Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
Audrey
The first, second, and third dates from the app I downloaded were all duds. On the first date, I was stood up. After sitting alone in the coffee shop for an hour and Lu sitting watch nearby, I knew I was going to be drinking coffee alone. On the second date, the guy looked nothing like his profile picture. He’d used an AI program to generate a new him. A very new him. There were similar features, but he’d completely reinvented himself. I stared at him for a few seconds as he held his phone up to show me who he was supposed to be and I turned on my heel and walked right out of the door. On the third date, he looked just like his profile but he was very different. His strong Brooklyn accent was hard to decipher and then he started spewing a lot of anti-women rhetoric. He reminded me too much of Brian and after an hour of listening to him drone on and on about how his boss shouldn’t be a woman, I stood up, threw some cash on the table, and was gone.
There wasn’t a lack of matches. There wasn’t a lack of men, but by the fourth date, I was ready to hang in the towel. I was hoping tonight was different, I really was.
With a little anxiety, I checked my phone again and looked at the picture of the guy I matched with. His light red hair was cute and his smile seemed sweet. He was completely jacked and I wondered if he was all beefcake or if he would eat pasta with me. I wasn’t opposed to men that liked the gym but I wanted someone who would cuddle me while we ate junk food sometimes or someone who wouldn’t balk at my takeout. Someone who wouldn’t remind me that I needed to lose weight or that the food I was eating wasn’t ladylike. Someone completely opposite of Brian.
Alexei popped into my head and I immediately tried to free myself of the image. If I thought of him, this night would be over before it started. The night was starting to cool off and I was glad I brought a sweater. I was wrapping it tighter around myself when someone behind me said my name.
“Audrey?”
I flexed my fingers to prevent myself from wiping my hands down the front of my dress. I turned slowly, entirely too afraid of how the night was going to go if he didn’t look like his profile pic.
Warm brown eyes met mine and a smile tugged at my lips. “Axel?”
He pressed a hand to his chest. “Thank God.”
A laugh bubbled up from my chest. “What?”
“You look like yourself.”
“You’ve met a few catfishes too?”
He nodded enthusiastically before he held out his elbow for me to take. A few couples passed by us quickly on the sidewalk. He looked up at Ace’s building and let out a whistle. “You live here?”
On any other date, I wouldn’t have had them pick me up but tonight was different. I felt good about Axel when I swiped right on him. Or maybe I was just getting really tired and knew if he stood me up or he wasn’t who he said he was I could escape upstairs and jump right into bed.
“It’s temporary, I’m staying with a friend of mine until I get a little better control over my life.”
One of his light brows rose slightly.
I laughed. “I went through a pretty bad breakup not too long ago and moved across the country.”
He patted my hand like we were old friends. “This is a story I can’t wait to hear.”
Even though the Cristof brothers were such a huge part of that story, I knew it was better to leave them out. I didn’t want to scare the poor man off. I also didn’t want Alexei shadowing everything I did, whether he was present or not. I couldn’t shake him. Not from my thoughts, not from my stories, and not from my life. This was a little piece of me that I was going to keep for myself.
By the end of the night, I couldn’t stop laughing. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip from his wine glass. I’d wanted so badly to order a whiskey or a bourbon or something strong but I still didn’t know this man, even if he had me rolling most of dinner. I needed to keep my wits about me.
Much to my surprise, he ate more pasta than I did. He blamed it on needing to bulk up for his next boxing match.
“How often do you do tournaments?” I asked as I looked over the dessert menu.
“Not often, I train others but a friend of mine convinced me to give it a go again. He said I’m wasting my talents if I don’t see what I’ve got in the ring again.” He shrugged and pulled the dessert menu from my fingers, grinning the whole time.
It was my turn to be skeptical. “You train people for a living and live in New York City?” Maybe he was like the starving artist type.
His grin grew at my disbelief. “I train high profile clients.”
Ah, I knew the types very well. Too well. I changed the subject. “See anything you like?”
He groaned as he rubbed his belly. “The tiramisu here is incredible. It’s actually why I chose this place.”
“Do you think you have room for it?” I eyed him and his flat belly.
He sat up straight like I issued a challenge. “Absolutely I do.”
Just as he promised, the tiramisu was incredible. It was my first time trying it as we didn’t have anything like it back in the small town I came from. I couldn’t even stomach to think of it as home . It had never been that for me. Just a place I lived for most of my life that never connected with my soul. He paid the check and held his hand out to me to help me up. He was the perfect gentleman.
“Why do you think you haven’t found the one yet?” It was a bold question but I was done playing it safe.
He shrugged, my hand on his elbow as we walked out of the restaurant. The streets were crowded like usual, but it didn’t bother me. It was much better than that little town where there was never anyone on the street and you were more afraid than comfortable. There was a strange comfort to all of the people milling about. “I was so focused on winning for years that I didn’t really stop to consider wanting a family and then I was so focused on building my brand and my business that I forgot to slow down. It wasn’t until I was training my buddy the other day and he was talking about some girl he couldn’t stop thinking of that I realized I was envious. I wanted someone to come home to eventually. Someone to build my brand with me. Someone to cheer me on in the stands.”
“I appreciate your honesty.”
The rest of the walk was done in comfortable silence and I was thankful that neither one of us needed to speak or do anything. It was nice. But it wasn’t earth-shattering. It wasn’t full of sparks. It was like we’d known each other our whole lives and I loved that in a friend but I didn’t know if it was right for a partner.
When we got back to Ace’s building I wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss me or not. I knew I wasn’t going to invite him up. I didn’t think I would ever invite anyone up, not with the possibility of Alexei lurking about and the strange feeling of it not even being my home. It would be awkward enough if I had to introduce him to everyone there. I could imagine Mrs. Phipps living there and her coming out just as my date was leaving.
Nope.
When Axel leaned in for a kiss, my heart stopped. Maybe this was it, this was the sparks. This was what I was waiting for. His lips brushed mine and he tasted like wine and chocolate, not a horrible combination. After all, I’d kissed Brian after burgers and beer. Yuck. This felt different but there was no spark. He pulled away and I opened my eyes. Our expressions mirrored one another’s.
“Nothing?”
“Hmm?” Was it the right thing to admit?
“No spark?”
I shook my head, sadly. I would have loved to have those sparks with him. He was very attractive, a great date, and very funny but I didn’t feel it.
“Me either, I really like you and would love to spend more time with you, but maybe just as friends.”
I smiled softly. I’d never been let down easy like that before either. It was nice and refreshing.
“Thank you for going out with me tonight,” He smiled. “It proved to me that the entire dating pool isn’t trash. We will find our people.”
We hugged goodnight and I went up to Ace’s penthouse. Carina was sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her and a blanket around her shoulders.
“How was it?” She jumped up and rushed me.
I held my hands up and giggled. I loved her so much. “It was nice. He wasn’t for me and apparently, I wasn’t for him either.”
“He told you that?” Her mouth fell open.
“Yep,” I nodded. “No sparks. I can appreciate his honesty.”
Carina shrugged. “I guess. I would’ve been insulted.”
I rolled my eyes. “I know. But this isn’t really for anything serious. I’m just appeasing my mother and you. Maybe I’ll get a hot wedding date out of it.”
She booped me on the nose. “You’re right. Maybe you’ll get some good orgasms out of it too!”
One could dream.