Page 52 of Friend Zone to End Zone

He’d asked me to be his dating coach, and it made sense to experience a date with Cole firsthand so I could give him any pointers if he needed them.

Though I still had a hard time believing that he was as terrible with women as he claimed to be.

“So Friday at six?” he asked.

I might have imagined it, but did I detect a hint of hope in his voice?

I pushed the thought away.

If he was hopeful, it was only because he was excited at the prospect of what his sharpened dating skills would do to nab him a future girlfriend.

Of course he wouldn’t want anything with me. He’d said himself that kissing me that night a year and a half ago had been a huge mistake.

But I had agreed to help him find his future soulmate so he would want to stay here in Denver, so I said, “Yes, Friday at six will be perfect.”

23

Arianna

Me:Did you decide what we’re doing for our practice date tonight? I need to know what to wear.

I sent the text to Cole while Ms. Hazel’s perm was setting under the dryer. I’d had a fitful sleep last night, despite the calming bath, so sitting in my chair for a few minutes felt nice.

Only a few more months and I’d feel comfortable quitting at the salon and living off my affiliate links and sponsorships. Then it wouldn’t matter if I tossed and turned all night after getting my mind racing.

But for now, I was really regretting my late-night scrolling before bed.

Yes, I’d made the mistake of checking Chad’s social media pages after ending my call with Cole because I was curious if he’d already changed his relationship status.

He hadn’t.

Which shouldn’t surprise me really, since he rarely got on social media in the first place. But looking at his profile led me down the rabbit hole of scrolling through all the photos he had of us on his feed.

Even though I was so mad at him for cheating on me, and I knew I deserved to be treated better than I had in recent months, I still remembered the good parts of our relationship and wondered if I was ever going to find another guy who would be fine living the kind of lifestyle I needed to live.

And because my mind liked to torture me more the later it became, I got all anxious that maybe Chad was the only guy out there who didn’t want kids and that maybe I’d end up living alone forever now that I’d broken up with him and—

I shook my head before I could go down the whole spiral again.

Living alone was better than living with Chad.

He couldn’t be the only single guy who never wanted children, could he? There had to be someone else for me out there, right?

Maybe a guy who was older and already had kids? That might work.

I might not be cut out to have kids of my own, but I could probably handle being a step-mom. It couldn’t be that much different from being an aunt, could it?

The timer on my phone went off, and I was about to go get Ms. Hazel to take the rollers out of her hair when my phone buzzed with a text.

Cole:The date is a surprise. ;)

I sighed. Maybe this was why Cole had had no luck in the dating game.

If his usual MO was to leave his dates guessing at everything, aside from what time he was picking them up, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of his dates showed up having eaten dinner and wearing a cocktail dress when he’d actually planned a hike to a picturesque picnic spot near Gore Creek.

I was just about to text him that I neededsomeinformation when another text came through.

Cole:Dinner is at 7:30. Wear whatever you like, it won’t matter.

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