Swipe Left for Love
wasn’t? What if she was nothing like her online self?Out of the corner of his eye, he spied Macie stalking toward him. It was now or never. He pressed the screen behind the question mark and deleted the last two sentences. He meant what he said. He needed to start trying new things like the warm gym sock microbrew he had been sipping for half an hour. Maybe step one was getting along with Macie. A sort of redemption.
Before Macie sat down, he pressed send.
“So, how’re we going to do this bachelor/bachelorette party?” he said the minute her butt met the chair.
Macie glared at him over her own monitor. “Let me get through this week and planning the bridal shower. Then we’ll talk. I’ll show you everything I’ve already gotten done.”
“Thought we were supposed to do it together?”
“In theory, but I’d already started working on it.” Macie held her fingers over her keyboard, her gaze intent on the screen. He marveled at her new look. Macie had always colored her hair in crazy ways, whether it was completely red or streaked with purple. But, since the beginning of the semester, she’d gone back to her natural cinnamon brown. And she had started dressing less like a skater girl and more like an adult. He wasn’t sure it suited her. “Just let me figure out a few things, Zac. I’ll get back to you, okay?”
Zac flashed his best smile. In return all she did was glare.
This was going to be harder than he thought.
RELIEF FLOODED MACIE’S bones when Zac excused himself and left. She’d made a cardinal mistake. She’d left her laptop unguarded when she rushed to the restroom. He didn’t get in. Well, she didn’t think he got passed her PIN number, but his sudden pleasantness twisted inside her. There hadn’t been a day in the last four years that Zac hadn’t tortured her in some way, shape, or form. And if he ever called her Chomper again, it would be his last word on earth.
The memory was as raw as fresh rug burn. Macie had let her new roomie dress her in a too tight skirt and a shirt that barely buttoned around her breasts for the freshman mixer. She hated it. Macie was more of a jeans, t-shirt, flip-flops kind of girl. Not that she was opposed to skirts or tight shirts, but Lauren was more money than style. Macie wanted to get along with Lauren so she caved. They weren’t at the party for five minutes when Macie spotted the hottest guy she’d ever seen. He was tall, blond, and had a California surfer appeal about him.
She’d nudged Lauren. “Wing me?”
“Huh?” Lauren had tilted her head. Her eyebrows rolled together, meeting in the middle.
Macie had fought the high school eye roll. She was in college now. College girls didn’t eye roll. “Be my wing girl?” Macie had nodded toward the blond. “You know? Help me pick him up.”
“Oh,” Lauren had said as it dawned on her. “Okay. Got it.”
Macie led the way, snaking through the crowd and never taking her eyes off her target. He stood with someone, smiling and talking. Clearly an old friend, in Macie’s opinion. Macie made snap judgments based on his body language. He was smart, confident, and had an easy smile. Getting to know him wouldn’t be too difficult. That was all she was after anyway. Well, for the moment. If it led to something later, even an hour later, she was fine with that, too.
Lauren had tripped, falling into Macie who in turn fell into the hot guy. Her face burned as he grabbed her arms, but it was too late. She’d lost any sense of cool she had tried to emit.
“Ow,” he said, pushing her off him. He grabbed his lower arm and rubbed. “Did you just bite me?”
Macie’s hand shot to her mouth. Her teeth throbbed from the impact. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t —”
Lauren laughed along with everyone else in the vicinity, but Macie just wanted to sink through the floor. “I’m Lauren,” she said to the blond.
“Zac,” he said. He pointed to his friend. “This is Ford.” Zac’s steel blue gaze met Macie’s. “And you must be Chomper.”
Even now, Macie’s face burned at the memory. The funny thing was it was Lauren’s fault and she never even realized it. She was too busy fawning over Ford to remember what had happened. If Lauren hadn’t tripped, and hadn’t pushed Macie into Zac, things might’ve been different. But not much. Zac was a condescending asshole. He cared only about himself. And he reminded her about it every day since by calling her that horrid nickname. It took months before she’d finally gotten other people to stop, but Zac flat out refused.
She shook thoughts of him out of her head and focused on the task at hand. An hour later, the bridal shower invitations were done. Macie patted her own back. The personalized graphics would’ve cost a ton, and Lauren wanted something even her mother’s money couldn’t buy. Macie wasn’t about to take a penny from Sylvia. Besides, it wasn’t hard, just time consuming. Macie was the best graphic designer in school. She just hoped Rivot realized that and offered her a job.
Two weeks until graduation. It felt like she’d waited forever to get to this point in her life. Macie had never backed down from a challenge, but she’d always had to live by other people’s rules. Even in college, she had rules. Stupid dorm curfews as a freshman. Stupid participation points by some profs. Stupid floor rules her sophomore and junior years. Once she was out on her own, those wouldn’t apply to her anymore. Oh sure, she’d have rules at her job, but that was different. She wouldn’t have anyone breathing down her neck at her apartment or on the floor of her building. She wouldn’t have demands on her time outside of work.
Work.
If she had a job. Panic tightened her chest until she had