Bennett thinks for a moment. “Manipulate you? I wanted to spend more time with you. That’s the only reason why I worked with her. I thought we had a good time.”
I laugh bitterly. “You can manipulate numbers all you want, but you shouldn’t manipulate people.”
Bennett gently guides me to the side and out of earshot from an eavesdropping Easter Bunny. We tuck under an arch of plastic skulls while a group of Monkeys watches us from the dessert table.
“I have explanations for everything but you’re not listening,” Bennett says, getting visibly frustrated. “You did some things for us to meet. I did some things for us to keep seeing each other. Our efforts brought and kept us together. I wasn’t trying to work you over or sabotage you. Never have, never will. And there’s definitely no one else.”
I hear him, but his words aren’t convincing me otherwise. “This isn’t a situation that you can handle or control,” I inform him.
“I’m not trying to control you,” he says. “Though that’s perfect for you of all people to say that. You think you can control who loves who and the outcome.”
“I just want people to be happy. Oh, and you haven’t heard the best part yet. Yesterday, you go and tell Marcus that I’m the one who fell in love and that Lunar Love lost.” I clap a hand against my palette. “Power play. Very nice. Kick the small, old, traditional, boring matchmaking business while it’s already down and going under.”
Bennett holds his toque against his chest. “I did no such thing. I haven’t talked to Marcus since our panel.”
I cough out a laugh at his denial. “Bullshit. I just saw him, and he told me everything.” I’m such a fool! On what planet did I think being with Bennett and running Lunar Love could work?
Bennett thinks for a moment and looks like he has a realization. “Elmer,” he mumbles. “Elmer must’ve told him. He’s probably still feeling resentful for being tricked.”
I shake my head. “Everything’s Elmer’s fault, isn’t it? Even though it’s your business. We had a pact. And we called the bet off! There wasn’t supposed to be a winner.”
“And I honored that. I don’t care about the wager,” he says, his voice rough. “I care about you. I want to be with you. If I haven’t made that obvious enough, I’m sorry.”
“Of course you don’t care about the wager. You don’t need it! Your business is going to be fine. I, on the other hand, needed those clients. I gave up those clients for you. Well, congratulations,” I say sadly. “We’re at the end of the month, so I guess you also win the article and the podcast episode. Marcus is probably already making plans for it.”
We step closer to let someone dressed as a parrot pass by. “Parrots aren’t in the zodiac, you know!” I call out after her. I survey the scene around us, shaking my head.
Bennett steps sideways to block my view of the rainbow-colored bird-person. “I thought agreeing to the wager would show you that we can both coexist as businesses; that our companies offer different things for different people,” he says.
“Coexisting is out of the question. You were the one who turned down my pó po’s matchmaking efforts. Yet now you want to be together? Please.”
A strand of loose hair falls across his forehead. “I was focused on building ZodiaCupid. Can you blame me?”
“And you did. You built ZodiaCupid. Once we’re officially out of business, you’ll be able to proudly say that you destroyed Lunar Love.”
“I don’t want Lunar Love to go out of business,” Bennett says defensively. He shifts his footing, and a clip-on rat tail swings around his leg. “You know that’s not why I started ZodiaCupid.” His eyes plead with me, and my heart flip-flops back and forth disloyally. This is what happens when I become too attached, too emotional.
I straighten my shoulders and steady my voice. “You’re my rival, nemesis, competitor…take your pick. I can’t believe I ever trusted you and…your stupid little Rat chef outfit.”
“Hey! Don’t disrespect Ratatouille like that,” Bennett says, tucking his tail back behind him. “He may have been a rodent, but he had big dreams. In fact, he—never mind,” he says when he sees my serious face.
Bennett’s head is tilted to the side, his jaw clenched. He’s uncomfortable.
“Seeing me was probably just some way of collecting data points on how long it would take for me to fall for you,” I say, adjusting the stick-on mustache that has slipped down over my lip.
“All of that is not true. Please, Olivia. Let’s just forget about this stupid wager. I want to be with you. Let’s not fight.”
When Bennett’s this close, I can’t stop myself from thinking about the way he smells. His smile. His lips. I can still feel his arms wrapped around my waist pulling me into him. My heart aches at the memory. But there’s no use. It’s too late.
I look at the ground. “It’s pointless,” I say, my sadness crystallizing into something firmer. How could I have let my guard down? “Honestly, what’s the use? All roads lead to moments like this. I don’t make the rules.”
“Yet you’re so good at enforcing them,” Bennett says.
“We believe in different things,” I say.
“You have this idea in your head that we’re incompatible, but I disagree,” Bennett urges in a low voice. “I think that people can surprise you. That’s what love is about. That’s what the zodiac you’ve worked to promote your entire life is about.”
“You don’t get to tell me what the zodiac, love, or my life is about.”
Bennett rubs his hand against his forehead. “Do you really think I started ZodiaCupid to put Lunar Love out of business? Do I come off as that terrible of a person to you? That I’m single-handedly trying to destroy the zodiac itself?”
“I don’t know what your scheme is!” I shout-whisper defensively. “You’re such a Rat! I figured you out early on, and I should’ve known I’d be right. You take other people’s ideas to get a free ride, you try to please everyone so you’re not rejected by anyone, you’re dishonest and secretive, and you mislead for your own advantage.”
As soon as the words come out, I regret them.
Bennett looks at me stunned and quiet, any trace of a smile wiped clean from his face. “Maybe you’re right,” he says dejectedly. “I’ve been trying to figure out who I am for a long time, and you figured it out after knowing me for what, a month? You’re never going to trust me, are you?”
Trusting is a dangerous game, especially when it comes to the rules of compatibility. I’ve already bent those rules too much. We’re incompatible, and I should never have let myself get this far with him. I bite my lip.
Bennett gives a small, humorless laugh, the upturned crease next to his typically happy hazel eyes nonexistent. “I’m not your ex-boyfriend, Olivia. I’m not going to leave you or hurt you. I may not be a compatible animal sign, but I’m definitely not him,” he says, looking pained.