“Okay. Mine too,” I said.
“Do we have to kiss?” she asked.
“I did kiss all my dates at least once,” I said.
“Me too,” she said. “And they always kiss me first.”
“Okay. So we have to kiss once, and I have to initiate it. Open-mouthed or -closed? Either has been enough for me.”
“Open. So you kissed Brad’s girlfriend? Is that weird now?”
“Not really. It was a closed-mouthed kiss and I don’t think either of us particularly enjoyed it. It was sort of like kissing my sister?”
“Ha.”
“So I’m assuming since you only kissed a few of them once, sex isn’t a prerequisite?” I asked, as professionally as possible.
“If it was, I would not agree to it for the sake of this experiment. Just so you know.”
“Just being thorough. It’s not a prerequisite for me either. And same. Gross.” I made a shiver noise. “I’m a sex-on-the-fifth-date kind of guy,” I said. “So you’ve lucked out.”
She was laughing.
“All right,” I said. “So we have to have four dates over the course of a month, one a week, a minimum of three hours each, we can do any activity, we have to text or talk daily, and I have to kiss you at least once.”
“Yes. I think that’s everything.”
“So four dates, one kiss, and a breakup.”
“Four dates, one kiss, and a breakup,” she agreed.
“I’ll get this typed up. Let me know if you think of anything else.”
“Okay.”
This felt like the moment the call could have ended, but instead she said, “So what did you do today?”
I grinned. She didn’t want to hang up.
I leaned back in my chair. “Well, I did the same exact thing I did when I woke up yesterday—drank my coffee while staring morosely at my personal billboard. Walked Brad. Worked for a few hours, then I took my little brother for driving lessons—Oh, I forgot. I also made you something.”
“You did? What?”
I leaned over my keyboard and hit send on the draft I had waiting.
“I’m going to hang up so you can look at it. Check your phone.”
CHAPTER 5 EMMA
Justin sent me a picture of a graphic. The second I opened it I almost choked on my laugh.
So Justin Dahl has invited you to break a curse with him. Congratulations!
We know that you have many options when it comes to curse breaking and choosing the right partner can be difficult, which is why we’ve gone the extra step and provided you with some reviews.
» “Justin was a wonderful gentleman. And I met my husband Mike after we broke up! 10/10 would break up with him again. —Sabrina B.”
» “Justin smells very nice and even my cat liked him, and my cat doesn’t like anyone. Highly recommend. —Karina S.”
» “Justin made all my wildest dreams come true, which was to get married to someone who wasn’t him at Disneyland! If I could give six stars I would. —Kimberly R.”
» “Justin saved my dog and my grandma from a burning building. He’s my hero. —A Real Person.”
And then finally:
» “I’m only writing this because I’m assuming if he gets a girlfriend she’ll tell him how stupid he is for naming his dog Brad and she’ll convince him to change it. Justin was very polite and has excellent personal hygiene. You should date him. —Faith.”
I shook my head at the screen, laughing.
I texted him.
Me: Nerd
He replied with laughing emojis.
I had to admit, he’d piqued my interest in Minnesota after our marathon call yesterday. He’d piqued my interest in him, which is why I’d spent the day making phone calls and sending emails and putting together a presentation for Maddy. It was time sensitive and I had to do it tonight, and it was not going to be pretty. I blew air through pursed lips and got up to go find her.
She was in the living room on the sofa in front of the wood-burning stove on her phone. I came into the doorway. “Hey, do you have a second? I want to talk to you about something.”
