Page 22 of Totally Geeked

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I reach for Arlo’s bag, but he shakes his head and carries it to the truck himself, so I open the door for him and then make my way round to the driver's side.

“Ready?” he asks, climbing in and putting on his seat belt. He’s holding a notebook and pencil in his hands.

“Did you bring some sketches?” I ask, and he laughs.

“This is for my notes.”

“Notes on what?”

“You’re teaching me to flirt, remember.”

“You’re going to take notes?”

“Sure, how else will I be able to study and make sure I know it all?”

I try my best to contain my smile, start the engine, and pull out of the drive.

“Okay, well we have two hours to Jacksonville, let‘s see how much of that notebook we can fill.”

“Ready,” he says, flipping open to the first lined page and writing a number one. “Go.”

“Okay, first rule of flirting, you aren't trying to be someone else, so just be yourself.”

“That can’t be a rule. I’ve been myself for years and it’s gotten me a total of zero dates and one ex-boyfriend who was using me to get a commission.”

“You’re joking, right?”

He shakes his head.

“Nope, he was my agent for a while. He set up the first meeting with this publishing house, and then once he had his commission check, he ghosted me. So being myself, not really working out for me.”

“Just because the last guy was a dick doesn't mean there was anything wrong with you. It’s still number one. Write it down,” I say, nodding toward his notepad.

“Alright, but trust me, geeky redheads with no charisma aren't exactly guy bait.”

“Trustme, pretending to be someone else won’t help you in the long run. If you got a guy pretending to be someone else, you’d then have to continue to pretend the entire time you are with them. Nope, too hard, and totally not worth the effort it takes to play the part. The goal of flirting is to highlight who you are to the people who want to see you. Not the dicks who don’t get you.”

He nods and writes it down, but I can tell he doesn't believe me. He doesn’t see that he is amazing, and sweet and kind and creative and that is what will attract the right guy.

I want the same thing. To attract the right guy for me. A guy who will want to get to know me, not just fuck my brains out.

“Alright, what’s rule two?” Arlo asks with a smile that lights up his whole face.

“Smile easily and often.”

“Smile?”

“Yep.” His smile grows wider, reaching his eyes, and they do that sparkle thing they do that instantly has my lips mirror his expression. “Just like that is perfect. See? I can’t help but smile back. So yeah, look at the guy and smile.”

He turns his attention to the notepaper.

“Okay. Umm, what else?”

I try to think of what else I can tell him about flirting. I could go through some of my cheesy pickup lines that have worked in the past, but I don’t think that he would really want to be going up to a guy and telling him how good his outfit would look on his floor in the morning light. Nope, not telling him that one. But what else do I do to flirt besides offering up sex through innuendo? “Oh, touching,” I say, and he drops his pencil.

“What?” he asks, leaning forward to try to find it on the floor.

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