Page 58 of Playing the Backbeat

Dylan: You don’t look focused. You look like you’re texting me back.

Dylan: And now you’re alone. What happened? Did you scare her already?

Dee: Don’t be a shithead. My date is going to the bathroom. Yours is right in front of you. Pay attention.

Dylan: She’s hung up on her ex. He’s called her three times since we sat down. She clearly wants to answer.

Fuck. I knew I was overconfident.

Dee: Maybe she just feels bad for him.

Dylan: She’s pulling up screenshots of their past conversations to get my input.

Dee: Oh. That’s a bad sign.

Dylan: You think?

Dee: Well, give me the scoop. Do you think she should give this guy another shot?

Dylan: Whose side are you on?

Dee: That depends on what you saw in the screenshots.

Dylan: Very helpful.

Dee: Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Her relationship status said single, not emotionally unavailable as fuck.

Dylan: That would have been helpful. Is your date going better than mine?

Dee: That seems like a low bar…

Dylan: He just sent her a picture of her Pinterest board. Says he wants to give her the engagement ring of her dreams, so he’s getting inspiration.

Dee: Okay, the bar’s in hell.

Dylan: The bar or me?

Dee: Hey, it could be worse.

Dylan: How, exactly?

Dee: The food is really good here.

Dylan: I guess I’ll be drowning my sorrows in potato wedges tonight.

Dee: That’s the spirit. Get cozy. Play your cards right, and maybe you can score an invite to their wedding. Give me another chance to find you a date.

Dylan: Nope. You’re not getting into my dating apps again. Not after this. I got you a date to the wedding, and you got me in the middle of someone else’s proposal.

Dee: You did not get me a date to the wedding.

Dylan: What are you talking about? You haven’t stopped smiling all night.

I look up to find him staring at me. Has he been watching me all night? Sure, I’ve had fun, but in all honesty, there’s no real spark with Stephanie. She’s nice, beautiful, but this feels like friendship to me.

Dee: I’m smiling because she’s nice. I didn’t even want a date to this wedding. This was your idea, remember?

Dylan: Yeah, and I regret it.