Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 87629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“That’s what makes it boring, Jack. There’s nothing unique about me. Nothing that stands out.”
I’m honestly not sure how to help her here. I’ve never been on one of these apps.
I run a hand through my hair. “All right, I guess you want to appear normal, right? I mean, no one goes on these apps looking for someone strange. So…what are some other facts about you?”
“I’ve watched all the Star Wars movies a million times, but that just makes me a nerd.”
“Actually, that’s kind of cute. But say something like, ‘I can quote Princess Leia from every Star Wars movie’ or something.”
She starts tapping notes on her laptop but then pauses.
“That’s not too dorky?” she asks, her big eyes blinking up at me behind her glasses.
Maybe a little. But if she attracts Star Wars nerds, I won’t have to worry about her.
“Not at all. Who doesn’t love Star Wars?”
“You, for one,” Amanda says.
“I’m just not really into sci-fi. But plenty of men are.”
“All right,” Amanda says. “So far I have, ‘Twenty-nine-year-old virtual assistant, college-educated, loves Jane Austen and Japanese food, can quote every line of Princess Leia from the Star Wars movies.’” She clears her throat. “Shouldn’t I say something…sexy?”
“No,” I say with a firm shake of my head, shoving my hands deep into my front pockets. “Not unless you’re looking for a hookup. That’s not what you’re looking for, is it, Mandy Cake?”
She doesn’t reply right away, which makes my stomach clench a little. Mandy hooking up? One-nighters? Quick fucks?
I can’t stand the thought of it.
“No, of course not. I want something long-term, something that may lead to a lifetime.”
A lifetime.
That is so far from what I’m ever after, it’s hard to consider it for someone else. Especially for Mandy. I guess I never imagined she wouldn’t be there for me forever. What if she does meet someone? Someone she gets serious with? Starts a family with?
What will that do to our relationship?
I’m being selfish. Part of me has always been a little bit selfish with Mandy. She’s my best friend. She always has been, even when our paths diverged starting in middle school and then further when we went to high school. She was a brain who played the clarinet in the marching band. I was a jock who started for the football, baseball, and basketball teams. We both took AP classes, so that’s how we maintained a relationship. We studied together, usually one or two nights a week after dinner and after all my practices were over. Though she did come to all my games to cheer me on. At football games, she was the loudest voice from the marching band section.
Amanda and Jackson. Even when we didn’t run in the same circles, we never let our friendship suffer.
But a serious relationship for either of us?
How can our friendship not suffer if that happens?
Stop being selfish, I say to myself.
“It’s all right to say that, isn’t it?” Amanda asks, her front teeth digging into her plump bottom lip. “That I’m looking for something serious?”
“Sure. I suppose so. Christ, Mandy Cake, I don’t know how this all works.”
“That’s because you’ve always been the center of attention, Jack. Always hordes of women around you. It’s been that way since we went through puberty fifteen years ago.”
Amanda’s not wrong. I shot up six inches between seventh and eighth grade. Once my testosterone kicked in, all my sports workouts gave me the physique I still have.
“I don’t know,” Amanda continues. “If I say I am looking for something serious, I’m going to scare off half the men.”
“Yeah, the half you don’t want. Look, most guys are on this app for hookups.”
“You really think so?”
“I don’t think so, Mandy. I know so.”
She bites her bottom lip again. “But you’re not on Lustr? How would you know?”
“Because I’m a guy. That’s what guys are looking for. Most of them anyway. They’re all horny, and they’re all looking for a quick fuck.”
She casts her gaze downward.
Crap. I’ve upset her.
“Not all guys, Mandy. I’m sure there are some who are where you are. Who want more than just a quick hookup.”
“Yeah, but I’m not going to find them on this app, am I?”
“You don’t know that. I suppose you start by being honest and then seeing if anyone matches with you.”
She nods and taps a few things into her computer.
“What are you writing?” I ask.
“Just some stuff. What I’m looking for.”
“Good.”
Perhaps she’ll find someone. Someone to fall in love with, to make a life with.
That’s what she wants, and that’s what she deserves.
I try to ignore the lump in my stomach.
Chapter Three
Amanda
I went against Jackson’s advice. I used Mandy as my name instead of Amanda. Apparently, your name and age are the two things you can’t change on Lustr, so if I want to change them, I’ll have to create an entirely new profile.