Chapter Sixteen #2
I bite my lip to keep from laughing as Matt shakes his head, muttering something about “Whisper being Whisper.” Nate just groans again and stomps toward the couch, flopping down with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Fine,” Whisper says, unperturbed. “If you won’t open yourself to love, then open yourself to an energy cleanse. You thank me later.”
All I see are shaking heads, and as absurd as the scene is, there’s an undeniable warmth in it. Whisper’s antics, Matt’s quiet support, and even Nate’s grumbling—it all feels strangely comforting, like a chaotic but well-meaning family.
And maybe, just maybe, Whisper’s right.
This house could use a little love, even if Nate refuses to see it.
Whisper lets out an exaggerated sigh. “Well, if sexy boy Nathaniel won’t put himself out there, then it up to my girl Alex and sexy boy Matt to make love happen,” Whisper announces.
Matt looks at me as I look at him with our eyebrows raised high.
“Um… what do you mean, Whisper?” I ask.
He nods toward Matt’s MacBook. “I love guru! Internet dating… I help you choose your perfect matches. Yes?”
“Not sure I wanna go down that path again, Whisper. Didn’t work out so well for me last time.” Matt raises his brows and tilts his head.
“Oh, yes, but this time, I hand-pick love match for you with my detailed skill set and working love juju.”
Nate scoffs out a laugh. “Working love juju?”
Even I try to hold back my laugh. I love Whisper, but some of the crap he dribbles is completely absurd.
“You laugh now, but everything I do ends up bringing the right people together. You see. My love juju work. Mark my word.”
Matt shrugs and turns the MacBook around. “Go on then, pick me my next ten out of ten. And then we can pick someone for Alex,” Matt says.
I scowl and roll my eyes as he grins maniacally at me while Whisper sets off tapping away on the MacBook, and Nate chuckles to himself.
Well, at least Nate is getting some amusement out of this.
“For importance of flow, we must do Alex first,” Whisper specifies but doesn’t elaborate, and I groan. Apparently, Matt is enjoying this because he chuckles.
With reluctance, I move forward, enter my account details, and let Whisper find me the perfect match. I stand back as he scrolls through the profiles, searching for God only knows what. Looking over at Nate, he’s completely disconnected and staring off into the distance.
Sliding up next to Matt, I cuddle into his side. Matt’s fingers gently stroke up and down my arm, and his tender touch soothes my nerves.
“Got it!” Whisper calls out and opens a profile of a guy named Ronan. He’s decent-looking and has red hair, but he’s not got the bad-boy image I’m used to.
“Ronan… you see me falling in love with him?” I ask Whisper, furrowing my brows in confusion, especially when I read his approval rating is only two and a half stars.
Whisper simply smiles, but when Matt looks at his photo, he winces.
“I believe he will lead you to true love, Alexandria.”
Pursing my lips, I let out a small huff. “He’s Irish,” I state for no real reason other than I don’t have anything else to say.
“Your own moody Irish muse… bet he plays acoustic covers and cries about them in the rain, while drowning in Guinness,” Matt teases, and I roll my eyes while giving him a light punch to his arm.
“Okay, first of all, rude. Second, if he pulls out a guitar and starts whisper-singing at me… I’m out.
” I mock. He chuckles with a shrug while the look on Nate’s face indicates this whole thing obviously amuses him.
“Fine, but if I’m getting a dud, Matt’s going down with me.
I’m picking his next match—no take-backs. ” I say.
Whisper pulls the MacBook away from me. “No. Alex, this very important. I must choose wisely. Plus, Matt get two to pick from. His path have two women. It very clear… very, very, clear to me.”
All our eyes open wide as Nate lets out a loud laugh, and Matt’s jaw drops open. I can’t help but scoff. “Wow. I get one guy and he gets a love triangle? Rude. Classic Matt behavior, and if I’m honest, also… kinda slutty.” I point at Matt, grinning. “You’re a total slut, Matt.”
Matt looks at me in silent appreciation that Nate’s actually laughing, which is something we haven’t seen in him for far too long.
“Hey, don’t blame me, I haven’t even done anything, yet. It’s Whisper’s fault. He’s the love juju master. If he wants me to have two women, I can’t deny him that, now can I?”
I glare at Matt as he smiles widely, and Whisper takes the MacBook from me, putting in Matt’s details.
“Well, Whisper, I think I should be allowed to choose one of the women,” I demand, and Whisper furrows his brows, shaking his head.
“No, this is not true path.”
