Page 66 of Candy Hearts, Vol. 2

CHAPTER 2

JAKE RAINES

“I go for months never meeting a guy I want to date, and I meet Mr. Hot as Hell who is perfect for me before I set foot inside the door,” I grumbled to myself while walking over to the emoji whatever-it-was-called area.

“Jake, how’ve you been?” Arlo, my ex, asked from where he stood in line for the same fucking section.

“Great, Arlo, how are you?” Not that I actually cared. We’d dated last year for less than a month and as soon as I found out he was more into dating—and fucking—everyone, I didn’t call him back. I used to sleep around too, but now, I was tired of that. I really wanted to meet someone I could plan a future with.

“I haven’t seen you around in a while,” he said, and narrowed his eyes at me like he was hoping for more information.

“Yeah, I’ve been working a lot at the restaurant, and I haven’t really been going out.” It was true, but mostly I didn’t want to be part of his routine.

“Okay, well maybe I’ll see you around,” he said, and this time he didn’t hold back from ogling me. I forced myself not to roll my eyes before focusing on the front of the line where a cute guy in a silver sequined jacket was explaining this section.

“Hi, everyone, I’m Ian. This is Emoji Icebreaker.” He was so excited and happy I couldn’t help but smile back while he spoke. “You’ll all choose an emoji then you’ll break up in groups and chat for seven minutes. I know it’s not a lot of time but that’s the point. You can’t waste time being shy so get ready to choose your emoji.” There was a whiteboard behind him with seven different emojis on it, and everyone stepped forward and chose one before splitting into smaller groups.

I had to admit it was fun. There were lots of different men here, and all of them were willing to go along with the game, so as we broke into smaller groups it was very rousing interactions because we had no time to waste. Some of them asked what we liked about the emoji we’d chosen, others asked what job we did, and still others asked what we wanted in a partner. We were about halfway through it when there was a tap on my shoulder.

“Excuse me, you’re in the wrong group,” Ian said and again that smile made me smile back.

“I thought this was group seventy to one hundred?” I asked and looked again at my number.

“It is, but your number is sixteen. See the tiny little line under it?” he said and grumbled something under his breath about the stupid font. “You should be at speed dating.” He pointed to the same area Spencer had gone. I nodded and without looking back made my way over there while flipping my number right-side-up.

“Hi, I’m supposed to be here,” I told the person who was in charge. They nodded after glancing at my number and took a quick look at their phone which was counting down a timer.

“They’re about to switch, go ahead and slip in,” she said and walked me over to where the tables were. “Time’s up, everyone, please move to the next table.”

I stepped in and immediately made my way to a table. Spencer was there looking nervous but friendly. He was so distracted he didn’t notice who I was at first. “Hi, I’m Jake,” I said. He finally turned and grinned when his eyes met mine.

“Hi, Jake, I’m Spencer. Tell me about yourself.” He rested his chin on his hand as he braced his elbow on the table. His eyes were completely focused on me, and I thought right then I wanted someone to look at me like that for the rest of my life.

“Well, I live and work in Sacramento. I’m thirty-five years old but I know I don’t look a day over twenty,” I said and batted my lashes, making him laugh.

“Why are you here? I thought you were at the Emoji Icebreaker; did you sneak out?” he whispered and leaned in closer.

“My number was upside-down. I’m actually number sixteen,” I said, and we both laughed while he reached for my number badge.

“Oh, I never noticed the little line,” he said and glanced at his own. “But I have to admit I’m happy it was there. I was hoping we’d get to spend more time together.”

“Me too. Now it’s your turn, tell me about yourself,” I said and took the same position he had with my chin resting on my hand.

“Well, I’ve lived in Sacramento since I was seven years old. I’m thirty-three, single, and I have a dog named Toby,” Spencer said with an amused twinkle in his eye. “What do you do in Sacramento?”

“I work at?—”

“Okay, everyone, time to move to the next table,” the person in charge said. Everyone got out of their chairs and lingered for a moment. I stood, never taking my eyes off Spencer.

“Until we meet again,” he said, making me smile.

“Hopefully soon.” I still couldn’t look away even as another man stepped closer to the table, unsure if he was interrupting. “It’s okay,” I said and winked at Spencer before taking a seat at the next table.

“You two looked like you were getting along really well,” the guy at the table said.

“Yeah, I guess we were.” I looked over at Spencer in time to catch him glancing at me.

“Don’t let that one get away. If you’re really interested in him then don’t throw away your chance to get to know him better,” he said, making me turn to look at him. He was a little older than me, obviously fit, and very put together. His tuxedo had a deep black floral pattern that suited him with his neatly cut greying hair.

“It sounds like you speak from experience,” I said.

“These events are fun and entertaining, but I know there’s no one here that I’ll match with.”

“Are you sure? You never know.” He didn’t seem sad about it, more like resigned.

“I let the love of my life slip away years ago, and I’ve never met another that would ever take his place. But it is fun looking.” He glanced around the room and my eyes followed where he looked. There was such a variety of men here, and those I’d had the chance to visit with were friendly and inviting.

“My ex is here,” I blurted out, not really meaning to but making him laugh.

“See? You get what I mean only for other reasons.” He eyes lit up before he looked past me at Spencer.

“Don’t let that one get away,” he whispered.