Simply Be Mine Matchmakers

13. Mine

Genny could not blink away the image of Tim and Lucy standing close together on the cusp of kissing. She had not at all expected to come upon her brother making a move on his matchmaker when he was supposed to be pursuing potential matches, or perhaps he found he was most compatible with the matchmaker herself. He walked out of the Simply Be Mine Matchmakers office with her with a set jaw, and she knew he was holding back from what was on the tip of his tongue. They reached the lobby of the building in silence, which she broke by saying, "So...you and Lucy?"

Tim rolled his eyes. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Well, I do."

"Genny," he sighed. "Don't."

"Oh, no, I need to hear how this happened. Every time I got an update from her, she said things weren't going well with your potential matches."

"That's true."

"Did she sabotage the matchmaking process because she likes you?"

"No, Lucy wouldn't do something like that. She...well, I guess she did sorta sabotage the process for me, but she didn't know what she was doing." His lips began tugging into a slight smile upon reflecting on her effect on him.

"There's a coffee place across the street. Let's go talk." She could tell her brother was smitten, which was a completely unique emotion for him to express, and she wanted to hear more about it.

He did not want to have a discussion about his feelings with his little sister, but it seemed he had no choice, so he went along to the small coffee shop and ordered himself a drink. Then, they sat together at a table.

"Alright," Genny began, "what happened exactly?"

Tim watched a couple take each other's hands as they walked out of the building, and he smirked; he tended not to notice couples in love around him until Lucy came into his life and made him believe in love again. Since then, he saw affection everywhere he looked, and he thought of her each time. "We fell for the same dog."

"Oh, she helped me adopt a dog, too."

"Yeah, I was there. I walked Honey, too. She's a great dog, and I thought that's what I wanted, but Lucy was right when she said Kojo is the right one for me."

"I didn't know you got a dog."

"Technically, he's not mine yet, but I know I won the bet, which means I get to adopt Kojo."

"What bet?"

"Lucy and I made a bet, because she was so confident in her matchmaking abilities, but I haven't liked the women she's set me up with."

"Because you like her," Genny connected the dots.

"She made the bet, and she's the reason she lost it." He sipped his coffee to hide his smile upon drawing that conclusion.

Tim's eyes were soft and warm, and his mouth could not stop curling. She was thrilled to see such a change in his demeanor. "Sounds like you've gotten close."

"We walk Kojo together almost every morning, and she's made me try new things."

"Since when do you like trying new things?"

"I don't."

"Tell your face that," she replied as she pointed to his grin.

He chewed on the inside of his mouth to force his smile to subside, but there was only so much he could do with his lips moving uncontrollably.

"What did you guys do together?" Genny inquired.

"I learned I don't have a future as a painter. We took this painting class, and then I hung up my crappy painting in my office, and three people have asked if I helped a kid paint it."