Page 31 of Shane

“Why, do you like it?” he grins. “It’s totally me, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know you well enough to say if a ridiculously expensive foreign car is you or not.”

“That’s fair, beautiful.”

“Hey, can you not call me that?”

“I see that the truth bothers you?”

“That’s cute, but no.”

“Then why?”

“We don’t know each other well enough for nicknames.”

“Beautiful is an innocuous term of endearment.”

Obviously, by the way he throws it around with every girl on campus.

“You’re making my point for me. We shouldn’t be using terms of endearment with each other.”

“At least not yet.”

“Whatever,” I roll my eyes, trying not to crack a smile. Shane flirts like a kitten batting around a ball of yarn. “Do you flirt with all the girls on campus like this?”

“Is that what you think?” he gets super serious momentarily. “That I’m flirting with every girl that I speak to?”

“I mean, sure, that’s just your personality, right? You call me beautiful. You called Lisa beautiful.”

I think a look of self-realization fills his eyes.

“So you think I kiss every girl on campus, too?”

I assumed he didn’t remember what happened at the bar crawl because he’d probably had too much to drink that night.

But it looks like he did.

“That wasn’t arealkiss,” I say, trying to downplay the unforgettable act when it’s all I’ve thought about since that night.

“I can give you another one for comparison.”

“I’ll pass.”

“I promise I can do better.” His eyes twinkle with mischief.

“Will you stop?”

“Get in.” He pats the passenger seat, laughing at my expense.

“Are you independently wealthy?” I ask, remembering how he casually had a hundred-dollar bill in his back pocket at the bar crawl and now this.

“The car is a rental. I will park it at the airport so we have a ride when we return.”

“Why can’t we just take an Uber?”

“I have practice the same day we land. I want to ensure I get you home and get to the rink on time. Plus, I can store my duffles in the trunk.”

“And you can afford that?”

---