Free It's a Match! by Zoë Marshall Page A

to text Cole.

    What the hell, C? That guy was a complete douchebag. How could you think I would like that cheese pun farmer?

    He texted back about a minute later:  

    That bad, huh? Was he ‘nacho type’? Hah. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
    It isn’t funny. This was supposed to make me feel better and instead I feel worse.
    Does this mean you’ll retaliate with picking my first girl?
    I haven’t decided yet.
    Any prospects?
    A few. I’m exhausted. Talk tomorrow?
    Yeah. Listen. Sutt – I am truly sorry. I thought you could use a country boy, being a city girl and all. I just wanted to break your patterns, you know?
    I know. You know how much I love a good sense of humor and he had potential. I need to get some sleep after that disaster, but I’ll fill you in tomorrow.
    Sounds good. I want to hear all about it.
    Night C.
    Night Sutt.

    Sutton placed the phone on her desk and headed to the co-ed bathroom to get ready for bed. Back in her room, she fell asleep in a matter of seconds after she lay down. Hopefully Ava wouldn’t be too loud when she got home, but Sutton was a pretty deep sleeper anyway. That night, she slept like a baby. A disturbed little baby.

FOR A GOOD time, call 867-5309. Get it? Lol. I’m a sweet girl with a sweet tooth. If you bring me cupcakes, I will be forever yours. I’m a freshman at Burlington University and I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life. I’m a gymnast with a heart of gold. Actually, let’s make it a heart of platinum, because gold sucks. Don’t message me and say ‘hey’ or ‘hi’ or ‘wassup’, because I won’t respond. Put a little effort in, guys! I’m a catch, so you need to try to reel me in. I promise I’m worth the chase ;)  

    Cole: Hey is for horses.  
    Jenny: Well, aren’t you clever.  
    Cole: I tried calling your number, but it was disconnected. Maybe I had the wrong area code?
    Jenny: Lol. I heard they won’t give out that number with any area code because the person would get too many prank calls.  
    Cole: I can imagine. So, how’s your night going?
      Jenny: Just doing some homework for my intro to sociology class. You?
    Cole: Just avoiding some astrology homework. You have beautiful eyes by the way.  
    Jenny: Thank you *blushes*
    Cole: Where are you from?
    Jenny: Little town called Chesterfield. It’s only an hour or so away. Where are you from?
    Cole: San Francisco.
    Jenny: Where’s that?
    Cole: Seriously?
    Jenny: LOL. No. I don’t live under a rock!
    Cole: Hey, did you hear about that freshman bonfire tomorrow night?  
    Jenny: Yeah. I was thinking of maybe stopping by for a bit.  
    Cole: Maybe I’ll see you there then.  
    Jenny: Would you maybe want to meet up before and we can go together? I’d love to get to know you better.  
    Cole: I’d like that.  
    Jenny: Well, let me give you my real number then ;)

    Cole stood in front of the full-length mirror hanging on his closet, thinking about what it was going to be like dating again. It had been quite a while and he was worried he might be a bit rusty. Should he buy flowers? No, he couldn’t do that before a bonfire. Where was she supposed to put them, in her pocket? And what if Jenny wasn’t even thinking of this as a date? Maybe she just didn’t want to show up to the bonfire alone.  
    Cole wasn’t a huge fan of dating—he was more of a relationship guy—but it was time to rebrand. This was an exciting new time in his life and he knew he needed to embrace it. And he knew he needed to trust Sutton, even though she might be setting him up for failure, since he had set her up with Chad.
    It wasn’t like he’d done it intentionally. He just knew that Sutton’s favorite thing about Aiden was how he made her laugh, and Chad’s cheesy puns had promise.  
    Hunter took a break from typing feverishly on his laptop and turned to Cole. “What are you up to tonight?”
    “Going to the bonfire. Are you going?”
    Hunter laughed. “Absolutely not. I have so much