The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

He glanced over to the table where Fizzy now sat alone, watching them hawkishly. Jess raised an eyebrow in amusement as he turned back to her and seemed to be putting the puzzle together in his head. Finally, he managed only, “I thought you worked… somewhere else.”
    Inwardly, she groaned. Why wasn’t he just ordering, paying, and stepping to the side to stare at his phone? Had he forgotten that he was too busy to converse with plebeians?
    â€œI’m a freelance statistician,” she said, maintaining the polite smile. “But I lost a big account the other day. Given that I have a kid and lots of bills…” She held her arms out to say, Voilà .
    Jess would gladly take sixteen hours a week at minimum wage and the hit to the pride from serving River Peña if it meant Juno could keep taking ballet with Ms. Mia.
    Without subtlety, River’s eyes darted down to her left hand. Was she imagining the way his brow relaxed? Had he been looking for a wedding band?
    â€œOne kid,” she confirmed quietly, “no husband.” For a brief second, she let herself be amused by this potential scenario. “Wow, that would have been an awkward press release for GeneticAlly: ‘Founder’s Soulmate Is Already Married.’ ”
    â€œMarried people tend to not submit DNA samples,” River replied with an amused twinkle in his eye. “And I hear they prefer to cheat using apps with fewer intake forms.”
    Self-preservation welled up hot in her throat, and she could see the twin realization pass through him: this exchange felt suspiciously like nerdy flirting.
    â€œWhat can I get for you?” Jess asked again.
    His expression shuttered. “Sorry, I would have—” He held her gaze and the contact felt like a swarm of bees in her chest. “I thought you called me ‘Americano’ the other day,” he said.
    Holy duh, Jessica.
    Scribbling the drink order on a cup, she moved to hand it to Daniel, who gave her a blank look. “I already got it, Jess.”
    Of course he had. Daniel smiled apologetically on behalf of his new employee, handing the drink to River. Silence fell as they watched her struggle to find the correct entry for Americano on the screen.
    â€œIt’s under espresso drinks,” Daniel prompted quietly.
    River, hulking, leaned over to peer upside down at the screen. “It’s over on the—”
    His finger landed on the touch screen just as Jess’s did, their hands briefly coming together.
    â€œI got it,” she said, humiliated. He pulled away, and she tapped the button, flustered by the contact that she could somehow feel all the way up her arm. No doubt her cheeks looked like she’d been slapped. “That’ll be three eighty-five.”
    He hesitated, and Jess realized her mistake. She upsized to large . “Sorry. Four seventy-four.”
    Their shared discomfort shoved between them, a loud, uninvited guest at the awkward party for two. Jess took his money, counted out his change. But what really wrecked her was that, afterthe tiniest hesitation, he dropped all of it—including the five-dollar bill—into the tip jar.
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    FIZZY SIDLED UP to the counter fifteen minutes later when she seemed to assess Jess was done being mortified.
    â€œHey.” She offered a little best-friend-simpatico smile and reached across the counter to offer a fist bump.
    â€œHey.” Jess cleared her throat, meeting Fizzy’s knuckles. “I bet an ending like that never made it into a romance novel.”
    Fizzy laughed. “Are you kidding? That would be the start of an amazing love story.”
    â€œNot my story.”
    Jess felt her best friend studying her while she pretended to be very engrossed in rearranging the pastry case. Fizzy had been uncharacteristically mum on the subject of River. After hearing of their DNADuo result, the rundown on the disastrous GeneticAlly meeting, and