“Do I need to convince you again?”
I considered that. But I was currently sprawled, half naked, across one end of the new couch, so satisfied I could barely move. I didn’t think I even had the energy to motivate for a second round. “I feel pretty convinced, actually.”
“Good. We’ll put her on speakerphone.” Tate tucked her legs beneath her on the couch next to me and fiddled with her phone. A second later, Tatlullah’s cheery voice invaded the sanctuary of my living room.
“Tate, girl! What’s up?”
I quickly tucked myself back into my pants and buttoned up. I couldn’t talk to Tallulah half naked.
“Hey, I’m sitting here with Max,” Tate said. “And we have a proposal.”
“Oh hey, guys. Thanks and everything, but I’m way past my three-way phase,” Tallulah said.
A sound escaped my throat. “Not what we had in mind.”
“Well now you know,” Tallulah said. “In case you thought of it later.”
“Sure, okay. Thanks,” Tate said, shooting me a surprised grin. “No, this is about the database. You’ve got a couple guys in there who are Hamish’s twin brothers. They just moved to Oceanside, and we were hoping we might be able to see if there are any close matches in there for them. They haven’t popped yet.”
“Max is cool with that?” Tallulah sounded skeptical. We’d had many discussions about her tendency to manipulate the matches, though she actually had a pretty good track record.
“He is,” Tate said, widening her eyes at me.
“Yeah, I am,” I confirmed.
“Just give me the names and let me see what I can do,” Tallulah said.
We gave her the info, and she promised to see what she could line up.
Chapter 164
Switching Things Up
Tatum
Max’s head was threatening to spin off as I told him the next week that I’d had another chat with Tallulah about James and Dane.
“I wasn’t even involved!” he fumed as we walked up the boardwalk, Charlie pulling us faster than we might otherwise have been walking, especially because Max liked to stop and stand still while he was having a tantrum. “It’s like I’m not even Mr. Match anymore!”
“The fact you just practically yelled that on a public sidewalk, not caring who hears, pretty much confirms that you’re not.” Max had relaxed about four hundred percent since throwing off the Mr. Match mantle, and sometimes he forgot the whole thing had been a secret.
He glanced around to see if anyone was listening, but the Mission Beach boardwalk was moving at a rhythm of its own, one that had nothing to do with our secrets or arguments. The sun shone, the ocean heaved, and all the tanned athletic bodies around us went on about their endeavors. “I just can’t believe you excluded me.”
“Don’t pout. It was only because I called her from my phone that first time we spoke about it last week, and she just hit redial.”
“So she found a match for one of them?”
“Both of them. Sisters!” I grinned at him, bracing for what I knew was coming.
“It doesn’t work like that,” he growled. Charlie heard the change in Max’s tone and stopped walking to turn and look at him. Max nearly walked right into the huge mass of chocolate fur. “Charlie, go.”
Charlie, who didn’t mind being barked at apparently, lolled his tongue from one side of his mouth in an agreeable manner and turned back to continue his forward motion. The big dog had gotten used to the constant movement around him on the boardwalk, and could now be trusted to trot in a fairly straight line, a fact the rollerbladers and cyclists of San Diego were happy for.
“It can work like that,” I told Max. “So she made sure it did.”
“The odds that one of them would have a match in there are slim. For both of them to have matches, and for those matches to be sisters? That’s pretty much mathematically impossible.”
“But this match isn’t 100% math,” I told him. “Like ours.”
He pressed his lips together beneath the aviator shades, and I knew exactly what was going through his complicated mind beneath all that perfectly waved hair. He hated that we were something besides mathematically destined. He hated that Tallulah refused to tell us how close a match we actually were. She’d even taken both our profiles and password protected them so Max couldn’t find himself running them against one another in a weak moment. Only she knew the truth, and for all her foibles, the girl could keep her lips sealed.
