Shiftr Swipe Left for Love (Hope Valley BBW Online Dating App Romance #5)(4)

“Where are the other photos?” she asked. Lauren swiped left, and a close-up of Dina’s face appeared. Dina peered at it anxiously. The light from the window was shining right in her eyes, so they looked really green, you could see the scattering of freckles across her nose, and her lips looked nice and full. The way she was looking right up at the camera made her seem a little mysterious, as if she had a secret she was bursting to tell. She actually looked pretty cute, she admitted to herself.

“Sexy chica!” Lauren said.

“Not too bad,” Dina said, blushing. Just then, a fluorescent pink heart popped onto the screen. Lauren gave a little scream.

“Oh my god, you’ve got an alert already! That has to be a record, girl!”

“What do I do?” Dina said, adrenaline fizzing in her stomach.

“Tap it, of course!” Dina tapped the heart with her finger, and the graphic burst like a balloon, leaving a message in its place: Want to find out if we’re a match? it said, and it was followed by a happy face and a sad face icon.

“Ooh, he looks interesting,” Lauren said, frowning at the thumbnail of the guy who’d sent it. “Click on his photo.” Dina tapped again, and a photo of a stocky, muscular guy filled the screen. He had messy, dark brown hair, with the slightest hint of red, and a wide, angular face.

“He’s really hot, but there’s something a little arrogant about his smile,” Dina said.

“I agree,” Lauren replied. “It says he plays ice hockey, but when he’s not doing that, he loves lounging around, watching movies. Mmm, I don’t think that’s the kind of guy I’d get on with. Let’s see what kind of shifter he is.” Dina flicked her thumb and a lion appeared, sauntering along a forest trail. “I knew it!” Lauren said. “I’ve heard on the grapevine that lion-shifters don’t have an easy time finding human mates because of their very ‘particular’ personalities.”


“Yeah,” Dina said, biting her lip. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, because he’s insanely attractive, but I don’t feel like he’s the one for me. But how should I tell him?”

“Just tap the sad face icon, and he’ll understand.”

“That seems a little harsh.”

“No,” Lauren said firmly. “Shifters are very straightforward. One thing they don’t do is play games. They understand that finding someone you’re perfectly suited to is super important.”

“Ok,” Dina said slowly, and tapped the icon. Immediately, the lion’s profile disappeared.

“You won’t see him again now,” Lauren said. “That’s what’s so great about this site. You don’t have to scroll past the same old faces again and again. If you say no thanks to someone, they disappear, and if you see a profile you don’t like when you’re searching, you just swipe right, and they also disappear.”

“That’s so neat!” Dina said.

“Ok, this is the fun part. Tap ‘search’ and you’ll start to see the profiles. You can order them by certain criteria, or you can just go random.”

“I’ll do that,” Dina said, tapping ‘random search’. A photo of a lean, black-haired guy filled the screen. He had powerful shoulders, and a muscular torso with narrow hips, forming a classic triangle shape. His worn blue jeans sat low on his hips, revealing those diagonal grooves of muscle that drove Dina crazy with lust.

“Wooh, he’s hot!” Dina said. He had a nice face, with a strong jaw and firm lips, but there was something reticent in his eyes.

“What kind of shifter do you think he is?” Lauren said.

“Mmm, something canine, definitely. A coyote? Or a wolf?”

“My guess is wolf,” Lauren said. Dina swiped left, and a wolf appeared, pale gray in color, with blue-green eyes. “Wolves are an interesting one. Because they live in packs, they have this really strict hierarchy. My guess, from the look of him, is that he’s an omega, so will be of low status in his pack.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, not at all. It might mean that he’s a very soft and devoted mate. It just depends on what you’re into. Do you feel a connection when you look at him?” Dina shook her head.

“No. It’s weird, but it’s like I’ve got a voice in my head saying no.”

“That was my experience when I was on the app too. With shifters, it seems that you just know whether they’re suited to you.”

“So, I’m going to swipe right, so I don’t see his profile again?” Dina said. Lauren nodded, Dina’s thumb flicked right, and he was gone.

The next guy had a shock of light blond hair that flowed down to his pecs, an unusual, angular face, and a sensitive, slightly wild look in his eyes. His muscles were long and lean, and his olive skin glistened, as if he’d just gotten home from a run.

“Is he a horse?” Dina murmured.

“Let’s find out!” He was indeed a horse – a large, pale golden animal, with a broad white stripe running down the center of his face. His mane was exactly the same color as his hair. “He looks interesting,” Lauren said.

“He looks like he’d be a lot of work to tame,” Dina said with a giggle. “Maybe I’ll leave him for later.” She swiped down to the next guy.