Page 13 of The Rules

She rolled her eyes at the hyperbole.It was maybe like one day.“Do you write down everything I say?”

Benji pointed at her. “This has been brewing for some time.”

“That’s an overstatement. Dylan and I have a certain flirty chemistry and maybe it was bound to happen eventually, but now it did, and I’m over it.”

Benji crossed his arms and frowned. “And why exactly are we over Mr. Adorable Smile?”

She shot him a look. “Because maybe I want more than just an adorable smile. Look at this picture.” She clicked again to enlarge a candid of the whole group. She’d been studying it for two days, lamenting. It was right after the official pictures had been taken, when everyone’s dates had rejoined them. Shawn and Minnie leaned against the chapel wall, chatting. Sonya and Marcus hugged, probably counting down the minutes until it was their turn. And then there was Cat and Josh—their foreheads pressed together, beaming at each other as if the photographer had posed them that way. He hadn’t.

And there she was, third-wheeling it with Emma and her husband.

Cat’s wedding had been like being flown around by some ghost from a Christmas movie.Look at what you could have had, Danica. But now you’re alone. Muhahaha.

She clicked away the photo and pressed her eyes closed. “I guess maybe it’s cliché, but Cat getting married just has me thinking that maybe I want someone too. I mean, for God’s sake. I slept withDylanbecause I was feeling sorry for myself.If that isn’t a warning to get my life together, I don’t know what is.”

Benji’s eyes went wide. “Wow. Could this be the end of an era? Dani Petrillo hangs up her single-life badge and settles down?”

“I’m just tired, Benj. Dating isn’t easy and it’s a lot less easy when you’re the last one in the game. It used to be all of us girls going out on the weekends, taking road trips, and now it’s just… me. I guess staying at home on the couch and eating take out with a good guy doesn’t sound so bad anymore.”

Benji laughed. Dani had been rolling her eyes at his Netflix and Chill weekends for a while now. She supposed she deserved his amusement.

“A friend of Ronnie’s just tried this dating site,” he said. “He’s one of the guys on this boys weekend. He had to go and get himself coupled up leaving Ron and the birthday boy the only ones going stag on this trip. Anyway, I digress. The point is, last time we saw him, he was singing from the rooftops about it. We didn’t even know he was looking and then boom. Magic. They’re talking about moving in. And he’s cute!”

“How cute?” she asked suspiciously. Benji was a little more forgiving when it came to men’s grooming habits. The two of them rarely agreed.

“Adorable!” He pulled out his phone and started scrolling. “The site is called Eight Dates to Your Soulmate.”

Dani held a hand up. “Stop. I’ve heard enough.”

“Don’t judge. We work in the business. We know catchy slogans sell. It doesn’t mean it isn’t the real deal. Ah! Here it is.” He held up his phone to show a dark-haired man with thick scruff and chocolate brown eyes.

“Okay,” she said. “He’s cute.”

“And a good guy. Smart, funny, owns a dog.”

“A dog?”

Benji shrugged. “Studies show a man with a dog is more likely to be marriage material.”

She snorted. “All of these slogans and studies, how can this not work?”

“Well, maybe start by toning down the snark. Just think about it. You know what Oprah says: ‘If you want something you’ve never had before, you have to do something you’ve never done before.’”

“Quoting Oprah in regards to my dating life is a sure-fire way to get me to end this conversation.”

“We’ll see.” Benji shoved off the side of her desk with his feet and his chair went sailing back to his desk. “I’m going to grab lunch at Carter’s. You want to split an order of fries?”

“Of course I do.”

“Milkshake to dip?”

“Why can’t you just date me, Benji?”

“All the good ones are taken, love.”

He blew her a kiss and slipped out the door, closing it conspicuously behind him. They never closed their door which meant he thought he was being slick giving her some privacy so she could check that site out. Which she wasn’t going to do.

She turned back to her laptop and opened up a brochure for a museum she’d commissioned a logo for. The color wasn’t exactly right and she needed to email the designer for a redo, but before she could load her email, her group chat chimed.

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