“So anyway,” I went on, ignoring the steam practically coming from Max’s ears. “They’re meeting for lunch today, and we’re going to go.”
“What?” He turned to me, his jaw dropping open.
“To watch.” Seemed simple enough to me.
“No. We’re not.” He shook his head and puffed up his chest, clearly believing that was the end of the discussion.
Two hours later, we sat at a table in the corner of the wide open restaurant patio along the coast in Oceanside. James and Dane had just met their dates on the other side of the patio, and I felt giddy, watching everything unfold.
“I love this,” Tallulah said, her exuberance huge enough that she could have been talking about the iced tea she’d just sipped, the restaurant, or the world at large. “Don’t you love this, Max?”
He frowned at her, obviously unsure what she loved so much. “Love what?”
“Being at the heart of someone’s match? It’s such an optimistic thing we do. I feel like every day, I’m making the world a better place.” She sighed and sat back in her chair, as if her work here was done.
“I do too,” I said, leaning forward over the table and whispering.
“You don’t have to whisper,” Max said, turning his annoyed look my way. “James and Dane know we’re here and the women have no idea who we are.”
We ordered, and over the course of our lunch, we watched as James and Dane chatted with their dates. It was impossible to hear the conversation, and there were no obvious physical signs to tell us whether things were going especially well.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” Max complained. “It’s really pointless for us to be here.”
Tallulah shrugged and popped another fried shrimp into her mouth. “Good karma,” she suggested.
Max didn’t say anything, but I knew he didn’t believe in karma.
A few minutes later, the two pairs rose from their table, and made their way to the bar, just beyond the seating area.
“What are they doing?” I asked, craning my neck to see if they were leaving.
“They’re staying,” Tallulah said. “That must mean it’s going well!”
“Let’s get closer,” I suggested.
Max shook his head in defeat as Tallulah and I rose and slid onto stools near the twins and their dates. James caught my eye over his brother’s shoulder and excused himself to come talk to us.
“How’s it going?” I asked, unable to keep the giddiness from my voice. It was so exciting playing matchmaker.
“Good, for the most part.” He gave us a shy smile.
“Which part isn’t going good?” Tallulah asked.
James made a face, his lips drawing down uncertainly as he dropped his eyes and picked at an imaginary piece of lint on his dark jeans. “Well, I don’t suppose there’s a chance the matches got confused, is there?”
Tallulah and I exchanged a glance. As far as the twins knew, the site had spit out these matches based solely on the math. Had we screwed things up? “What?” Tallulah asked. “Why?”
“Well the girls are nice,” he said. “And the fact they’re sisters, well … that’s incredible really.”
Eek. Maybe we’d gone too far.
“But … well …”
“Spit it out son,” Tallulah practically yelled.
James shrunk back a bit and then looked up at us. “It’s just that I think Dane’s got my match and I’ve got his.”
Tallulah and I exchanged a look and then glanced over at where
Dane was talking with his head close to the woman who was definitely supposed to be James’s match. The other woman, a petite thing with curly dark hair was glancing nervously at James’s back as he talked with us.
“It’s possible I did something wrong,” Tallulah said.
“But it’s all automated, right? Math and all that,” James said.
“Sure it is,” Tallulah agreed. “But I like to add a bit of a human touch. And there’s always the possibility of an error.”
James frowned, clearly not understanding this non-explanation. But he appeared willing to accept it. “So maybe it would be okay if we switched?”
“I think that’d be fine,” I told him. “Go on.” I pushed him back toward where his date was now looking at her watch.
James moved back to where his brother and the women were, and his smile widened as the smaller woman looked up at him with an expression I could only call “smitten.”
“Oh, I think maybe we’ve done it,” I said, elbowing Tallulah.
“Girl!” She raised a hand for me to high five.
Max had evidently taken care of the bill, and was making his way to us, frowning at our exuberant high five. “Congratulating yourselves? Has there been a proposal?”
