Page 53 of The Dance

I looked up from my phone to see Eddie with his four eyes staring at me from my bedroom doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “Nothing, dweeb.”

“All right. I was going to offer to help—”

“Wait,” I exhaled. “Idoneed help.”

He took a step into my room. “If I help you, then you have to do something for me.”

My brow furrowed. “What’s that?”

“Get Elise to go to prom with me.”

I snorted a laugh. “Yeah, right. She would never.”

“Then figure it out yourself.” He lifted a shoulder and turned.

“I’ll just Google it anyway,” I sneered.

“I fucking hate you!”

Eddie and I looked at each other as we heard my mother scream from down the hall.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like you much either,” Eddie’s dad, Ian, spat back.

Eddie stepped back into my room and shut the door. Our parents had been fighting a lot. We didn’t know why—at least I didn’t.

“I changed my mind,” Eddie said. “I’ll help you.”

I gave him a small smile. “Thank you.”

He explained how to do the equation, but I wasn’t following.

“This is all confusing. I don’t need to know this shit,” I groaned.

“It’s not that confusing once you understand the order of the steps you need to take to figure out the problem,” Eddie explained.

“I want you to move out!” Mom stated as footsteps stomped outside my bedroom door.

“Gladly,” Ian replied.

I opened my desk drawer and pulled out a bag of lemon drops. I opened it for Eddie to take one. “Guess you’re moving.”

17

Eddie

Present day

I watchedthe marketing team’s PowerPoint presentation for Sweetheart’s second quarter. I was a co-CEO and oversaw the financial side of things, and my approval was needed before we launched the ad campaign in the upcoming year. Brody, the other co-CEO, oversaw the tech side of things. He made sure our app and website ran smoothly, and I made sure we were making money—among other things.

I’d always had a knack for numbers, and when I went to MIT for computer science, economics, and data science, I met Brody. We became fast friends, and in our senior year, we came up with an idea for a dating app. Once we launched it four years ago, the plan changed from an ordinary hook-up app to one that required the subscribers to be elite. They had to pass multiple background checks and be good for the money, so to speak.

It had made us rich too.

We both had used the app (before Brody got married), but for me, I only used it when I needed a date for a special event. I didn’t have any women on speed dial I could call to be on my arm. I, of course, had ladies I’d dated over my twenty-five years, but I’d never been tied down. I was too busy with Sweethearts to give my full attention to a woman for more than one night. That didn’t mean there weren’t ladies who wanted to be with me for more than one night, especially after they found out I had money, but that was why I loved what Brody and I created.

Sugar babies didn’t get attached.

The presentation ended, and the team looked at Brody. “Looks good to me,” he stated.