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JESSICA DAVIS USED to think it was an honest-to-God tragedy that only twenty-six percent of women believed in true love Of course, that was nearly a decade ago, when she couldn’t i but deeply and passionately obsessed with the h, on her third first date in seven years, she was astounded the nuh

“Twenty-six percent,” shetoward the restroom mirror to apply more lipstick “Twenty-six wo the cap back on, Jess laughed, and her exhausted reflection laughed back Sadly, her night was far froh the entrée course; appetizers had lasted four years Of course, some of that was probably due to Travis’s tendency to talk with hishis wife in bed with his business partner and the ensuing messy divorce But as far as first dates went, Jess reasoned, it could have been worse This date was better, for sure, than the guy last ho’d been so drunk when he showed up at the restaurant that he’d nodded off before they’d even ordered

“Co “You don’t have to make, serve, or clean up after this meal The dishes alone are worth at least one more bitter ex-wife story”

A stall door clicked open, startling her, and a y blonde elanced at Jess with bald pity

“God, I know,” Jess agreed with a groan “I’ to ”

Not a laugh Not even a smile of politeness, let alone camaraderie Instead the woman moved as far away as possible to the end of the e her hands

Well

Jess went back to ru toward the end of the counter She kneasn’t polite to stare, but the other woman’s makeup was flawless, her nails perfectly e it? Jess considered leaving the house with her zipper up a victory Once, she’d presented an entire fiscal year’s worth of data to a client with four of Juno’s sparkly butterfly barrettes still clipped to the front of her blazer This gorgeous stranger probably hadn’t been forced to change outfits after cleaning glitter off both a cat and a seven-year-old She probably never had to apologize for being late She probably didn’t even have to shave—she was just naturally smooth everywhere

“Are you okay?”

Jess blinked back to awareness, realizing the wo to her There was really no way to pretend she hadn’t been staring directly at this stranger’s cleavage

Resisting the urge to cover her own less-than-impressive assets, Jess offered a s that your kitten probably isn’t covered in glitter, too”

“My what?”

She turned back to thethe fact that she still had an audience, Jess channeled Nana Jo into the uaca clock on any of this”

“I’M JUST SAYING, the clock is ticking” Fizzy waved vaguely toward Jess’s butt “That booty won’t be high and tight forever, you know”

“Maybe not,” Jess said, “but Tinder isn’t going to help uy to hold it up, either”

Fizzy lifted her chin defensively “I’ve had soive up too quickly We are in the era of wo theirs first, second, and one ht be ex-wife obsessed, but I saw his photo and he was fine as hell Maybe he would have rocked your world for an hour or two after churros, but you’ll never know, because you left before dessert”

Jess paused Maybe … “Goddammit, Fizzy”

Her best friend leaned back, s Amway, Jess would simply hand over her wallet Fizzy was reat writer, but were also partly the reason Jess had a ht wrist, had had disastrous not-even-close-to–Audrey Hepburn bangs for six depressing months in 2014, and had attended a costueon baseht eon?” was, “Yeah, everyone in LA has dungeons!”

Fizzy tucked a strand of glossy black hair behind her ear “Okay, let’s make plans for your next date”