Page 35 of Falling for My Matchmaker

I told myself it was fine. We weren’t that far from the city. This wasn’t the setup to a documentary. Just a surprise getaway with a man I barely knew and who may or may not have been on a dating app under a different name.

Totally normal.

“Do you do this often?” I asked lightly.

“What, the drive?”

“The surprise date. Remote mystery location. Signal dropout optional.”

Brad laughed. “You’re funny.”

He didn’t answer the question.

I forced a chuckle and turned back to the window. More trees. Fewer houses. The kind of place where no one could hear you second-guess yourself.

“I like it when it’s just the two of us,” Brad said after a long pause. “No distractions. No outside noise.”

He glanced at me. His tone was calm. His smile was easy.

So why did it feel like a lock clicking shut?

I checked my phone again, mostly out of habit. Still dead.

My fingers tightened slightly around it anyway, thumb hovering uselessly over the screen.

“Relax,” he added. “You’re not going to need that.”

“I just like knowing Icouldneed it,” I said, trying to keep my tone breezy.

Another smile. “It’s nice, though, isn’t it? Not being reachable. Like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.”

Maybe that was romantic. Maybe that was controlling.

My body couldn’t seem to decide.

But then, like some divine glitch in the matrix, the signal returned. One bar. Two.

I blinked, barely believing it.

I opened Messages, hands shaking slightly, and hesitated.

Nate.

The last person I wanted to talk to—and the only one I trusted enough to tell.

God, after everything. After what almost happened. After whatdidhappen.

It was a terrible idea.

So I started typing.

Me:

Hey Nate. I know this is weird, but Brad took me out of the city.

SEND

We’re in the middle of nowhere. He’s acting off.

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