It was only a fifth date, so who knew what inevitable skeletons still had time to worm their way out of the closets

Dassi considered herself a dating vet, but for some reason she was stumped by Ari Steiner. He wasn’t the early disappointment she thought he would be, but self-doubt was preventing her from feeling the hope she’d felt on a couple of occasions in the past. She was so used to being the one carrying the conversation — it wasn’t her fault Hashem blessed her with blinding wit and a sparkling personality — and it felt kind of nice to be entertained for a change. And they clicked. Ari agreed with most of what she had to say, not because he had no opinions, but because his opinions matched hers.

She popped open the cap of the icy Diet Half’n Half Snapple Ari had waiting for her in the car tonight, tore open the paper-wrapped straw he’d remembered, and took an appreciative sip.

“Your attention to detail is starting to scare me a little. How did you even know I liked these?”

Ari grinned. “You asked the waiter for it last time, remember? I made a mental note because honestly who even heard of Half’n Half Snapple. And I happened to have been in a bunch of stores since then so I kept checking until I hit the jackpot!”

Dassi relaxed into her seat. It was only a fifth date, so who knew what inevitable skeletons still had time to worm their way out of the closets they were currently packed into. But for now at least, she could enjoy the attention.

Ari pulled his sleek charcoal coupé — a BMW (Dassi only noticed because her brother Yitz always asked what her dates drove with a such glint in his eye that she felt compelled to indulge him) — into the spot right in front of Filête.