Noelle stared at her brother in annoyance. They were supposed to be discussing some work Max wanted done on his website, but the minute she arrived at his house he'd been distracted. He was supposedly stuck on a very important phone call and Chelsea said he'd be done in just a few minutes, but almost fifteen had passed and he still wasn't done.

She didn't have a particularly busy day, but that didn't mean she wanted to hang around her brother's house and play the waiting game. She could be at her own house, in her own comfortable 'lazy day' clothes that included not having to wear a bra.

After dropping Jacob off at school in the morning, Noelle stopped by her favorite cafe to meet with her best friend, Kylee. She needed to confide in someone about her ridiculous crush on a man she's only met once, but was a constant visitor in her mind. Kylee would be the perfect person to either tell her the tough truth and to move on with life, or to keep dreaming big.

Kylee and Noelle weren't friends growing up, but knew of each other. They didn't dislike one another, they just never belonged in the Colee circles at the time. It wasn't until Noelle had her first ultrasound that she ran into Kylee again. It took only one appointment for them to click and become friends after that. Kylee was a godsend to a pregnant Noelle. Answering all her silly questions about pregnancy that she didn't want to ask her own mom. Kylee was also there when NiJacob was born. She checked in on Noelle and left her premade meals and gift baskets to help them get by. Noelle didn't know what she would have done without her family and Kylee behind her and she decided very quickly that they were best of friends.

When Noelle told Kylee of the person who had taken full-time residence in her mind, she was mind blown. "So you're obsessed with a former football player who was dressed as Santa Claus and Jacob told him he wanted a dad for Christmas? Girl...your life could be a reality show!" Kylee couldn't help but rib at Noelle about it. For as long as they'd been friends, Noelle rarely mentioned any sort of attractions and had only been on a handful of first dates (most of them at the request of Kylee).

"Ugh. Now I regret telling you," Noelle joked. She actually felt relief to not have this only on her shoulders. Although it felt a little silly to recount what was going on in her mind, the smitten look on Kylee's face told her that she wasn't too crazy to have such feelings.

"This is big. It's amazing. It's....I don't even know. Can I see that picture of him and Jacob again?" She stared long and hard at the picture when Noelle handed her phone to her to look at it. It almost made her jealous with how intently Kylee was starting. However, she knew Kylee just left a longterm relationship and was on a 'man fast'. "I swear, the more I look at this the more I can actually hear my uterus telling me to get to work." They shared a laugh and their food made it to them shortly after.

Kylee urged Noelle to try to speak to Cole again to see if everything was just in her head or to see if maybe there was something more. Either that or try to get back on the dating train. When Noelle mentioned that she did make a dating profile, Kylee almost shed tears of joy. "I feel like a mother watching her daughter grow up right before her eyes," she put on an Oscar worthy performance.

"I haven't really looked at it. The first couple of guys I browsed were only interested in fun for a night. I thought this app was for more serious dating?"

"Well...they all usually start out that way, but the one-hit wonders always leak in eventually. I'm sure there are some good men in there too, don't you worry...or you can always drive to a certain farm and take one of the cowboys for a ride," Kylee said with her eyebrows wagging. Noelle could only respond with a groan and threw her napkin at her.

"I swear I can't take you anywhere!" Noelle joked. "I can't just take a random trip there. It would be obvious. If we ever see one another again, it will have to be purely accidental for me to believe it could be anything more. Otherwise it's just a stalker situation."

Kylee wanted to argue with her and tell her that sometimes things have to be forced. She knew how stubborn her friend was though and knew when go let her live in her delusions. If she knew Cole Kingston personally, she'd plan an accidental meeting herself. Maybe things would happen on their own without anyone forcing it. She said a silent prayer in her head for Noelle, knowing she deserved all of the good things in life, especially love. She decided to steer the conversation a slightly different way. Maybe this would help get her out of her own head so she could see how bad it is out there in the dating world and then she'd be more inclined to pursue the football player.

"Back to the dating app. Let's open it up and see if you've had anyone reach out to you." Noelle kept her focus on her food, but slipped her phone to Kylee so she could look herself. The trust she put in Kylee made her heart warm. Upon opening the app, she saw there were a handful of notifications. "Whoa mama, someone is popular already. You have eight messages. Eight! Is it okay if I read through them? I can clear out the creeps." As Noelle nodded her head and ducked in shyness due to her friends loud, carrying voice, Kylee skimmed through the messages and quickly blocked a few guys who were huge red flags. She did come across one that seemed interesting and she couldn't pinpoint why.

"Hmmm...there's one guy whose profile shows that he's not really looking for longterm, but his messaging game is strong. Seems to have a decent head on his shoulders. Not bad looking either. His message is cute and funny. Wanna see?"

Noelle shook her head. "Not really. Maybe just read what he said? What's his name?"

"It just says Zach K."