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“Should be. Aren’t. Last time I took some was for a friend’s wedding, and that sucked. I don’t like what they do to me, but that’s probably just because I don’t have the right dose, because I can promise you I do not like some of the things that occur in their absence, either, but it’s a whole process, and who has time for the mood swings, right?”

“We’re off topic again.”

He lifts a finger. “Not my fault that time.”

The guest room door opens, and my father stands there, imposing. “Three minutes are up.”

Forrest curses.

I say, “Daddy, can we have another few minutes?”

My father’s heavy brow settles above his eyes. “What?”

My mother peeks around his shoulder, sees the two of us on the other side of the room entirely, and covers her mouth.

I wave my parents off. “We’ll be out when we’re done, okay?”

“Um.” My father glances at my mother, then his watch lights up. Expression hardening, he murmurs, “I have to take this… Okay. Just a few more minutes while I’m on this call.” Tapping his bluetooth, he closes the door.

I look at Forrest, who whistles low. “You’ve got some nice parents.”

“Really?” I find myself asking, yet again.

“Yeah, even though they’re a bit special about some things, it’s still obvious they’re worried about you, in here, all unmarried and stuff.”

“Oh, yeah.” I deflate. “Probably because I’m worth less in a political marriage if I’m damaged goods.”

“I can promise you my career has nothing to do with politics.”

“What is your career, exactly?” I ask.

He pauses, glances at me, glances toward the ceiling, then says, “Making post-it notes out of human skin. Anyway. It’s not important.” He stops again, holds up his hands, and closes his fingers until just his indexes are pointed. “That is…actually not my career. Your parents think I’m in the business of…something.” He blinks down at the floor. “I’ll…have to check that. I don’t remember what Emmet put, and I probably should find out before dinner.”

“Emmet?”

Forrest sighs. “Emmet. The reason I’m here.”

Attention, ladies and gentleman, we’ve returned to the plot.

Intent, I wait, and Forrest begins to explain, “A friend of ours made Fully Booked.”

“Fully…Booked?”

“The dating site?”

“Oh. I thought it was called Eligible.”

Forrest arches a brow. “Oh. Maybe it is, now. I dunno how many names Felix considered. Did your parents handle…” His gaze skims ceiling-ward. “Yeah, no. Actually, that makes sense. They were on the arrangement half of the site, not the regular dating side. I think Felix mentioned at one point that a lot of posh, rich parents were using it to set up relationships for their heirs.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is, Felix made Eligible a while back and asked a couple of his buddies to create profiles to test a few features. We tested stuff out with each other for a bit. Our motto for a minute became no homo…unless… It was great stuff. Real fun.”

“I think we’re veering off topic again.”

Forrest stops, thinks, nods. “Yes.” He snaps his fingers on one hand, then the other, back and forth, and back and forth. “We are.” He stops snapping. “Emmet hacked into my account.”

“What?”

“He does that sometimes.”

“He…just does?”