Shiftr Swipe Left for Love (Hope Valley BBW Online Dating App Romance #5)(5)
Every few seconds, a message alert popped up.
“Wow! All these guys want to speak to me?” Dina exclaimed.
“Of course they do!” Lauren said. “But how about we have a little fun seeing what’s out there first, before we find out who’s fighting for your attention?” She temporarily disabled the alerts and refilled their wine glasses, and they hunched over Dina’s phone, going from one guy to the next, to the next. The guys all had amazing bodies, with great muscle tone, and striking good looks, but beyond that, they couldn’t have been more different.
It quickly turned into a game of ‘guess the animal’. Most of the guys turned out to be wolf, bear, big cat, or stallion shifters, but there were also beavers, foxes, deer, and even seals and dolphins.
“This is so much fun,” Dina said. “I feel like a kid in a candy store!” Lauren looked at her friend with affection, thrilled that she was enjoying herself so much. She’d known she wouldn’t regret making Dina the one she shared the shifter secret with.
“What’s the deal with shifters that live in the water?” Dina said, shuddering as she flipped between a photo of a surfer with long, tangled blond hair, and a shark. “How does that work?” Lauren laughed.
“I guess you’ll have to move to whichever beach town they live in, so they always have easy access to water!” she said. Dina kept staring at the shark photo. “I just can’t see myself with a shark-guy,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it!” Lauren replied. “There are plenty of other options out there. What kind of shifters are you drawn to?” Dina flicked through a few more profiles while she was thinking.
“Well, the big cats are hot, but I get the feeling that they’re too independent. I’ve always been more of a dog person,” she broke off with a giggle. “Sorry, that was a terrible thing to say. The wolves are sexy, and I like the whole idea of being protected, but that hierarchy thing is probably a bit too much for me. But the bears – there’s something lovable about them.” She scrolled up to the last bear shifter she’d been. “They all seem to have these big, sturdy bodies, with meat on their bones. That’s what I really love in a man, to be honest.”
“Me too!” Lauren said. “When I first saw Connor, it was a no-brainer. I visualized those strong arms wrapping around me, pulling me against his hairy chest, and I just melted! Bear shifters are known for being reliable, protective and warm-hearted. They love the outdoors, and going hiking on weekends.”
“That sounds so perfect for me,” Dina said with a grin.
“Ok, if you like, we can change the options, so you only see bears?” Lauren offered.
“Yes, let’s!” Lauren took the phone, unticked several boxes and handed it back to Dina.
“You know, I think I really liked the very first bear-guy we saw, you know, the one with black hair and brown eyes. I felt an instant connection when I looked at his photo. How can we find him again?”
“Umm, we’ll have to search for him,” Lauren said regretfully. “The first three profiles the app showed you were just a teaser to get you interested, so his profile could be anywhere on the site.”
“Damnit! It’s going to be such a hard job scrolling though all these sexy bear shifters to look for him,” Dina said, with a glint in her eye. Lauren picked up the bottle of wine.
“Well it looks like we’re all out of wine, so how about I leave you to your search, while I go down to the store and get us another bottle?”
“Sounds like a great plan!” Dina said. “Let’s order pizza too!”
“Definitely, girl! You know what I like,” Lauren said, picking up her purse and skipping out of the apartment.
Dina ordered a meat feast supreme with extra jalape?os, and a quattro formaggio, and returned to scrolling. She was almost going cross-eyed from the parade of insanely hot guys being presented to her, one after another, and she was worried that she’d miss the one she was looking for, lost among so many other sexy man-bears. But, suddenly – there he was!
“My goodness!” she exclaimed. Her soft pink lips curled into a smile as she stared at his photo. There was no way she could’ve missed him. He had those deep brown eyes, like dark pools you could get lost in, and his goatee was so sexy. She had a real weakness for light beards; there was something so rugged and masculine about them. His body was something else. His chest was broad and deep, with well-developed pecs, and his arms were strong and meaty. He had nice abs, but he looked like a guy who really enjoyed his food, rather than a scrawny gym bunny. His skin was deeply tanned, and he had a sexy scattering of hair, beginning on his chest, and running all the way down to the top button of his faded blue jeans. His hip bones were just visible, and he had a red lumberjack shirt tied around his waist. Dina read his profile, her excitement growing by the second. It said he worked as a wood carver and volunteer firefighter; he lived out by the national park; he loved eating out, cooking at home, hiking, and playing with his two nephews. He’d love to meet a tall, voluptuous woman, with an adventurous spirit and a love of life. She could hardly restrain herself from getting up and bouncing around the room. He was just too perfect! At the bottom of his profile was a pink heart. What does this mean? She muttered, tapping it at the same time. As before, the graphic popped to reveal the message: Want to find out if we’re a match? Without hesitating for even a second, she tapped the happy face icon.