Third Date Read Free

you.”
    “Fine. But you’re still not setting me up. Just because a guy looks a certain way doesn’t mean he’s my type. And you don’t know anything else about what I like in a guy.”
    “Oh, please. I know your type better than you do.”  
    “I disagree.” I stand up and put my lab coat on.  
    Kayla does the same, then checks her phone. She grins, mischievously. “Jake from marketing. Interesting. I gave him my number at the holiday party but he never called. Now he’s asking me to dinner. Wonder what that’s about.”
    “Tell him no. You’ve dated enough guys at work. How many is it again?”
    “What difference does it make?” She slips her phone in the pocket of her lab coat. “And it’s only been six guys so stop judging me.”
    “The company only has 200 employees. You’re going to get a reputation.”
    “At least I can get a date. When was the last time you went on a date? College?”
    “Yes, you already know that.”
    “Yeah, junior year. That’s pathetic, Morgan. You can’t go that long without dating.”
    “It’s not like I wanted to. I just can’t find the right guy.”
    “At this point, any guy is the right guy. You just need a date.”
    We go to the lab to find Paige already at work. Paige is 23 and also a food scientist.  
    “Hey guys,” she says in her usual cheerful tone. “I need help with this formulation.”
    “I’m not awake yet,” Kayla snaps, going to her station. “Ask Morgan.”
    “What’s her problem?” Paige asks.
    “I don’t know. She’s probably mad because I won’t go to the club with her tonight and I won’t let her set me up.”
    “I could go to the club with you,” Paige offers.
    “No offense, Paige, but that ring on your finger scares off the guys.” Kayla points to the one-carat diamond and platinum ring perched on Paige’s finger. “Besides, don’t you have one of your couples’ cooking classes to go to?”
    “Not tonight. But Michael did want to go see a movie.”
    Kayla looks at her, annoyed. Kayla thinks marriage is for people who are too afraid to live. She says it’s for people who want to be tied down to another person because they fear the adventure that is being single. The fact that Paige got married at the age of 22 has always made Kayla think less of her.  
    But getting married young was exactly what Paige wanted. She’s had her life planned out since she was a little girl, and part of that plan involved meeting her dream man in college and getting married soon after graduation. And although that plan may not be right for Kayla, or other people our age, there’s nothing wrong with it.
    Paige is also a bit of a perfectionist, another reason why she gets on Kayla’s nerves. She’s always at work early. Her long brown hair always looks perfect, falling in soft waves down her back. She always dresses in the latest fashions. And she has a husband with Prince Charming looks who works as a junior stockbroker and is well on his way to earning six figures before he turns 30.
    “So why won’t you go out tonight?” Paige asks me.
    “It’s supposed to snow. And it’s freezing cold.”
    “It’s Minnesota. It’s always like that.”
    “Exactly,” Kayla says. “That’s what I keep saying. You can’t use the weather as an excuse or you’ll never go out.”
    “I go out all the time,” I insist. “I go to yoga. I go to my dad’s house. I have that wine club I just joined. And book club.”
    Kayla rolls her eyes. “Why don’t you just get a couple cats and be done with it?”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “You’ll never meet a guy doing what you’re doing. Yoga? Book club? All women. And wine club? All couples.”
    “I don’t do those things to meet men. I enjoy them.”
    “Believe me. You’d enjoy a guy a hell of a lot more.” She laughs.
    “It’s fine to be interested in those things, Morgan,” Paige says, “but you aren’t going to meet single men at those places.”
    I hadn’t thought