Chapter 11 Blind Date
BLIND DATE
Poppy
“All right, tell me everything, you little slut,” Cici says sarcastically while giggling.
“You might be saying that for real after you hear my story.”
We’re sitting on her couch after putting Abby down for a nap, since I said I couldn’t hold her while talking about sex.
Eli was at work already when Braden dropped me off, thank God.
I think it would have been weird to be around him after screwing his friend, along with another guy. Way too awkward.
I had planned to call an Uber after Warren left, but was shocked when Braden asked me to stay.
Instead of going right to sleep, we talked, made out like teenagers, then one thing led to another, and I ended up checking a new position off, as he spooned me from behind to my fifth orgasm of the night.
Something felt different about that last time. It was… intimate, almost as if feelings were involved, but I know better. I’m not that na?ve. Even if my mind got confused or was playing tricks on me, Braden for sure has no intentions other than sex when it comes to women.
“Since you’ll probably hear about some of it from Lucy, I might as well tell you the rest.”
So I recount everything in detail, starting with the incident on the dance floor until the end of the night, watching her eyes bug out during most of the one-sided conversation.
“Holy shit,” she stammers once I finish the story.
“Yeah.”
“I mean, holy shit. You are a fucking goddess. You went from losing your virginity one month to getting double-stuffed the next. Like, what the heck? Where were you when I was single and needed a partner in crime?”
“This doesn’t change anything. I’m not gonna start sleeping around. In fact, I’m more determined than ever to find my person.”
“I bet. So you can have sex all the time, huh?”
We both crack up laughing.
“Exactly,” I say as soon as I catch my breath.
“Shoot. You’ll need a guy who’s capable of wild animal sex. So you’ll have to test the waters before settling.”
“True. But I won’t do that unless someone is worthy of testing. And if he’s perfect in every other way, can’t they learn if they’re not great at it?”
“Hm.” Cici shrugs. “I’m not sure. But how will you find him in the first place?”
“Well, there’s this new app I want to try.”
Cici groans at my solution.
“It’s not like I have friends setting me up all the time, and I don’t go out very often, so my options are limited,” I say defensively.
“Fine. Show me your profile.”
I grab my phone and pull up the app. “I haven’t done it yet, but it shouldn’t be hard since it’s without pictures.”
“WHAT? You can’t find someone without knowing what they look like. That’s the most important part—you’re crazy.”
“It’s perfect. They’ll be searching for the same thing I am, and not just out for sex.
Without pictures, it’s about getting to know each other and connecting, rather than hooking up.
Then, if you’re still interested after the required number of conversations, you can exchange photos if you want.
Or skip it altogether and just be surprised when you meet, sort of like a blind date. ”
To me, it sounds great, but leave it to Cici to point out the flaws.
“Yeah, but what if you totally hit it off with some guy and then he’s hideous? What do you say? Ohhh, sorry. You’re great and all, but I’m looking for someone more attractive.”
“Maybe it won’t matter by then—I might like him so much that I’ll think he’s cute anyway.”
“Then you need to enlist me to give you an unbiased opinion.”
“Cici, it’s not all about looks,” I chide.
“Tell that to your future children,” Cici deadpans.
I hit her with a pillow, and we fall into giggles again. “You’re awful.”
Abby’s cry sounds from the baby monitor.
Cici rises from the couch. “I’m honest. Let me get Abby and then we’ll do your profile. The sooner you find someone, the sooner I can say I told you so,” she calls back before she rounds the corner.
“Bitch,” I tease.
While she’s gone, I look through the app again.
When I first found it, I thought the same as Cici, but after reading the explanation along with the reviews, it made sense.
My basic requirements are specified, so the profiles that appear on my feed will at least meet a certain criteria.
If I put in that I want someone who’s active, for example, they won’t match me with a couch potato, and so on.
Now that Cici’s filled my mind with doubts, though, I’m starting to have second thoughts. Still, it’s not like I’m committing by signing up. Plus, do I really care if I tell them I’m not interested after seeing their picture if I’ve never met them in person anyway? I’d say it’s worth a shot.
All I’m trying to do is prevent ending up with some manwhore like Braden, whose only interest is sex. Good sex. But still, that’s not what I’m looking for. Well, I am, but to have that, I need to find someone special, and this is the first step to making that happen.
