Page 90 of The Billionaire Mismatch

Chapter 31

Luca

“Reputation graphs,”I say after barging into Matt’s office, causing him to spill his coffee on his slacks. I grin. Payback is a bitch.

“What?” he snaps, looking at his crotch and then up at me.

“Reputation graphs,” I repeat. “What better way to vet people on a dating app than a consumer rating?”

“You mean like Yelp?” he asks, clearly lost.

“Exactly. People earn credibility from interactions. And all of this would be visible before swiping right. The metrics could include people who show up. People who have ghosted. People who respond to messages once they’ve matched. And the higher your ratings are, the more people you have access to swipe right on.”

“Damn, that is good,” Matt admits, giving up on trying to clean up his slacks. Instead, he goes over to the closet to grab another pair. “No one else has anything like that.”

“Nope,” I smirk, taking a victorious sip of my own coffee.

“Do you think we can do it?”

“I think our team will do anything I can come up with,” I say. “It’s no harder to implement than the star rating for Uber drivers. Except instead of getting fast food on a Saturday night, you get a soulmate.”

“Soulmate,” he echoes and I regret using the word. “Well listen to you?”

“What?” I ask, playing dumb. “I believe in soulmates.”

“Because you met yours?” Matt asks, and normally I’d have a quick retaliation. But this time, it takes me longer than two seconds to respond, giving Matt the opportunity to grill me.

“Damn, Luca. My man. My brother. What has this girl done to you?” he asks.

“Nothing. Who said this was about Olivia?” I ask.

Matt just stares at me. “You’re falling in love with her,” he says.

“So what if I am?” I ask after a long moment.

Matt scoffs. “Are you hearing yourself? Luca. I know she’s hot. And the dates have been fun. But don’t forget the reason you’re going out on these dates in the first place,” he says.

“I went out with her because she was hot. She didn’t seem like other girls, so I swiped right,” I say.

“But you kept going out with her for another reason,” he says.

“Because she’s witty. And the banter is good. There’s nothing wrong with consistency,” he says.

“No, there’s not. Unless that consistency is with someone who is fucking with you,” he says and this time I jump in.

“I don’t think she’s fucking with me,” I snap.

“No? Her best friend went out with you,” he says.

“It was dinner. Not a date. To talk about work. She took it the wrong way and–”

“And that’s not the way Sadie remembers it,” he cuts me off.

“How do you know that?” I ask.

“Because I remember Sadie,” he chuckles. “She was dumb and delusional and head over heels for you.”

“And I let her go for not being able to keep it professional,” I state. “You know that.”