Jess reached across the table to take Fizzy’s free hand. “Do you think you’ll see any more of your matches?”

“Who knows. My social boner is pretty limp right now.”

“That sentence makes so much sense.”

The bell rang over the door, and Jess’s attention flew toward the sound. River. She glanced at her phone. It was well past nine. He was late.

Bypassing the front counter, he walked straight toward their table. His hair was a bit more mussed than usual, and his eyes looked heavy and red, but his clothes were pressed, his posture perfect. Jess hated how quickly her traitorous body wanted to forget about his abrupt departure yesterday, his lack of communication, and just stand up and step into his arms.

“Hey,” he said to her, and then turned to Fizzy. “I heard about the asshole.”

“Today I’m affectionately referring to him as the douchebaguette.”

“Well, I didn’t want you to get an alert, so I deactivated your matching for now, and banned the douchebaguette from the platform. The system may have accidentally sent a duplicate receipt to his billing address, but I obviously wouldn’t know anything about that. With any luck his wife is the one getting the mail.”

Fizzy smiled warmly at him and reached for his hand. “I knew you were my favorite of Jess’s many lovers.”

Jess just sat there, watching the two of them interact like everything was normal. But it wasn’t. He hadn’t looked at her again. A rough fissure was forming in the center of her heart.

River gave an awkward laugh. “Well, this is yours if you want it.” He handed Fizzy an envelope with the colorful DNADuo logo embossed on one side.

Wary, she took it from him, turning it over in her hands. “Is this what I think it is?”

“It’s your compatibility score with Rob.”

She dropped it like it was on fire. “Ugh. I don’t think I can open it.”

True to type, River didn’t say anything. He only stared at her with gentle empathy. “Your call.”

“What if it says we’re a match?” Fizzy said, heartbreakingly vulnerable. “I’m never going to be with someone who cheated on his wife, no matter how perfect biology says we are for each other.” She slid it back across the table. “Just shred it.”

“You’re sure?” he asked. He didn’t reach to pick it up.

“If you thought you and Jess might not be soulmates, would you want to know?”

Leave it to Felicity Chen to hit the proverbial nail on the head without even knowing it.

River’s gaze flew to Jess’s and then away, visibly pained. He reached for the envelope, tucking it into his blazer. “Maybe. I don’t know.” When he dragged in a stuttering breath, it felt to Jess like she was witnessing him fraying at the edges. Did River need a particular score to be sure about her?

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Jess asked.

He met her eyes and nodded once.