Unease builds in the pit of Tinley’s stomach. This doesn’t sound good at all. “Mad about what?”

“You have plans tomorrow night.”

“Um, no I don’t.” She thinks for a minute…is she supposed to be babysitting for her sister? She doesn’t remember agreeing to that, but it’s possible she just forgot, or…oh no! She’s not trying to set her up with a guy from Clark’s work again, is she? Every time her sister tries to set her up with one of her husband’s co-workers, it always ends in disaster. Tinley treads lightly as she asks, “What are you talking about?”

Tara nibbles on the bottom of her lip and her eyes travel around the room. She avoids eye contact with Tinley at all costs and then turns her focus to Dakota. “You tell her, Dakota—she’ll take it better from you.”

“No way.” She shakes her head and waves her hands in the air. “This whole thing was your idea. I just found out about it and told you. You’re the one who actually signed her up.”

The back and forth banter between her sister and roommate does nothing but make her head spin. The two of them have an intense stare down making Tinley want to scream for someone to say something. They can’t build up all of this anxiety in her and not at least tell her what’s going on.

“Fine, be a big baby about it.” Tara turns back toward Tinley and turns on her mom voice. “We signed you up for a blind date. Well sort of. It’s kind of hard to explain what it is exactly.”

And all that explanation does is confuse Tinley even more. How could they have signed her up for something and not know how to explain it to her? That doesn’t make any sense at all. She releases a huff in frustration and asks, “Okay, what does that mean?”

Dakota groans in frustration and walks back into the living room. When she comes back, she has her laptop in hand. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, it’s speed dating in the dark—super short dates, and you don’t get to see the dude you’re on a date with, kind of like the blind auditions on The Voice. The whole point is to get to know someone without any kind of biases involved.”

Tinley chokes on the last bit of wine that she was in the process of draining from her glass. They can’t be serious about this. Can they? Speed dating in the dark? That sounds completely made up. “Wait, you’re kidding me, right? Are you just making all of this up? Not that it’s a very good story. Speed dating in the dark? There’s no way that would ever actually be a thing.”

Tinley’s mouth falls open as Dakota places her laptop on the bar in front of her. Sure enough, there’s a flyer inviting her to speed date in the dark at a local restaurant, and yep, the event is tomorrow night. Why the hell would they sign her up for something so ridiculous? Her empty wine glass comes into focus out of the corner of her eye. She’s going to need another drink and a strong one at that. Wine just isn’t going to cut it at this point.

She grabs the bottle of tequila out of the freezer and a shot glass out of the cupboard. She quickly slams back one shot, and then a second. The familiar burn is welcomed as it slides down her throat and into her belly; anything to get her mind off of the information she was just given. Joining in on the fun, Dakota takes a couple of shots as well.

Tara shakes her head and rubs her belly while watching the two of them get completely hammered. “As much fun as it is watching you two polish off a bottle of tequila, this preggo has to get going. If I don’t get home and take off this bra and these pants soon, I might just have to strip down naked right here. My boobs and belly are currently screaming for freedom. You two have a fun night—just don’t get too drunk.”

Tinley cringes at that picture. Her sister is wearing a pair of leggings and a tunic. How that could possibly feel restricting makes zero sense to her. Pregnancy sounds like the last thing she’d ever want to do. She couldn’t even picture herself with a giant belly with a baby inside. Besides, in order to make a baby, you have to have sex and Tinley doesn’t even want to think about how long it’s been since the last time that happened. Nope, pregnancy is not something that is in her near future, if ever.

“Gross. Dakota, please remind me to never get pregnant, ever.”

Dakota leans over and offers up her hand for a high-five. “You and me both sister. We’ll make a pact on that right now. No babies for these bitches. Ever.”

Tara laughs and points at both of them. “You say that now, but then next thing you know, you’ll both be knocked up, just like me.” She walks over to Tinley and offers her a hug. “Please don’t be mad at us, okay? We’re just trying to help you out.”

“I’m too drunk right now to be mad. Ask me again in the morning, and I might be able to give you a better answer. I’m almost thirty, Tara, and this is my life. I’m not a project or something for you to fix.”

She knows they both mean well, but this was definitely not the way to help her. Speed dating? Seriously? Who even does that? She always thought it was some crazy thing they slipped into thirty-minute sitcoms to mix things up, you know, when things start getting stale and they need a little something extra to add to the storyline and make people laugh so they can forget about their miserable existence—and yes, Tinley would happen to be one of those people.

Dakota walks over to the coffee table and grabs her laptop, hugging it to her chest. Odd. “I’m heading to bed now, do you need anything from me?”

She eyes the bottle of tequila still sitting on the counter and contemplates another shot. The combination of the wine and liquor sloshing in her stomach makes her slightly nauseous. It probably wasn’t a good idea mixing. She quickly puts the cap back on and stashes the bottle in the back of the freezer buried underneath a bag of frozen veggies. Logically she knows that won’t keep her from drinking it, but maybe it’ll be a slight deterrent.

“Nope, I’m good. I think I’ll do the same.”

They both walk down the hallway to their separate bedrooms, and when Tinley closes the door behind her, her own laptop comes into focus. She needs to do an internet search on this whole dating-in-the-dark thing. It can’t be that common, can it? Fortunately, the first link that pops up is exactly what she’s looking for. What she’s surprised to find is that they run these events in almost every major city. Who would have thought?

Speed dating…in the dark…with a stranger. What were those two thinking? Tinley continues looking over the site, which is filled with what has to be a bunch of stock photos because nobody in their right mind looks that happy going to speed dating. Ugh. Just thinking about it makes her queasy. Or maybe that’s the tequila again?

Fifteen minutes—that’s all you get to find the man of your dreams. A small chuckle escapes from her mouth. Nobody in their right mind can actually believe they’ll find their true love in fifteen minutes, and if anyone does feel that way, she just feels sorry for them. Finding your soul mate at speed dating—oh yeah, that’ll go over about as well as a nun in a strip club. And not the sexy kind either. The legit full-gown virginal nun. She giggles just picturing that in her head. What reason would a nun have to step foot into a strip club? Her giggle fit continues on for a few seconds. Maybe she’s still a little buzzed after all?

She slams her laptop shut and releases a heavy sigh. Throwing herself back onto her bed, she contemplates the situation. Sure, her thirtieth birthday is coming up, and she isn’t in a serious relationship, but Dakota isn’t either. She’s a grown-ass woman and doesn’t need her best friend and sister telling her how to live her life. It’s not like their lives are perfect either.

That’s it, in the morning she’ll just tell them both that she won’t be going. The whole thing is silly anyway. How mad can they be about it? It’s just a stupid speed dating thing, it’s not like they could really be all that serious about it. And it’s not like they can force her to go anyway. Right?