Page 63 of Home With You

"I have, and I couldn't find anything. I don't want to talk about it. It's Friday and the last thing I want to think about is work." I go to the couch and sit down, putting my feet up. "How about you? How are things at the car dealership?"

"Good." He pauses. "I asked Kristen out."

"And? What'd she say?"

"We're going to dinner tonight. I'm picking her up at seven."

"Is this a friends thing or a date?"

"Not sure. I just asked if she was doing anything tonight and when she said she wasn't, I asked her to dinner."

"I'm sure she thinks it's a date."

"I doubt it. She hasn't given me any signs she likes me that way."

"Maybe she didn't think you were interested."

"How could she not know I was interested? I practically begged her to go out with me in high school."

"Yeah, but that was years ago."

"Trust me, she knows I'm interested. I get all nervous around her, just like I did in high school. I don't know how I'm going to make it through dinner. I'm already so nervous I'm sweating."

"Just relax. Think of tonight as two friends going out so there isn't so much pressure. If it ends up being more than that, great. If not, you'll find someone else."

"Yeah, I guess. So what are you doing tonight?"

"Not sure yet. The guys from work keep asking me to go out for a beer but I haven't done it yet."

"Why not?"

"Because they'll talk about work the whole time. They actually like the job so it's all they ever want to talk about."

"You need to meet a girl. What about the girl in your office building? The one who asked you out?"

"I didn't see her last week. I think she was on vacation."

"So you're just going to spend another Friday night alone? That's like four in a row now. What happened to you, man? You used to be the guy who had to be out every night and now you're not even going on out the weekends."

"I am. I'm just...never mind."

I haven't told Greg about Raine. I usually tell him everything but I've been putting off telling him about Raine because I know he'll tell me to stay away from her.

"What were you going to say?" he asks. "Are you dating someone and didn't tell me?"

I hesitate, then just say it. "I met a girl but we're not dating. We're taking things slow."

"When did you meet her?"

"A few weeks ago."

"A few weeks? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because there's not much to tell. We went to dinner once, and got coffee, but other than that, we haven't really been out."

"Did you meet her at work?"

"No. She lives around here. I met her at the coffee shop near my apartment."

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