Davis hurried into Joe’s, knowing he was late—again—because of his stupid boss.

He liked his job. He did. Davis was the kind of person who connected with people easily, and working as a sales rep allowed him to do that. He’d moved up the food chain over the years and was now one of the ‘personal shoppers’ and head sales rep for the local high-end department stores.

He’d had a good day, or at least the beginning of it. He’d helped a clearly out of his depth father find some good gifts for his teenage daughter, and then assisted an older lady wanting to revamp her wardrobe so she felt less out of date and drab.

Yeah, maybe it was a bit cliché, the gay guy helping people with fashion, but Davis didn’t care. He didn’t walk around wearing pink all day. He helped people go from harassed, confused, and cranky to cheerful and relaxed. Maybe it was silly to some, but he liked knowing that he helped to make people happier, in his own little way.

But one of his managers, Jackson, just sometimes made him want to…

Well, he made Davis want to call up Travis and ask him to pay Jackson a visit. Davis was happy to show new sales reps the ropes but he needed advance notice. Not Jackson just fucking dumping the newbies on him when Davis had appointments and important phone calls all day.

But no more of that now. He put the whole thing out of his head and relegated fantasies about Jackson getting some nasty disease and moving out of state to tomorrow.

Right now, Davis had reason to be excited. He was finally going to get into dating apps. It wasn’t a decision that he made lightly. He liked connections face to face. But the other ways to meet guys just weren’t working. Speed dating was laughable. Going clubbing was getting old—or maybe he was getting too old for clubs. And running into a stranger at a bar, even one as heavily populated as Joe’s, was just so difficult. You didn’t know until halfway through if they were someone you wanted to know more about or not.

He’d tried dating websites, but most of them were old-fashioned and he was stuck to his computer. But this… was all on his phone. He got pictures and basic info on their hobbies and interests. He knew, within just a few moments, things it usually took an entire date to learn.

It was the perfect solution.

Davis waved as he entered. Looked like the whole gang was there. Travis had Lance tucked firmly against his side, underneath his arm. Everyone had thought those two had been inseparable before. Now that they were dating, everybody had a new definition of ‘inseparable’. Davis didn’t think they were ever apart except when Travis went to work.

Adam was behind the bar again. Technically he wasn’t supposed to be. If anyone else had tried to go behind the bar, Luke would’ve punched them. But Adam just slipped behind there as much as he pleased, since it let Luke get all cuddly on him.

Matthew and Jake were there, as always, pressed up against one another’s sides but not getting outright touchy. They were the least physically demonstrative of the three couples.

Three couples. Davis sighed inwardly. He was the only one who didn’t have a boyfriend yet. Hell, Adam and Luke were going to be married soon.

He was happy for his friends. God, the amount of time that Lance and Travis had been dancing around each other… but it he wanted that closeness, too. He’d wanted it for years.

Davis admited that he was the kind of stupid, stereotypical person who grew up loving romantic comedies. Wanting that for himself. Thinking that when he was an adult, he’d stumble into the perfect man in a train station, or at a coffee shop, or online, in a moment of perfect serendipity.

But time passed and despite his best efforts, it had never happened. And so, when he saw his friends so happy together, as much as he was glad for them, he was also, well, just the tiniest bit jealous that he didn’t have it as well.

Hell, they hadn’t even been looking for love. Lance was too shy, Jake used sarcasm to shut down anyone who tried. Travis and Luke had been cheerfully sleeping their way through the town’s entire population. Until Luke’s parents had died and then Luke hadn’t had time for anything other than the bar and raising his brother Seth.

Yet they’d found love and Davis hadn’t. And Davis actively wanted and searched for it.

He was right to feel a little upset about this, wasn’t he?

Hopefully now with these dating apps he’d finally be on the right track. Sure, it wasn’t the meet-cute-by-happenstance that he’d dreamed about in high school. But who really got those, anyway? Now at least he’d know what he was in for before he even went on a date. Less chance of being disappointed.

“Hey guys,” he said, squeezing in between Jake and Lance. “Adam, you’re a bartender now?”

“You make that joke every time,” Adam said, rolling of his eyes. But he gave Luke a look and Luke obligingly let go, allowing Adam to come back around to the front of the bar and join the others.

“I’d say domesticity has made you two boring,” Travis said, “but you two were boring before you got married.”

“I’m not boring,” Luke protested.

“I’m very boring,” Adam admitted freely, without a hint of expression. “The most exciting part of my life is when Luke actually puts the groceries away.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side, here,” Luke reminded him.

