The Blind Date by Landish, Lauren (suggested reading .txt) 📕

Worry crosses her eyes, a shadow below the light that usually resides there. I don’t like it, not one bit. Whatever’s on her page, I want to slay the dragon that made the little crinkle between her brows appear.

“No, I didn’t have a chance. What happened? Who do I need to kill?” I tease, trying to get a smile from her.

Her lips lift, but it’s a ghost of her usual sunniness. “Remember I said we should see if you can take it? And then decide on whether to do a full reveal of . . . us?”

That pause hurts. I don’t know why. I don’t know what’s going on, but it hurts that Riley seems uncertain about us. No, about me . . . if I can take it.

“Yeah, it sounds like I need to see what folks said?”

Riley gets her laptop from her bag and guides me to the couch. I sit down beside her, and she folds her legs, cradling the computer in her lap.

“I just want you to see what the reaction was,” Riley says. “It was something I had to get used to. It takes a lot of getting used to.”

Riley pulls up her social media feed and scrolls down a bit. I notice she’s made two other posts since our pic at the water park, and I look closer. In both of the newer pics, she doesn’t have the slightly pink nose from our time in the sun at the doggy water park. “Did you edit out your sunburn?”

“No.” Riley points out the timing on one post and explains, “You can pre-set a post. It’s one of my weekly prep things. I go through and put together at least seven posts that are pre-set to post daily. Usually, they’re either the daily affirmations or the sponsored posts since most of them are shot a week or more in advance, so those are pictures from before.”

“Our social media team for BlindDate does stuff like that too, but I leave the details to them. I just want the data.” I lean toward her and peck the tip of her nose. “I like your pink nose. It’s cute.”

Riley’s cheeks flush, matching her nose a bit, as she pulls up the post of our picture at the dog park. The first thing I see are the hearts. “Wow . . . twenty thousand likes?”

“A high number, but I’m not surprised,” Riley says with a grin as she cups my jaw. It’s freshly shaven today, no scruff like in the picture. “But the real deal’s in the comments.”

We start reading, and some of them are really positive. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Riley’s Sunshiners.

Aliceinerrorland- You go, Riley! That’s one good lookin’ smile! Yours? His? Why not both?

TonyToniToney- Riley, I know you’re in the picture somewhere, but *all* I see is that smile. Whoo, boy.

BettieLuvsArchie- Damn, someone used his Aquafresh!

“Maybe we should get you a sponsorship with a toothpaste company,” Riley jokes, and I have to snort. Yeah, I guess I do keep my teeth clean, but no more than anyone else, I don’t think. Just morning and nightly brushing and flossing like dentists recommend.

And then things get a bit naughty . . .

MollyPops- I’mma lick that jaw, nibble them lips, and suffocate you because I don’t hover. If you die, you die. You’ll go with that smile . . . guaranteed.

“Look at this one!” I laugh, pointing at one further down.

Lemonade21167- He better have skills with that tongue because I’m going to glaze that grin like a donut!

“Hmm, I wonder what that even means?” I ask innocently.

Riley grins, elbowing me lightly in the ribs. “I think you know exactly what it means, and nobody’s glazing you but me.”

“Dirty talk some more, baby,” I tease, loving when Riley says things that make her squirm.

But my smile fades as I read the next comment.

HappiBeetz- Faker than The Bachelorette. You pay for him to sleep with you, or is he just for show? #malemodelforhire

“What the fuck?”

We keep reading, and I feel my blood pressure rise. While at least five or six comments in a row might be positive, there’s a sprinkling of one here or two there that are jealous, negative, or just plain hateful.

“How do you handle this?” I ask after seeing bboy13rize64 flat out say if he had Riley between his legs, he’d show her ‘how a real man handles his woman’ and that he’d consider letting me ‘watch and learn’. “Some of these people are plain evil.”

I keep reading as Riley talks, but she’s watching me, watching my reactions. This is what she was talking about . . . if I can handle it.

“That’s part of it. It hurt for a long time. I’d obsess over the negative ones and let the positive ones wash over me. But now, I just try to ignore the bad ones. Focus on the good.”

“That’s a very Riley Sunshine thing to say, but this is a lot of assholes or just evil fuckers,” I growl, seeing another. I’m not upset at what they’re saying about me, but rather at what they’re saying about Riley.

Comments on her swimsuit, her hair, her breasts, and her personality. It’s annihilation by commentary.

“Who’d say this to anyone in real life?”

“They probably wouldn’t,” Riley explains with a shrug, “or maybe they would in hopes of getting a reaction. So I don’t give them one. I choose to use my voice for good, to spread the sunshine and the positive vibes into the world. I’m not perfect, I know it, but I do my best to stay positive and set that example. And it works.” She points at several comments in a row from people saying that Riley made them smile, brightened their day, or even flat-out thanking her for getting them through difficult times. “They make it all worth it. Besides, mean people are lashing out because they’re hurt. They need a little sunshine most of all.”

“Or they’re assholes,” I argue. “I know I’ve been called an asshole, and I even joke about being one myself, but