dr. Kwame listed off.
“No way! That’s women’s stuff!”
“And this is why Teddy and I are much happier together!” his ex declared as Teddy gazed at her adoringly.
“She codes, she likes Marvel movies, and she has an ant farm,” Teddy said happily.
“It’s a puppy or an ant farm,” Chris said, leaning forward to speak softly in my ear. “Two seconds to choose.”
“Fine, a puppy,” I said out of the side of my mouth.
“I’m so happy that you’ve made the best of a bad situation,” Rainbow gushed to Teddy. “I can tell you have so much love to give. And you were so heartbroken when Linneah wanted to end the relationship.”
“It was a blessing in disguise.” He and the brunette smiled at each other.
“Now that we are talking to the singles,” Dr. Kwame said, “Linneah, how is life as a single woman?”
“I’m dating,” she said flippantly. “I’m living with my bestie, Addison, and we’re on the market.”
“Maybe you can follow in Teddy’s footsteps and find love amongst one of your other newly single costars,” Priyanka joked.
Linneah gazed at Chris. “Maybe I will.”
“Actually,” I said loudly, grabbing Chris’s arm, “he is already spoken for.”
So back the fuck off.
“He is?” Priyanka said in shock. “I thought you didn’t want to be married.”
I grabbed Chris’s jaw and pulled him in for a long kiss, using my left hand and making sure my diamond ring sparkled in the light, just so Linneah wouldn’t get any ideas about trying to steal Chris. That man was mine!
“As it turns out,” I said, smirking at the dopey look on Chris’s face when I released him, “I just couldn’t quit him. He’s my husband, my best friend, and partner.”
“And soon to be puppy coparent,” Chris added.
I rolled my eyes then grabbed his hand.
“He had become such a huge important part of my life that being without him felt like part of my heart was just wandering around Manhattan. It wasn’t until he was gone that I realized how much I loved him.”
“Plus,” Chris joked, “I was miserable without her. I loved her from the moment I saw her. Grace is unlike any woman I’d ever met, and I knew I had to have her. We were meant to be together.” He gazed at me. “We’re exactly where we are supposed to be.”
“I guess we didn’t fail as matchmakers after all,” Rainbow said happily.
“We have officially fulfilled our contract,” Chris whooped when we walked into our penthouse. All our friends and family cheered.
“I have gasoline to burn it,” Josh hollered,