Chapter 5 – Grace
Dean was Knead. Of course he was. Dean Kinney. Dean K. It was a letter scramble. I was highly familiar with those. I’d even say I loved them up until this very moment. “I have so many questions, Dean.”
“I know.”
“You created an anagram with your name. Just like Voldemort.”
Dean gave a nervous laugh. “Hadn’t thought of it that way, but yeah, just like Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter . I know this doesn’t look good.”
“It really doesn’t.” Part of me didn’t want to know why he would do something like this. I generally tried not to wonder what Dean was thinking while he had a running parade of beautiful, successful, witty, vivacious women in his life who never made it more than a few dates with him. Someone like Dean did not need a dating app for the socially inept. Yes, GoWithFriends had a coolness factor, but it was still, at its most basic level, a kiddie pool for those too scared to swipe right.
I pressed my hands together in the folds of my dress so I wouldn’t be tempted to strangle him. Oh, who was I kidding? They were pressed together because I was cold and shivering from shock. I’d never understand why my body always did this to me. Wasn’t fight or flight supposed to kick in? This felt more like faint. Faint and shake with bad circulation and disappointment. Why did he have to be Knead? Why couldn’t it be someone new, someone I could have a meet-cute with at an adorable bakery or lock eyes with across a dance floor? Or, at the very least, someone who could look at me and not just see a problem to be solved?
“Did you pay someone off to get put in my group? Why would you pay someone just to spy on me?”
Dean’s eyebrows furrowed. “I was never spying on you. And no, I didn’t pay anyone off. I don’t know what you think I do with my money, but I don’t pay people to do illegal things and risk their jobs.”
“How am I the bad guy here?”
“You’re not.” He put his palms up in surrender. “I just wish you’d see me for once.”
“What? Your arm and neck?”
Dean reached out and took me by the shoulders, a familiar look of long-suffering on his face. His hands radiated a warmth my body could never replicate. “Grace, look at me.”
I complied, reluctantly. Dean’s gaze was magnetic. I loved his brown eyes, his full lips, his just-right nose. All of it together as a facial package was patently unfair. Once upon a time, I hadn’t given it a second thought. Ah, the good old days.
“I can explain.”
“Okay, then. Explain. If you didn’t bribe anyone, how did you get in? Did Carmen help you?” My sister-in-law worked for GoWithFriends. Her position didn’t have anything to do with groups, but I wouldn’t put it past him to ask her.
As if Dean could read my mind, his frown deepened. “I didn’t do this on purpose. Carmen doesn’t even know I joined. I just heard from her and Isaac that you signed up, and it sounded fun, so I decided to try it out. The algorithm put me in your group. I was as shocked as you. ”
“But you said nothing.”
“I said a lot of things. As Knead. And all of them were true.” He nodded slowly, like he knew I was going through each interaction in my mind, and he was glad.
There was the time he admitted he didn’t want to say goodnight to me. Or when he joked that he liked older women. I’d called him a dastard, and that blew up the group and turned into a hilarious vocabulary lesson. He’d privately messaged me after and told me my expansive knowledge of the English language was one of the things he liked best about me. I’d fallen asleep smiling.
Dean gave my shoulders a light squeeze. “Let’s go in. You don’t have to be near me tonight. But you’re here. You have a sitter. You look amazing. We both like these people. Go have some fun.” He took a step back, letting his hands drop from my shoulders, maybe knowing I couldn’t make a decision until he gave me the space to do so.
How was I supposed to argue against fun? I did love to dance. I might never get this opportunity again. I took in a deep breath. “You’re really Knead?”
“One hundred percent. I guess we’re just compatible, Grace. Is that so hard to believe?”
“Yeah, it’s a little hard to believe.” And I did need space from him. More space than just having his incredibly warm hands off of me. This was a lot to take in. “Fine. I’ll stay. You stay, too. Just, stay not in my general area.” I walked around him, giving him a wide berth, and hurried into where the dance was going at full tilt. Jackson had a light show spinning overhead and a Max Frost song with a funky vibe blasted out of the speakers. I stinking loved Max Frost. Maybe it was a sign. I could still be fun. That part of me hadn’t died.
I found Lacey, who was overjoyed to meet me in person, and we danced next to each other for three pop songs before I caught Dean staring at me from across the room. I half expected him to pull a Ken move and saunter his way over, but he only smiled and went back to dancing with the small group of admirers he’d cultivated.
I’d overheard a few people giving him grief about his stupid profile picture, but unsurprisingly, he was easily forgiven. He’d even promised to change it. Might as well. He had no one to hide his face from now.
I couldn’t decide if I believed his highly coincidental story or not, but my theories weren’t any more believable than his explanation. Yes, Dean liked to mess with me, but the lengths he’d have to go to for this one? There were at least twenty-five different groups in the Phoenix area, if the app was to be believed. And each group had about twenty-five to thirty people in them at any given time. I guess I had to accept that, on some level, Dean and I were compatible enough to get put in the same one. I was still mad about the fake name and no-face thing. Compatible or not, he’d hidden from me. That was indisputable.
A slow song came on, and Lacey went to go ask a guy she’d met earlier to dance. She was bold like that. I was just here to… well, I didn’t want to think about that right now because Knead was Dean. Man, that ruined everything, including a possible return to just talking to these people online. I couldn’t even do that now.
I walked outside to check on Piper. No updates from Carmen or Isaac. I sent them a quick text.
Grace: Everything good there?
Isaac: That bad, huh?
Grace: No, I’m having fun.
Carmen: Good !
Isaac: Take your time. Carmen has me looking for a guitar stand the size of an eyelash. It fell in the carpet. Polly Pockets were created by demons.
Carmen: We found the guitar stand. I’m just enjoying the view. wink emoji
Grace: You two deserve each other.
Carmen: We really do. Now put your phone away. Piper is having a good time. She says she loves you.
Grace: Love you right back.
I returned my phone to my dress pocket and looked up just in time to see Dean peeking out before he hid behind the door again. He’d been checking on me. “I wasn’t leaving, Dean.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he called back.
“I thought you hated liars.” I’d heard him say that many times before. Ironic, since he’d been lying to me about his identity for the past three weeks.
He came around the door and walked over, leaning his back against the wall next to me. “Okay, I was checking on you. I thought you were leaving.”
“You told me you were going on a date tonight.” I poked him in the chest. “That was a lie.”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
He stared into my eyes. “I came tonight to come clean to you.”
“That doesn’t make it a date.”
“Well, it doesn’t make it a group activity either.”
Semantics. It shouldn’t matter, but with Dean, I always felt like there was a language barrier between us. Like there was something he was hinting at but never coming out and saying. Wasn’t that what flirting was all about? Testing the waters, but not committing to any particular truth?
“I’m too old for games. Is that what this is?” I moved my hand between us. “Is this a game?”
Dean didn’t answer for a long time. Which made me nervous about what he might say.
“You’re the mother of a seven-year-old. I would never, ever play games with you.” He looked almost mad about it.
“Then why do you flirt with me? Why did Knead flirt with me?”
“Because I like you. I’m gonna go dance.”
He pushed off the wall and walked back in like that was all the information I needed, when it was woefully, woefully, not enough.