Jenna

jenna

D uring the somber days of early January, a heavy gray cloud settled over —not from the bleak weather, but from Jake’s sudden absence in her life. They’d been inseparable since their first day of high school, when their biology teacher assigned them to be lab partners. He was her sunshine, and without him, her world felt unbearably cold and desolate, like a forgotten cabin in a snowstorm, isolated and freezing. She had no one to meet for lunch, or cook dinner with, or snuggle up to for late-night movies. Countless times a day, she reached for her phone to call him. On a particularly lonely night, she gave into temptation and clicked on his number, but he didn’t answer. Maybe the separation wasn’t as difficult for him. Maybe he’d grown tired of being her best friend and was using the friendship timeout to get rid of her. Her heart felt heavy, her spirits dampened, weighed down by the aching void left by her best friend.

To make matters worse, she missed the social interaction on the SoulSync platform. Perhaps she’d been premature in deleting the app. She enjoyed matching with new people and getting to know them, even if she hadn’t been paired with her soulmate yet. Why not try a different approach? Her Mr. Right could be a family member of one of her ER patients, or someone standing beside her in the produce section at the grocery store, or the person pounding the treadmill next to her at the gym.

On a Friday afternoon in the second week of January, was walking home from work when she spotted Jake through the window at the wine shop they frequented. An attractive brunette sat across the table from him, laughing over glasses of red wine. gasped, the air rushing from her lungs as shock rooted her in place. Pressing herself against the brick facade, she peered at them, her heart pounding. On closer inspection, the woman appeared too overdone for Jake, with caked-on makeup and heavily styled hair. She imagined Jake with a natural beauty, the girl-next-door type. Then again, it had been so long since she’d seen him with any woman. Even Jake seemed confused about his type.

Leaving the wine shop, she trudged the rest of the way to her apartment, dreading the Friday night ahead with no plans.

The next morning, she was returning from a yoga class, strolling along while scrolling through her social media feed, when she stepped in a pile of dog poop.

She let out a loud moan. “Ew! Gross!”

“I’m so sorry!” said a man’s voice in an apologetic tone.

She glanced up from her soiled shoe at the ridiculously handsome guy standing there, a black Labrador retriever sitting obediently at his side. “I tried to warn you,” he said, holding up a roll of poop bags. “But you were too engrossed in your phone.”

She planted a hand on her hip. “So it’s my fault that I stepped in your dog’s poop?”

“Maybe if you’d been watching where you were going instead of staring at your phone . . . Here, let me help with your shoe.” When the stranger reached for her foot, kicked at him, causing her to lose her balance and stumble backward.

The guy hooked an arm around her waist, steadying her and pulling her close. “Easy now.”

’s breath caught as she saw the genuine concern in his warm brown eyes. An intense connection seemed to pass between them, and for an instant, thought he might kiss her. Were those sparks? Was this the meet-cute she’d been waiting for?

But then he turned her loose, and the moment slipped away. “Are you all right?” he asked, still holding onto her arm. “You almost fell.”

“I’m fine.” stared down at her shoe. “But I need to clean this off. I don’t want to track this poop into my apartment building,” she said, gesturing at the front entrance to her building.

“You live here too? What a coincidence. I just moved in this week. I’m Max Ellison,” he said, extending his hand.

smiled as she shook his hand. “Welcome to The Willow Crest. I’m Collins. Are you new to Charlotte?”

“Yes! I moved here from Nashville for a job with a local investment banking firm.”

This was her lucky day—good-looking and a respectable career. imagined telling her future children she met their daddy over a pile of dog poop. She glanced down at the black lab, who was eyeing her suspiciously. “What’s your dog’s name?”

“Winston.” Max opened the poop bag and held it out to her. “Do you want to put your shoe in here? There’s a hose in our dog park. I can rinse it off for you.”

scrunched up her face in confusion. “We have a dog park in our building?”

Max chuckled. “Of course, you wouldn’t know that if you don’t own a dog. Here, let me help you.”

Managing the dog's leash with one hand, he maintained a steady grip on her arm with the other as she tiptoed around the corner of the building. Entering the dog park, Max unleashed his dog and led to the spigot. "It'll be easier if you take off your shoe."

laughed. “That would help,” she said, untying her shoe.

Max apologized again while he hosed off the poop. “Let me make it up to you. Can you come to dinner tonight?”

beamed. “Sure! But you’re the new kid in town. I should be cooking for you.”

“I insist. My partner is making beef Wellington. He’s a phenomenal cook. You don’t want to miss it.”

’s heart sank. “So you’re gay?” she asked, unable to keep the disappointment out of her tone.

He froze, shooting her a look. “Is that a problem for you?”

Yes! thought. But not in the way you think. “Of course not,” she said. “I’ve never had gay friends. I hear gay guys are tons of fun.”

Max flashed a boyish grin. “Oh, we totally are.”

“Good! I just broke up with my best friend, and I could use some new ones.”

Max tilted his head. “Wait—did you just say you broke up with your best friend?”

sighed. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it over dinner. Shall I bring some wine? Maybe a red to go with the beef Wellington?”

“Wine is always appreciated,” Max said, turning off the hose and handing her shoe.

slipped on her shoe and started toward the door. “Are you coming inside?”

Max scanned the park for Winston, who was sniffing the rear of a pretty golden retriever. “Looks like Winston’s made a new friend too. You go ahead. I’ll let him have his fun. See you around seven—Apartment 209.”

“Seven it is,” said and disappeared inside the building. She smiled to herself as she rode the elevator to her floor. As far as she knew, there was no rule stating that meet-cutes were only for romance.