Free Chronicles of a Serial Dater - Book 3: A New Adult Romantic Comedy by Adele Huxley, Savan Robbins

I picked up and set down my phone a dozen times, resisting the impulse to text Anette and Lourdes with my every thought. I’m a firm believer that people need to learn how to sit and be by themselves, not constantly seek distractions and instant gratification. But I was nervous. Beyond nervous.
    I’d been chatting with Devon back and forth for a while. Actually, I think we matched up on the second day of me exploring the app but it’d taken us this long to arrange to meet. He was funny, interesting, and not at all pushy about hooking up. In fact, it was me who proposed getting together finally and seeing if we had the same chemistry in person.

    Cue record scratch, brakes screeching, and a loud gasp from the audience. He’s what now? In all the hours we’d spoken, not once did it come up that he was disabled in any way. He had briefly mentioned he’d spent time in the Marines and had been deployed to Iraq, but nothing about any injuries. I quickly put the dots together and surmised that he didn’t like bringing it up. It’s not that I care if someone is in a wheelchair, it just took me completely by surprise. But I’m an open-minded person and certainly not the type to cancel over something like that.
    But my mind raced as I sat in the frozen yogurt shop waiting for him. How disabled is he? Can he use his arms or is it just his legs? And what about the… other parts? Will they work too? Can I ask him that or… Oh God, I’m so freaking rude for even thinking that. He’s a wounded vet, Talia! You can’t just ask a wounded vet if his junk still works! You get the idea.
    Even though I was actively trying to avoid distracting myself with my phone, my nose was buried in it the moment Devon came in.
    “Glad you found the place,” a man suddenly said beside me.
    Like in a slow motion scene from a movie, I started at his shoes and worked my gaze up his body, ending at Devon’s handsome, smiling face… looming a few feet above me. I was stunned into silence, only able to sputter out a generic hello as I stood.
    “You’re more beautiful in person,” he said as he stooped a little to give me a friendly hug.
    “You too…” I mumbled, my mind unable to catch up. “I mean, handsome, not beautiful.”
    He had a great laugh and a powerful presence, which I found disarming. He scanned the shop and said, “Want to build our own sundaes and get to know each other?”
    “Absolutely,” I grinned, feeling a little giddy yet incredibly confused.
    Aside from expecting him to arrive in a wheelchair, the date began amazingly. He had a chiseled jaw, striking eyes, and a smile that his dentist must’ve framed in their office. Despite his charm and obvious good looks, I couldn’t let the disability thing go. It niggled the back of my mind the entire time we talked. We were halfway through our fro-yo when I finally had to ask. At least I had a little tact and didn’t blurt something embarrassing out.
    “So, do you not need a wheelchair every day or…” The question trailed off.
    He nodded as he swallowed a big bite. I tried not to stare as he licked a blob of chocolate from the corner of his mouth. “Ah, well, about that. It’s kind of my way of testing how shallow someone is. If they back out at the last minute after I’ve told them, then I know they weren’t worth my time in the first place.” And I’ll be damned if I didn’t hear that record scratch one more time.
    I felt my forehead crease as I let that wash over me, my temper revving a little at the thought of being tested like that. “But maybe it’s something they would’ve been okay with if you’d been upfront about it? It could be the surprise that bothers them, not the idea of you having a disability.”
    Devon’s brows rose as if considering that angle for the first time. “Hadn’t thought about it that way. You know how this whole dating thing can be. There are a lot of crazies out there,” he shrugged, waving his spoon in the air.
    I had to