“They switched partners,” Tallulah told him. “I screwed up, I guess. Maybe I mixed up the profiles. I don’t know.”
Max visibly cringed. “That’s the opposite of scientific.”
“Max.” I said, softening my voice. “Just look.”
The little group of four had very clearly split into two couples, and each of them looked involved in a level of intimate conversation I wasn’t sure I’d ever achieved before Max, even with my ex-husband. You could look at them and feel the rightness, the possibilities between them.
He sighed, which I took as a symbol of defeat. “Shall we head home?”
“I’m gonna stay and spy a bit more,” Tallulah said. “Plus, that girl across the bar is giving me the eyes, I think.”
I swiveled my head to see who she was talking about. There was a woman sitting directly across the bar from us, watching us intently. I wondered if maybe she just recognized Tallulah or Max, but didn’t want to burst an optimistic bubble. “Wait, you go for girls?” I asked. I didn’t know this. “But didn’t you meet Max through a set up?”
Tallulah let out a light laugh. “I go for whatever strikes my fancy,” she said. “No need to exclude half the population.”
Max raised an eyebrow, but I thought Tallulah’s explanation was pretty much perfect. “We’ll leave you to it,” he said, taking my arm.
“See you later, T,” I told her.
Tallulah slid off her stool and gave me a big hug, followed by a smack on the lips. “See ya!”
Max held my hand tightly as we walked to the parking lot. “I feel jealous,” he said. “She kissed you. Right after telling us she was into girls.”
My mind had reeled a bit at the kiss too, but there was something contagious about Tallulah’s acceptance and enthusiasm. “Totally innocent,” I assured him. “But if you want to play jealous boyfriend when we get home, I’d be okay with that.”
Max actually growled as he slid behind the wheel, and when we got home, he played the role perfectly.
Chapter 165
This is the End…
Max
Two weeks after Tallulah defiled the Mr. Match algorithm by hand-picking matches for James and Dane, and then further muddied the waters by suggesting they go ahead and switch partners, we met up with the guys at Sophie and Hamish’s place in La Jolla.
To my surprise, both girls were there as well.
“Max Winchell, Tatum Archer, this is Willa Parnell,” James said, introducing us to the small dark-haired woman we’d seen at lunch that day in Oceanside. “And her sister Lilly.” The woman standing closer to Dane was taller, thinner, and fairer than her sister.
“I can’t believe we’re hanging out with two Sharks players,” Willa said, grinning as she shook our hands. “This is so bizarre.”
“It’s a pleasure,” Lilly said. “Ignore my sister. She’s been star struck since she found out James and Dane are the Hammer’s brothers.”
“Big soccer fans?” I asked.
Lilly laughed. “I think the only right answer is yes, but the truth is that Willa’s always been more a fan of the players than the game. She dragged me into her obsession enough that I’m a little star struck meeting you too.”
It was always nice to be appreciated as part of the Sharks. I was proud of the team, and my place on it. “Thanks,” I said. “Well, it’s very nice meeting you.”
Dane moved close to Lilly’s side and brushed her cheek with his lips. Then he turned to us and smiled. “Good to see you again,” he said.
We were gathered on the back patio near the pool, and Hamish and Sophie were bustling around the barbecue and flying in and out of the house, setting things on the long table under the overhang.
“Dinner!” Sophie called to us, and then she made a quick round through the group, kissing cheeks and hugging everyone. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been chatting. We’re way behind on dinner, thanks to Vlad refusing to go to bed.”
Hamish and Vlad had been absent since we’d arrived, though Hamish had emerged from the back of the house looking a bit haggard about fifteen minutes ago, and had said hello before going to tend the grill.
We all moved to the table, Hamish and Sophie at each end. “It’s a joy to have you all here,” Hamish said, raising a glass. “It’s a bit like a taste of home, really. Having my brothers here, and my wife. I think this the first time we’ve had enough Durns to give the Americans a run for their money!”
