“Oh, those are potential love interests. Sorry Abigail was a bust. But if you don’t like Georgia or Stacy, Beatrix is coming by in ten minutes. Give Georgia a go though. She has great ratings.”
“Ratings?”
“Yeah. In my binder…”
“Stop it with the binder!” I realized I’d just yelled and swallowed hard. “Man, I told you. I’m just hanging out with Penny for the sake of hanging out with her.”
“Yeah, but you’re going to have to start going on dates or she’ll catch on to your scheme. And it’s of vital importance that I’m the one that finds your match.”
“I’m not finding a match.”
“But…”
“Tanner, get rid of Georgia and Stacy. And call off Beatrix and whoever else is going to walk into the bar having heard all about me. I don’t want to be set up tonight. I just want to drink.” I lifted up my glass. “In peace. And catch up with the guys.”
“Right. But there’s a Jennifer due here at 10:15 that I think would really…”
I ignored him as I downed half my drink. “I don’t want to be set up. Not now. Not ever.”
Tanner sighed. “Very well.” He pulled out his phone to shoot off a few texts. “But if you change your mind, I’ve got you covered.”
With a whole binder full of women. Yeah, I knew that. “I’m not going to change my mind.” It didn’t matter that I had a stupid crush on Penny. Or if I slept with half the women in New York. I wasn’t going to find someone to replace Brooklyn. I just wasn’t. She wasn’t replaceable. She was everything.
“Okay.” He patted my shoulder. “No more lovers are stopping by. Let’s go have the best damn guys’ night in the history of guys’ nights.” He raised his glass to mine.
I tapped mine to his and we both took a drink.
“Let me get rid of Georgia and Stacy. Then please rejoin us at the table.” He nodded and then walked over. Georgia blew me a kiss before looping arms with Stacy and pulling her over toward a different table filled with hopefully single men looking for what I assumed was not true love.
I took a deep breath before rejoining my table.
“Are you two finished with your lover’s quarrel?” Rob asked.
I did not find that joke funny.
“Because if you really want to be set up, as your best friend, I have a few people in mind.”
I cringed. First Penny. Then Tanner. Then James. Now Rob too? Was Mason also suddenly going to be a matchmaker?
“I’m his best friend,” Tanner said. “And I’ve got this covered.”
Rob laughed. “You’re surely mistaken. I’m Matt’s best friend. Tell him, Matt. Tell him I’m the one that’s going to help set you up.”
James jumped in to save me. “Enough about Matt’s dating life. If he wanted any of our help, he’d ask us.” He gave me a small smile. “Anyway, how are renovations on your place going?”
Thank God for the change of subject. “Good. I’m almost done.”
“So are you finally going to have us over?”
I never invited anyone back to my place. Ever. None of my friends or family had ever been to my place. None of my one-night stands. I valued my privacy. And I didn’t want them poking around. “I’m actually just going to sell it, so no housewarming party needed.”
“You’re selling it?” Mason asked. “I thought you loved that place? You went on and on about how quiet the street was when you made a bid.”
Too quiet. I shrugged. “I changed my mind.”
“You decided you want to live on a noisier street?”
“I just outgrew the place. I have Bill stopping by to figure out the listing price.”
“Oh, so you mean like right away,” Mason said. “We all have to come over before you sell then…”
“Really, it’s fine. I’ll have you guys over to my next place.” I wouldn’t. They’d ask too many questions. They wouldn’t understand. Just thinking about them peeking around made me start to sweat.
“You okay?” Rob asked. “You look a little pale. Please don’t tell me you’re secretly a serial killer and have a bunch of dead bodies in your basement or something. Did you guys hear about all the crazy people in Penny’s old neighborhood? James was just telling me about it the other day.”
James laughed. “I’ve banned Penny from going home for a little while. There’s a serial killer loose. Or maybe a few.”
“Really?” I shook my head. “The world’s a crazy place.”