Matt smirks and rolls his eyes. “Okay, okay, I’ll have two women. But I’m fine with letting Alex choose one of them.”
Whisper slumps his shoulders. “Sexy boy, I can or cannot show you way which the tide will change. You will only see it when water swallows you whole,” Whisper states.
I know somehow that’s a warning in his weird Whisper way, but he never comes out and says what the actual problem is or when there is one.
And knowing Matt, he won’t take the warning when it’s there.
Hell, to be honest, I’m still not sure what the warning is, but I know Whisper enough to know there is one.
“So… you want to go to the beach and watch the tide?” Matt asks, causing Nate to laugh as I chuckle and shake my head.
“No, fuck face, just get on with it,” I drone, and Matt nods with a shrug as Whisper brings up a profile of a woman with red hair.
Her name is Madeline, which screams innocence and virtue like he’s after.
Her profile pic is just her face, with her lips plump and red, her cheeks full and pert, and her eyes big and green, with full lashes that go on for days.
She’s basically Jessica Rabbit in real life, and even I have a lady boner for her.
Matt takes a deep breath and raises an eyebrow as Whisper looks down at her profile and nods as he continues to read it over.
“Hmm… much to know about her. Path unclear on this one. Something… fuzzy. She have good juju, but there a barrier. Something that might be an issue. The qi in the room blocking me from seeing what barrier is, but everything else lining up for her, Matt. She could be good candidate.”
Matt’s smile lights across his face, and I curl my lip up slightly, staring at her.
Suddenly, I feel something weird happening in the pit of my stomach—nerves, tension—I’m not sure.
But looking at her and thinking of her coming into Matt’s life, my life by default and possibly interrupting my time with Matt doesn’t sit well with me.
“You get all that from her profile picture, Whisper?” I ask.
“I get it from flow coming from her. I guru, remember? I read more than picture, I read lines on face, posture, stance, confidence, aura, energy… everything from her. Even down to grammar and way she present herself on paper. You tell a lot from way a person write about themselves, Alex,” he tells me, I furrow my brows and nod slightly, wondering if I can pick a good person for Matt.
I want him to have a really nice girl. The girl Whisper has chosen looks too done up for me.
Sure, she’s stunning, but to me, and from what Matt said, he wants someone a little more down to earth. So I’ll find him that girl.
My stomach twists again, and I shake my head slightly, trying to push away the unsettled feeling growing in my stomach as I grab the computer and turn it to face me. “Okay, my turn.”
Matt chuckles, resting his arm on my shoulder and looking over me as I scroll through the sea of women. I notice my profile, and Matt chuckles and points to me. I smile as he runs his finger over my face on the screen. I scroll past it, shaking my head with a slight smirk.
“Okay, so we need your perfect ten, right?” I ask, and Matt nods.
“Yes. Let’s find her together,” Matt suggests.
I glance up to see Nate and Whisper looking at us, both are resting their fingers on their chins, assessing us. I furrow my brows and shake off their judgmental stares, going back to the screen to search for Matt’s perfect partner.
Then I see her.
Short, wavy brown hair with big doe eyes.
She caught my attention because whenever Matt is over, we always watch Parks and Recreation, and he always comments that he has a crush on April.
Well, this woman is the spitting image of her.
But obviously, she has a less ‘the-world’s-already-ended-and-I’m-just-here-for-the-aesthetic-vibe-but-secretly-I’m-a-human-golden-retriever-in-denial’ look.
Matt leans in over my shoulder as I pull open her profile, and he chuckles into my ear. “Damn, Alex,” he says, and I giggle, reading over her profile. She’s studying to be a writer and spends most of her time case-studying.
I raise my brow, knowing this means she’ll probably work for herself and send her work off to publishers or journalist columns and such.
Therefore, she’d be free to travel with the band, which is one of Matt’s many complicated rules.
She’s never been married, has no kids, and seems to have a good family, according to what’s written.
To me, she appears to be a good match and is hitting a number of his quite ridiculous criteria.
“Charlotte looks like a good match,” I say, turning toward Whisper.
Whisper moves to us and looks at her over my shoulder, then instantly screws up his face. “Urgh, no. Try again,” Whisper demands, and Matt pouts, shaking his head.
“Oh, but I think Charlotte looks great. From what I read, she fits my criteria. Plus, she looks like April, my idol.”
“Beauty like a serpent. It can strike you and be venomous, lethal to its prey.”
Matt raises his brow. “Uhh… what does that even mean?”
“It mean… choose wisely.”