“We’re not going to give them a run for their money, Hamish,” Sophie scolded. “Just dinner. Eat!” She smiled and began passing plates around, and soon we were all plowing through sausages and salad.
“How are you settling?” I asked Dane, who sat just to my left.
“Well, actually,” he said. “The house we rented is perfect, and the commute isn’t bad at all. I’ve been riding my bike to the office.”
“Fitting right in with the San Diego lifestyle,” Tate said.
“He does,” Lilly agreed. “We’ve been surfing and hiking already this week!”
I glanced between them, and knew with certainty they were a good fit for one another. It was an almost visible thread connecting them, tying them together. Tallulah might be crazy, but she knew a bit about matching people. Even if it wasn’t mathematical.
“And how about you, James?” Sophie asked, turning to her other brother-in-law.
He looked up, surprised. He’d been whispering into Willa’s ear, and she was a deep shade of scarlet as James cleared his throat. “Sorry, what was the question?”
“They’re not into outdoor activities,” Dane said, his voice loaded with innuendo. “They hardly leave the bedroom.”
Willa’s blush intensified, and a little sound slipped from her lips, “erm.”
“Hey now,” James said. “That’s impolite.” But then he flashed a wicked grin around the table and it was clear he and Willa were finding themselves to be a good match too.
Hamish cleared his throat, pulling everyone’s attention. “If we’re finished discussing my little brother’s sexual exploits, I have some news.”
“No you don’t,” Sophie interjected quickly.
“Yes, lass, I do.” Hamish shot Sophie an annoyed look.
“I think you don’t,” she said, her tone carrying a warning. “Hamish, it’s too early.”
He stared at her a long second, his angry glare turning to something more sympathetic as understanding clearly dawned. “Oh, no, I wasn’t going to tell them …” he trailed off, leaving us all looking between husband and wife down the long dinner table. “I was going to tell them about the boat.”
Sophie raised a hand to her mouth, her eyes dropping shut. “Oh for fuck’s sake,” she said, a smile creeping across her face as she lowered her hand and
looked around at us all. “All right, well, now they know, I guess.”
“What do we know exactly?” Tate asked, her brows pulling together.
“I think they bought a boat,” Willa said, her blush finally dissipating.
“We did!” Hamish boomed, clearly thinking if he talked about the boat loudly enough we’d all forget that there was obviously some other announcement just made unintentionally. “It’s not just a boat. It’s a yacht. And I’m taking it out on its inaugural cruise after Saturday’s game, so plan on coming aboard.”
“That’s awesome, brother,” Dane said, raising a glass to toast the boat.
“Do you think we should toast the other news too, or let Sophie off the hook?” James asked, holding his own glass aloft.
“She clearly doesn’t want to tell us yet,” Lilly said, her tone chiding as she lifted her glass.
“So we’re just toasting the boat, then?” I asked, lifting my own glass.
Sophie pressed her lips together, and then stood up, lifting a glass of water. “Fine, ye lot of bampots.” A huge smile took over her face and she looked fondly down at Hamish. “We’re having another baby. But it’s early days yet, and the secret doesn’t leave this table until at least next month.”
We all stood. “That’s wonderful!” Tate cried, rushing around to hug Sophie.
Tears stood in Hamish’s eyes—he’d always been such a softie under that huge frame. “I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “Especially about the boat.”
Sophie threw a roll at him.
“Congratulations!” Everyone touched their glasses together in celebration of the news, and as I looked around the table, a deep satisfaction crept through me and settled.
I couldn’t take credit for everything here. The baby was all Hamish’s doing, obviously. But in some way, Mr. Match—something I could take full credit for, at least until recently—was responsible for bringing this group of people together. And beyond that, for bringing a certain brand of joy into each of their lives. The idea, the math, and the site were all responsible for bringing Tate into my life, and while Sophie and Hamish might have been childhood sweethearts, I was willing to take credit for their reunion.
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