I made a mental note to ask Eve how shereallyfelt about the arcade later. But I needed more information from Spencer. “Did you kiss her?”

His cheeks burned bright red, and for a second, I had hope. With a sharp inhale, I grabbed his arm. “Did you?”

“Let’s talk about something else, okay?”

“No, I want to know if you kissed, because if you didn’t, Spencer Whitaker, you’re missing out on opportunities, and I won’t let you squander it!”

“No, we didn’t, okay?” He stared gloomily through the window at the ocean outside.

“Why not?”

“Never mind that. We need to talk about your date on Tuesday.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“I set up a date for you on Tuesday. I’ve been on two. You’re behind.”

“Spencer,” I said, my features turning stony, “we are not talking about my dates. We are talking about your date. Any why you didn’t kiss Eve. Now, why?”

“We didn’t…it just…the opportunity didn’t present itself, okay?”

I heaved a sigh, shaking my head. “Spencer, you have to make the opportunity present itself. When she gets to her door, you don’t…let her walk in. You…kinda block it a little so you can cup her face in your hand and–”

“Okay, lesson learned. Now, on to your date.” He waved a dismissive hand in the air.

He was avoiding something. I knew Spencer well enough to know this behavior clearly indicated that he was hiding something from me. I also knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t tell me until it had simmered for a little.

“All right, all right. I’ll let you off the hook. For now,” I said with a wag of my finger.

“Good, now let’s talk about your upcoming date. I set it up at The Lawn. His name is Henry Caldwell.”

Henry. I struggled not to roll my eyes at the name. “Picture?”

Spencer eagerly dug his cell phone from his pocket, tapping on it before he swiveled it toward me.

“Hmm, I suppose he’ll pass.”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” he warned me.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going. See how well I’m taking all of this? Way better than you did when I told you about dating.”

“Iam a completely different story. You want to find love, Louise. And I want you to find it, too. You’ve been chained to me for long enough.”

“Oh, Spence. I hardly see it as chained.” I settled next to him, leaning back into the cushions. “You did me a honey of a favor. Which is why you’re making me date.”

“So, I did you a favor, and now you’re punishing me for it?”

I smacked him playfully. “I’m not punishing you. Eve is a nice girl.”

“So, you’re punishing her?”

I shot him a tongue-in-cheek glare. “Now, what is that supposed to mean?”

“You set me, a person who is happily alone with his computer, up with a nice girl who must endure my awkwardness.”

“Well, y’all made it onto two dates. And…if she had fun at the arcade, I’m guessing you’ll go for three.”

He shifted in his seat, refusing to look at me again. “Umm, yes, we’ll…we’ll probably see each other again. We haven’t made set plans with the upcoming travel.”