Page 46 of Swiped

Nat leaned against a wall at the edges of the BuzzFill BuzzForce opening party. Thom swept toward her through the thick crowd with two glasses of champagne. She took one, staring into the bubbles, as he took a long, satisfied sip.

“So, you’re not mad that I kissed Rami?” she said, wishing she had about three more glasses of champagne on hand.

“Not at all. People can be rather uptight and possessive in relationships, if you ask me.” Thom shook his head and then patted his hair back into place. “I don’t begrudge anyone a little fun.” He winked at her. “Besides, the best man won.”

Nat managed a weak laugh as Thom wrapped an arm around her. Given his history with Rami’s sister, his words weren’t exactly a comfort.

“Besides, controversy is the currency of the internet,” he said. “You were like one of those catty housewives or something, and drama means followers for both of us. I can’t wait to see what Lauren in social media has to say to me tomorrow,” he said, surveying the party.

“So, you think I was mean?” Nat implored.

“Oh, my dear, vicious! You humiliated that poor girl.” He planted a kiss on the top of her head.

Nat’s stomach twisted. “Why did I do that?”

“That guy was going after your baby. You went all Mama Bear and it was fucking sexy.” Thom roared very loudly. A few heads turned.

Nat’s stomach lurched again. “But seriously,” she said, still searching for an answer. “I don’t even know her, and I’m not a mean girl . . . right?”

Thom shrugged and turned back to eyeing the crowd, as the twins maneuvered closer through the throngs of Buzzers. Their Team Nat shirts had been abandoned. They both looked like deflated balloons.

“Well, that’s over with,” said Justin, giving her a half-hearted fist bump.

Jo managed a tight nod. “Our high numbers are holding and people love you on socials . . .”

Justin rolled his eyes. “They kinda love Thom more though. #HotThom is a thing.”

Thom frowned, as if in thought, but Nat could see his eyes light up.

Jo gave a forced grin. “So, hooray! Success!” She waved her fists in a tiny cheer.

Justin cleared his throat. “So, uh, did you see where Rami went off to, or have you talked to him, or anything?”

Even though she felt like she was standing in the middle of a dumpster fire, Nat had to smile at Justin’s attempt to be nonchalant now that she knew the twins had been rooting for Rami all along.

She wished Thom wasn’t there so she could tell them that she needed to find him.

Instead, she just shook her head and said, “Nope.”

Thom grinned and raised his glass. “To the woman of the hour!”

Justin and Jo gave thin smiles and raised their glasses.

Nat pulled out her phone. “One second . . .” she muttered. “I need to check something.”

As Thom clinked glasses with the twins, Nat wedged the champagne glass against her body and opened BeTwo — not the commercial version, but the one with developer settings that she could still poke around in.

She had just consciously wished that Thom, her ninety-nine percent match, wasn’t around so she could go chase down a different guy — the guy she really wanted.

She had to run those numbers.

She did a quick search of the cached user data. And in a few seconds, there it was — Rami’s old profile. Her chest twinged as the words, My heart is a little tender jumped out at her. She switched to God mode, clicked a few dev toggles, and ran a match between his profile and her profile.

The number flashed on her screen.

Thirteen percent.

Nat closed her eyes and smiled. They would have never been matched by her algorithm, not in a million swipes. And that was everything she needed to know.

“I’ve gotta go do something . . .” she said, slipping her glass of champagne into Thom’s hand. She shot Jo a reassuring glance and hurried off into the depths of the party.

* * *

Rami scanned the party crowd for Allison. She’d run out of the auditorium and onto the expo floor, and now she could be anywhere among the branded tees and stuffed backpacks of the opening party revelers.

He spotted her downing a cocktail at the bar.

He rushed over. “I’m so, so sorry. I should’ve told you about the kiss — kissing thing with Nat.”

Allison turned to him, and his heart sank to see that this time tears were indeed pooling in her eyes. “But you didn’t! You lied to me, even more than I already knew about.”

He noticed several crumpled up, tear-stained napkins in front of her. His doing. “Yes, I did.”

“It was really cruel of you to drag me through all of this when you liked Nat so much,” she said, her green eyes flashing. “Yes, I suspected it, but you seemed so clueless and you kept insisting that you hated her. And then you kissed her! While you started something with me.”

“I know,” Rami mumbled.

“Why did you do that?”

Rami ran a hand through his sweaty hair. “I don’t know. I can’t stop thinking about her but she’s also the embodiment of pretty much everything I hate, and you were, like, sweetness in human form.”

