Page 19 of Deck the Fire Halls

So yeah, kicking my bike over before seven and giving the throttle an extra turn while smiling at his bedroom wall was a great way to start my day.

Like having dinner with him the night before was a great way to spend my evening.

I’d spent only a handful of hours with him in total, and I couldn’t say I really knew him at all, but I liked him.

As inlikedhim.

There was something about him that drew me in.

Something I couldn’t get out of my head.

“Hey,” Chuck greeted me with a grin. “So? How’d it go?”

Of course he knew I was having dinner with Rob last night.

I couldn’t help the grin. I squared my helmet, wallet, and keys away in my locker and turned to him, not even caring what my face gave away. “It went well.”

His eyebrows almost met his hairline. “You banged already?”

I scoffed out a laugh. “No, dude. No. It’s not like that. It’s... I dunno. It’s...”

“It’s what?”

“I don’t wanna say nice, because that sounds lame. But it’s just... nice, man. I like him. And he’s different.”

“Different how? Like weird different?”

“No. Different from the others.”

He stared and his mouth did some weird O thing. “I see.”

“You see what?”

“You’re down bad already after one date.”

I laughed. “It wasn’t really a date.” Though it kinda was. “It was just dinner. We talked, ate some food, talked some more, and I went back to my place.”

“No banging?”

“No.”

“Did you make out?”

“No.”

He squinted at me. “Did you kiss at all?”

“Nope.”

He seemed confused by this. “But your entire gameplay is the nail and bail while you wait for Mr. Perfect to fall in your lap.”

I stopped and stared at him, my shoulders falling. “It is not.”

Chuck raised one eyebrow. “Dude.”

“Look, my previous casual approach was only because there were no dating prospects. Those guys had specific needs that I helped fulfill. They were bar hookups in a different town, nothing more.” I shrugged. “If I still lived in Missoula and not just visited on random weekends, then maybe I’d have got to know them better.”

“Like learn their first names?”

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