Page 24 of Tongue-Tied

“Well, you gotta start somewhere. Maybe I could learn a thing or two in the process,” I huff out. “But you started it by bringing up Dildo Baggins.”

“Jesus Christ.” He averts his eyes as if to double-check no one is listening. “I don’t even know how I meant the whole teaching thing. I’ve watched you flirt and get numbers plenty of times, and I’ve never learned through osmosis.”

“True.” I think back to what I witnessed when I first walked in. “You’re perfectly capable of having conversations with Angelica’s friends. It’s not much different.”

He rolls his eyes. “It’s easier with girls because I’m gay. It’s some of the guys I struggle with.”

“Well, I’m a guy, and you’re comfortable with me,” I point out.

“That’s different.”

I hitch a shoulder. “It doesn’t have to be.”

He scrunches his face. “I don’t…want things from you.”

My stomach constricts. “Gee, thanks.”

“You know what I mean.” He playfully shoves me. “I’m not secretly longing for you to look my way or talk to me. Unless you’re ignoring me for some stupid reason.”

I laugh. “Right, same. No more being mad at me.”

“I can’t help it when you put me in awkward situations with hot guys.”

“No need to keep putting me on blast. I promised not to do that anymore.” I take a breath. “Right now, I’m only focusing on you and me.”

I certainly don’t want to disappoint him again. And what if I can’t even pull that off? Somehow, when it comes to my best friend, I’m messing up a lot lately. He just means so much to me. So maybe I can think of a few ways to get him to feel more confident, like when he was playing darts at the party or just now talking about romance books with Luna.

One by one, the tables begin to clear because this guy Chase and some other theater majors are about to film a livestream about college life for a class project, and it sucks to have to be quiet. But it's kind of cool to watch too. I whisper to Milo that I’ll meet him back at the house and then wait for Austin to throw away his leftovers before walking out with him.

“What exactly are you proposing?” Austin asks as we head toward the dorm.

I swallow the boulder in my throat. “Practice on me.”

“Get the hell out!” He places his face in his hands. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“Sure you can.” I glance at the empty walkway. “How about right now? No one’s around. Just pretend for one minute…”

“What do you want me to pretend?”

“That we just met at a bar or a party.”

He stills as if I just asked him to streak naked or something.

“Okay, I’ll go first, then.” I clear my throat, sidle up to him, and think of the cheesiest pickup line. “Baby, if you were words on a page, you’d be fine print.”

Austin guffaws. “Does that really work for you?”

“It works for a laugh. You couldn’t help yourself.” I nudge his shoulder. “Try it.”

He grows silent as he thinks it through, then pumps his eyebrows for effect. “Know what my shirt’s made of? Total boyfriend material.”

I burst out laughing because it’s as ridiculous as my one-liner.

“See? It’s good for comic relief.”

He shakes his head. “Except knowing me, I’d flub the line and say something like, ‘Do you play baseball because you look like a keeper!’”

I stare at him. “I don’t get it.”

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