Page 68 of You've Got Male

Camila rolled her eyes. “He’s not jealous. He’s the one who gave Dexter my number to begin with.”

“Did you want him to give Dexter your number?”

“Dexter’s a nice guy and he’s fun to hang out with, but I think he likes me more than I like him.”

That was music to Evie’s ears. She’d tried to be cool with Camila dating a college guy, but she was afraid that dating a guy who was older and had more life experience would force Camila to grow up faster. She should be hanging out with friends her own age, people who were at the same phase in life, people with whom she had things in common.

“Have you told Ryan that?”

“No. Whenever I bring up Dexter, he changes the subject.”

“You and Ryan have never kept things from each other. I think you should tell Ryan the truth. Maybe he’ll be honest about why he’s being weird.”

“Maybe,” she said noncommittally. “About the ClickByte posts, I can totally make them if you don’t have time. All we need is an influencer or two to give us a shout-out and people will start coming here. I know that the kids at my school would start coming here if it was hyped up.”

Evie knew that ClickByte alone couldn’t save the shop. Although to a stranger looking on, it would appear by the sheer number of customers that the shop was doing phenomenal. And she had to admit, Grinder was gaining a steady stream of customers every day. Granted, a good handful of them came to see the place Tasha Hart filmed her famous LoveByte video. That short interview had over two million views, and Evie’s account had grown to nearly a hundred thousand followers. But those lookie-loos bought coffees.

What if Camila was right and social media was an important piece of the solution, and not the problem she’d labeled it? She would reach people who’d never heard of the shop. Plus, it gave Camila a way to contribute.

“That’s a great idea,” Evie said and stood, pulling her daughter into her arms for a hug. While Camila merely tolerated the hug, she also didn’t pull away.

…

“Cupid’s Cappuccino for Alex,” Evie called out and a woman, who looked to be Evie’s age, approached the counter.

“Thank you,” Alex said, but she didn’t move—just looked at Evie with shy hesitation.

“Can I get you anything else?”

Alex looked over her shoulder at a booth in the corner that wasoverflowing with a party of ten, then back at Evie. Her face was flushed. “This is so embarrassing and you’re going to think I’m crazy. But we were wondering if you’d come over to the table and say hi.”

“We?”

Alex pointed to the booth, and the women all waved eagerly at Evie. “The You’ve Got Male-Mamas. I know it’s a silly name, but we thought it was fitting since you’re the inspiration behind our dating group.”

“What dating group?”

“Well, we’re all single moms who are ready for love. We saw your video and decided that since it worked for you, maybe it can work for us, too. So we formed a support group of sorts, where we help each other post Looking for Love videos, vet men, and we even use each other as wing-girls, coming here and sitting in the corner to make dating a safe experience.”

“You meet here?”

“We all do. This has become one of Denver’s hottest coffee-date spots.”

Evie was floored. These women were actually using ClickByte to find their person. “Is it working?”

“Yes! Three of us are dating great guys, including me. Although I didn’t post a video, I messaged one of the guys from your video and he responded back. We’ve gone on three dates, and he is the nicest man.”

“Who?” Evie prayed to Elvis, Sinatra, and Buddha himself that it wasn’t Travis. Alex seemed like a sweet woman who deserved an attentive and present partner. Single moms are so used to putting themselves last, they deserve someone who knows how to put them first.

“Ernie,” she said and her expression turned dreamy. “He’s not my usual type, but he seems to be the perfect fit. He’s sweet and kind and the most emotionally intelligent man I’ve ever met. It’sstill early days but things are looking very hopeful. And I love dogs, too.”

“That’s”—unbelievable, unexpected, encouraging—“amazing.”

“It really is. Not only have we all met some great guys, we’ve formed this incredible group of women. We decided to start meeting here every Monday on our breaks. We bring our lunch, order some coffee, and talk about kids, guys, and sex. God, sex. You have no idea how long it’s been. Between my three kids, I barely have time to brush my teeth, let alone sex.”

Oh, Evie knew. It didn’t used to bother her, but after the other morning it was all she thought about. She’d fantasized what would have happened if one of them had a condom, if they’d had the house to themselves for more than an hour, if…if…if!

Oh, so manyifs it kept her awake at night, and her trusty F O X giving her pleasure in the shower every morning.

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