Cici comes back with a smiling Abby. I’m not sure if she’s ever not smiling; she’s such a happy baby. “All right, trade me. Take this little munchkin and hand me your phone. Let’s do this.”
I gladly hand it over and move to the floor with Abby to play with the little cutie.
Rattling toys above her head and squeezing her little toes—I could stare at her forever.
She’s fricking adorable. I’m sad we live so far apart, and I won’t be able to see her as often as I'd like. I’ll miss a lot, so I’m soaking it all in before flying home tomorrow.
“Okay, I got the basics in. It’s too bad you can’t put a requirement for a stallion in the bedroom, but I guess that would defeat your purpose for choosing this app,” Cici says as she continues with the phone.
“Plus, it would make me sound easy, and I’m not going for that.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. All right, so how can we make sure you don’t get any losers?”
“Does it ask for income requirements or anything like that? Or profession preferences? What are all the options?”
“It looks like we can narrow it down for types of jobs, like professional versus just starting out, or student, which we’ll ixnay, of course. They do have a box to check for self-employed, but you could end up with a guy who owns a pooper-scooper company.”
“It doesn’t have to be perfect. I’ll still be able to choose the ones I want. We just need to specify the parameters for what appears on my feed. How about activity level, like whether they do sports or outdoorsy stuff?”
An hour later, I have a completed profile ready to submit. It takes twenty-four hours for them to approve it before it goes live. Then I’ll be shown profiles that meet my requirements. When I like someone who likes me in return, a match is made, and we’ll both be sent a notification.
After a certain number of messages back and forth, we’re allowed to exchange pictures if we choose. I’m not sure why anyone wouldn’t, unless they want to be surprised when they meet in person, but I think that would be worse—you’d have to suffer through the date at that point.
“All right, you ready?” Cici asks, holding my phone with her finger hovering over it, waiting for my approval to push the submit button.
Taking a deep breath, I nod, and she presses down. “Yay!” she exclaims. “You’re one step closer to a lifetime of naughty, virtuous sex. You’re welcome.”
Braden
It’s been two weeks, and I haven’t stopped thinking about my little mouse. I’ve tried, God knows I have, but between work, extra gym time, and even a visit to the club for a hookup, I’ve had no reprieve. Not to mention, no hookup was had since the woman I wanted was a thousand miles away.
So I’m caving, arriving at Eli and Cici’s under the pretense of visiting, so I can grill Cici about Poppy.
I’m not sure what my goal is, but sitting around, obsessing over her isn’t doing any good—maybe at least talking about her will help.
Fuck. Who am I kidding? Nothing can pull me out of this except the woman herself.
“Good to see you,” Eli says as we exchange a manly bro hug on my way in.
“You too. How’s the little one?”
“She’s great. Cici will bring Abby out in a minute. She’s just feeding her. Let’s grab a drink and sit on the patio.” He opens the fridge and removes two beers, handing me one before we head outside.
“I didn’t think you were a glutton for punishment, but here you are,” Eli says cryptically once we’re settled.
“What is that supposed to mean?” My brows rise in question.
“My wife and I tell each other everything. Cici and Poppy tell each other everything.” He looks at me pointedly. “Which means I know what happened that night. You can imagine the shit she’s gonna give you, right?”
“Fuck.” It hadn’t occurred to me she heard the details of our last night together, which makes this more awkward than I anticipated.
Quickly moving on to other topics, we catch up on life as we wait for Cici to join us.
It’s not long until she opens the slider and steps out. “This is a surprise. Two visits in two weeks. You must love babies, huh?” She smirks mockingly as she holds Abby up.
“Well, she is why I have to visit you now, since you guys don’t go out anymore.”
“We’ll start having Cici’s parents watch her at some point,” Eli says.
“But I’m not ready for that yet, am I?” Cici says in baby talk as she nuzzles her nose against Abby’s face and kisses her. Then she settles her into the contraption next to her.
“Soon, everyone will have kids, and I’ll be making the rounds to all of you. Mia and Jackson probably aren’t too far behind after spending time with you guys and Lily.”
“She’s so young, but maybe.” Cici shrugs. “I’m sure Jackson would be up for starting a family. What about you? Are you ever gonna date someone for longer than one night?” she asks before quickly adding, “Oh, wait, you spent two with Poppy. Is that a record?”
I knew this was coming, so I shouldn’t be surprised. And honestly, it works to my advantage since I’m not the one who brought her up, so now I can roll with it.