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“Here. Use this one.” Leo pointed out a photo that I took with my brother’s dog last Christmas in Indiana. I looked relaxed and happy with the boxer puppy on my lap. “Or one of those pics from the gym. You look hot in those.”
“Thanks, man.” I took Leo’s advice and used those two pics, but that was all. I wasn’t investing too much more time or energy in this. I’d look and see what matches the AI made for me and let Samantha know. Then Mangle was getting trashed.
Samantha stopped by a few minutes later with another beer for each of us. “My way of saying thanks. So, first impressions?”
I shrugged. “There was only one question that surprised me, and that’s when it asked what I wished my potential boyfriend knew about me, then said that the answer was part of the algorithm and not divulged to the potential matches.” Samantha nodded and ran off to write that down on her notepad.
“That question surprised me, too. What did you put?” Leo asked, finishing his last chicken wing.
“Honestly? I typed that I wanted someone who loves me for me.” My fingers fiddled with my napkin as I admitted that to Leo, feeling more vulnerable than usual. Not unexpected, given the day I’d had. “Not for what kind of boyfriend I might turn into, given enough time and prodding.”
Leo softened as he considered my words. “Fair enough. You’re enough just as you are, Ben. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
I flushed at that. “Thanks. Sometimes I guess we all need to hear that. And what about you? What are you putting down?” I asked, curious.
Leo closed the app and put his phone down. “Believe it or not, I’m ready to settle down, so that’s what I wrote. We’ll see how many Austin gays out there are looking for that.”
I raised an eyebrow, taken aback by the unexpected revelation. “Really?”
“Yep.”
I hesitated, then asked, “Is that why you and Leigh—”
“Nope.”
But Leo didn’t add more to that, so I let it drop. “Then let’s see how we Mangle. Let me know when you get your results. I’m curious what kind of matches you get.”
“You got it, Benny.” We clinked beer bottles, then started talking about the upcoming college football season and if we were gonna make it to any of the Longhorn’s home games this year.
According to Leo, it’s never too early to start making post-season bowl predictions.
Later, as I headed home, I realized that I hadn’t thought about Marco much during our time at Hoppin’ Joe’s Pub. The evening spent with Leo had been a balm to my wounded heart, proving once again the healing power of friendship, laughter, and a good IPA.
four
Leo
“There’s no way you’re this hungry,” I said with a sigh as I glanced down at Chata, my roommate Maya’s cat, meowing at me incessantly. Shaking my head in amusement at the Siamese feline, I opened the pantry and grabbed the bag of cat food, careful not to spill any in the process and with a gentle scooping motion, I transferred a heap of cat food onto a small plate and placed it on the floor.
Chata purred and rubbed against my leg, expressing her catitude—cat gratitude, a phrase I coined—before diving into her food.
With the cat task out of the way, my attention turned to making my own breakfast. I flicked on the coffeemaker, relishing in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee that soon filled the room. As I waited for it to finish, I reached over on the counter and opened a container filled with my favorite bagels. With my free hand, I scrolled through my emails.
Junk, junk, junk. Delete, delete, delete.
But one particular email caught my eye, causing me to pause mid-scroll. The subject line read: “Mangle: 99.9% match!”
Damn, that’s quite the guarantee, Mangle.
I opened the email, scrolled down and then froze as my eyes landed on the face staring back at me.
No way. This had to be some kind of glitch.
Ben’s face smiled up at me from the screen. That stupid picture with him and the dog in the snow. “99.9% match!”
There it was, plain as day: the Mangle dating app had spoken.
They also included two other men in the email, both relatively attractive, but they paled in comparison to the shock of seeing Ben’s face nestled between them. A 99.9% match?
