“Do you really want me to answer that?” Emma said with a quirk of her brow. “There are several things I like to use a man for—”

“I get the idea,” Lauren interjected with a laugh. She wrapped one hand around her beer bottle. “I guess I just want to meet a nice guy, for once. I seem to be a magnet for jerks…guys who get by on charm and always get what they want. My first serious boyfriend cheated on me in college, and then in pharmacy school I dated a third-year medical student. Just when I thought things were going well he ghosted me out of nowhere. Found out later he started dating the daughter of the Chief of General Surgery, which happened to be the residency program he wanted to get into. Just once, I’d like to date a guy who’s honest, dependable, and kind. One who likes me for me, not for what he can get from me. You know?”

“Yeah. If only we could all be so lucky,” Emma said. “Until then, I’m gonna have my fun, and use guys for what they can give to me.” She waggled her eyebrows up and down.

Emma resumed her perusal of the room, and Lauren regarded her friend with envy. Lauren hadn’t had good luck in love, and as a result kept her guard up pretty high. Why can’t I be more like Emma? More carefree with men and the dating scene?

The truth was, she’d always taken relationships pretty seriously, even from the start. She didn’t understand Tinder or Bumble, had found that sex wasn’t something she could treat casually, and wanted a guy who supported her career aspirations. She’d spent a lot of time on her own growing up, feeling like an outsider even within her own family. Independence was a trait learned early, and except for her father’s willingness to pay her way through pharmacy school—she wasn’t an idiot to say no and rack up student loans if she didn’t have to—she’d put in the hard work to get where she was. She wasn’t the kind of woman who wanted to rely on a man to support her.

Or vice versa. She wanted a partnership.

It wasn’t that she thought there wasn’t someone out there for her…she just hadn’t had the time or energy to find him.

Some days it felt like an insurmountable task. Couldn’t fate intervene on her behalf—just this once—and drop the perfect guy into her life?

Was that really too much to ask?

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

“How’d it go?”

“Not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Told you.” Logan tapped the barstool next to him. “You gonna sit? Dan’s coming, too.”