Allison scoffed. “First of all, I’m not that sweet, and neither are you, Rami.”

He winced. Had he really thought that simply getting a good person to date him would make him a good person? And still only ended up acting like a total shit, instead? Seemed like it.

“And as for Nat, you very obviously don’t hate her, Rami.

The opposite of love isn’t hate — it’s indifference, and a whole drama on the internet is not what that looks like.

” Allison stood up straighter and squared her shoulders.

“I don’t know what you were trying to prove with this competition, but if it was that you’re a better person because you don’t lie on the apps .

. .” Her voice wavered a bit, and Rami braced himself for impact.

“You kinda just ended up lying to my face instead.”

Rami’s stomach dropped with the truth of her statement. He felt like the biggest fraud in San Francisco, which was a high bar, especially at a tech conference. He forced himself to meet her blazing eyes. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m sorry, Allison. You didn’t deserve that.”

Allison sighed and tossed her copper hair. “No, I sure didn’t.” She knocked back the rest of her drink. “Can I say one more thing?”

“Honestly, the fact that you’re talking to me at all instead of slapping me across the face is an unbelievable kindness.” Rami leaned next to her. “Please, say anything you want.”

“I don’t want to be friends now, Rami.”

“I know.” He gathered up her damp tissues. “Wait here. Let me call you a car, OK?”

“Thanks. I really just want to go home.” She wiped some mascara from under her eyes, put on a brave, tired smile, and sighed. “So, get me the heck out of here so I can never see you again, please.”

Rami smiled back at her candor and ordered her a car — the premium ride, obviously. “Done.”

Allison sighed and turned away from him, surveying the people milling around the party. “I guess this will be a good story to tell my grandkids one day,” she mused into the air. She then simply walked away into the crowd. And in that moment, Rami was deeply grateful for her indifference.

* * *

Nat wedged her way through the boozed-up Buzzers looking for Rami. Several people greeted her with shouts and high-fives. She waved them away, even earning one muttered, “Bitch” as she pushed past a fan.

Finally, she spotted him leaving the bar.

“Rami! Rami wait!” She ran up to him.

For some reason, he seemed happy to see her. He took her hands and his face softened, but he said, “Listen, I have to tell you something but I also really have to get out of this awful party—”

“Wait, I need to tell you something too and you can’t leave until I do.”

His face wrinkled with confusion, but he nodded at her to go on. “You first, then.”

She took a deep breath. “I was wrong, OK? My whole algorithm is wrong because, surprise, I don’t want to be with Thom.”

He nodded again. It was infuriating, and she loved it.

“I don’t want to be with anyone else either. I want to be with you.”

Rami’s dark eyes widened. “You do?”

She showed him their thirteen percent match on her phone. “The data is very compelling.”

Relief spread into his face. She saw the tension in his shoulders drop, and he gave her hands a gentle squeeze.

She stepped closer to him.

“I want to be with you, too,” he said. “I can’t stop thinking about you and our—”

Nat kissed him to finish the sentence. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.

A camera flash went off.

She looked up from Rami’s face to see Thom holding out his phone and smirking.

“Gotcha,” he said.

Nat dropped Rami’s hands and spun toward Thom. “What are you doing?”

Thom looked up from tapping on his phone with a casual glance. “Oh, just tweeting some viral content.”

“Thom, I’m sorry.” She summoned her most sympathetic tone. “But please don’t post that pic.”

“It’s done,” he said, slipping his phone back into his suit jacket. “And so are we.” He smoothed his blond waves and lifted his chin, his gaze grazing the top of her head.

An audible wave of shock and amusement rippled through the crowd in “oooh’s” and laughter at what, Nat could only assume, was Thom’s post of her kiss with Rami. Several of the people around them whirled to look at the trio and immediately raised their phones, camera lenses out.

Rami covered his face with his hands and moaned in genuine frustration. “No, please, I can’t be viral content anymore—”

Thom held up an index finger and cut him off. “Rami, don’t. I’ve heard enough of your miserable whining for three lifetimes.”

Rami’s jaw clenched and his entire face hardened into an eerie stillness. His eyes welled with tears and fixed on the ground. “I can’t do this.”

Thom flashed a wolfish grin at the camera phones. “Are you crying, mate?”

Rami shook his head as he raised his gaze to Nat. His eyes were swimming with sorrow and panic as he took a step back. “I’m sorry. This is too much.”

Nat reached for him. “Wait!”