Free Matchmakers 2.0 (A Novel Nibbles title) by Debora Geary

starting guy in, he probably wouldn’t have walked nearly anybody with a strike zone that big, and then we would have won.”  I gave her a high five.  That’s the story I’d stuck with all the way home from the ball park.
    “You guys want your birthday present early?” asked Sam. 
    Duh.  The girls did their squealing-elephant routine again while Sam went to fetch the packages.  I was impressed.  He already had the felted seahorse sets wrapped, complete with pink bows.  I hardly ever get to watch kids meet my toys, so this was a big moment for me.
    Lindy just oohed.  Rowan gave Sam an adorable grin and a thumbs up.  He nodded toward me.  “Mick made those.”  This time the oohs and thumbs up were aimed in my direction.
    Heidi reached down for one of the seahorses.  “You seriously did this?  They’re so soft and pretty, all these colors.”  She looked up at me.  “You cook, make toys, and talk baseball?  You’re pretty much Sam’s perfect woman.  How did you two meet?”
    Sam rode to the rescue.  “Over burritos.”  I had no idea if he’d edited for my sake, his, or the girls’, but I was grateful for the reprieve. 
    Heidi laughed.  “You met a girl at Cosmic?”
    Sam wiggled his eyebrows.  “Yep.  You lose, sister of mine.  All the burritos I can eat for a month.”  He patted his stomach.  “I’ve been saving space.”
    Heidi zoned in on me with one of those mom looks.  “Did you guys really meet at Cosmic?”  So much for the reprieve.
    I waffled and threw Sam to the lions.  “Close.  It was our first date.”  I’m an awful liar.
    Sam wrapped an arm around my shoulders.  “Almost my perfect woman.  Now you’ll have to feed me for a month, since you let Heidi wiggle out of our bet.”
    Heidi rolled her eyes.  “I think this time, you finally picked a woman smart enough to figure out the flaw in that logic, brother of mine.  Mick, it was very nice to meet you.  Let me know when you’d like to come over and meet the rest of the crew, and I’ll try to make it as painless as possible.  Lindy, Rowan, time to go.  You’ll see Uncle Sam at your party tomorrow.”
    Lindy looked at me.  “Aren’t you coming to our party, too?  You should.  There’s going to be a bounce house and everything.”
    And that’s how I ended up spending four hours of my Saturday manning the doors of an inflatable castle.

Chapter 14
    Derrick was quitting, too.  Monday mornings had gone all to hell lately.
    First, I was tired.  No drunken orgy could possibly cause as much next-day exhaustion as a birthday party for six year olds.  It had taken me all of Sunday just to regain my hearing.   Sam hadn’t been in much better shape, and he’s had a lot more practice. 
    Second, Derrick wasn’t just quitting; he had some crazy business scheme that he only wanted to talk about in whispers.  Maybe my hearing hadn’t gone back to normal. 
    I dragged him outside with me.  “So, tell me this again.  What business are you starting?”
    Derrick spoke in a more normal voice.  “Lily and I had this idea to blend online gaming with a dating site.  Sort of ‘matchmakers for geeks’, but you get to meet in the virtual world first.  You can learn a lot about someone from how they play.”
    I considered that for a moment, then decided I was unqualified to comment.  I might have some geek genes, but I’ve spent less time online gaming than cheering for Duke.  I decided to focus on the bigger issue.  “And you have to leave to do this?”
    “Sure.  It wouldn’t be ethical to work for two online-dating companies.”  He grew a loopy smile.  “Besides, Lily and I really want to do this together.  We know some awesome gamers to help us out, and they’re all totally jealous we hooked up in real life.  We want to help other people find each other just like we did.”
    That would be adorable, if it didn’t leave me as the match team of one.
    Miri came flying out of the