The new guy behind the bar was handsome, with thick dark hair that was a little long, a bit of scruff, and hazel eyes. He looked like the kind of guy who was nothing but trouble, the kind who cultivated that scruffy, roguish look just to make it clear what he offered. No, thanks. No amount of handsome was worth the bullshit that came with that.

“You got a new bartender?” he asked Luke.

Luke had been talking about getting someone for ages, but things had kept getting in the way.

Luke grinned. “Yup. Now I can finally relax.”

“You? Relax?” Jake shook his head. “I’m not sure you know the meaning of the word.”

“Hey,” Lance asked, nudging Davis. “You texted earlier and said you had something to share with us?”

“Oh, it’s nothing big,” Davis said, digging out his phone. It wasn’t, not to anyone else, anyway. But it was kind of big to him. He opened his phone and showed Lance the new dating apps he’d installed. “I did research and picked the ten most popular.”

“Ten?” Jake perked up. “Ten what?”

Davis held his phone away from Jake’s prying eyes. “Only if you promise not to make fun.”

“When do I ever make fun?” Jake asked.

“Constantly,” everyone chorused. Not even Adam’s sarcasm equaled Jake’s constant needling.

“Okay, fine, I will not make fun,” Jake promised.

Davis held his phone out to show him. Everyone else crowded around as well. “See? I picked the ten most popular dating apps. Now I can finally start dating people who I already know will be a good match. No more wasting time.”

Travis snorted. “Davis. You’re wasting time on a dating app same as if you were trying to find a guy in this bar. Trust me. I used dating apps. Most people on there just want to hook up.”

“That’s not true,” Davis said. “Plenty of people say they use dating apps to actually try and find the one.”

“You’re always saying that. If you say, ‘the one’ one more time I’m gonna have to slap you or something,” Jake groused. “It’s a stupid romantic cliché.”

“Says the guy whose boyfriend bakes him cupcakes with their intertwined initials on them.”

Matthew laughed. “He’s got you there, sweetheart.”

Jake viciously elbowed Matthew in the ribs. As far as Davis could tell, Jake had never really progressed beyond the pigtail-pulling stage of flirtation.

“I’m just warning you,” Travis said. “You’re still going to have to kiss a lot of frogs and all that.”

“But that’s what their profiles are for,” Davis said and sipped the beer Luke pushed across the counter to him. “You can see what they want on the profile. If they’re just interested in a one night stand they’ll say so.”

“You sure about that?” Lance asked. “Because what I’ve seen of dating apps at work, most people aren’t good at actually saying on their profiles what they’re looking for. They mostly just talk about themselves. You know, to make themselves look good. ‘These are my interests’, ‘I work here’, ‘look at these photos of me shirtless’.”

“When did you see dating apps?” Travis growled.

“I’m a website designer,” Lance reminded him.

Travis relaxed at that, looking sheepish. “Oh.”

“Guys, seriously, I know this isn’t perfect but it’s a hell of a lot better than what I was doing,” Davis said.

“I just have to ask,” Luke said, “How are these different from those dating websites you tried?”

“Dating apps are much more sophisticated,” Davis replied. “I did a bunch of research. Their algorithms are better, you have more control, it’s more personalized, people are much closer to you and in your area… trust me, I got it down this time.”

“I hate to rain on your parade,” Luke said, his voice and eyes gentle, “Because you know we just want you to be happy. But isn’t that what you said the last few times? About dating websites…”

“And speed dating,” Adam added.

“And matchmaking services,” Lance piped up.

“And all of those Facebook events,” Luke said. “The art gallery openings, the concerts, the bar crawls. The classes you signed up for like rock climbing just to try and meet someone. You can understand why we’re a little skeptical about this working out.”

Davis rolled his eyes. “Look, I get it, but you’ve got to keep trying, right? What am I supposed to do, give up?”

“You could maybe not try so hard,” Jake grumbled.

“I will find the person this time,” Davis told them. Thinking positive was how he tried to live his life. If you visualized it, affirmed it verbally and in writing, it would happen to you.

He might have been called ‘too cheerful for his own good’ by Jake on multiple occasions but so what? Jake was a sourpuss.

The others looked at each other. Luke sighed. “All right, Davis. It’s your choice, of course, and we support you. If you want to bring your dates here so we can vet ‘em for you, we’re happy to do that.”

“We are?” Jake asked. Matthew elbowed him. “Ouch. I mean, yes, we totally are.”

Davis made sure they could all see his middle finger. “Thanks guys. Your faith in me is really appreciated.”

Travis reached around Lance to bump Davis’s shoulder. “We just want to look out for you, that’s all.”

The others nodded.

“I don’t need looking after,” Davis said. “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”

He was going to finally find his perfect match. He just knew it.