Page 8 of Shamrock Kisses

She laughs, shaking her head. “No.”

“Then why did they giggle so much when I introduced myself?”I hope it wasn’t my awkward handshake.

She smiles, her eyes teasing. “Tell you what—if we win this game, I’ll tell you.”

“I thought we were aiming for last-place champs?”

“Maybe I changed my mind.” Rachel shrugs mischievously.

Well, now I’m motivated.

“Hey,” I say, changing the subject. “I saw you wearing earbuds yesterday. I could never—how are they comfortable for you?”

“They just are?”

“I’m a big headphones guy.”

“Fits with your hot, nerdy vibe.”

She thinks I’m hot?!I blink, thrown off.

“So, are you a New Balance or Nike kind of guy?” she asks, checking me out with a playful look.

She’s flirting with me?!There is no need to overanalyze this. I was telling myself she was being nice before, but this is blatant flirting. “What do you think?” I flirt back.

“New Balance seems obvious, but maybe you’re a sneakerhead.” She gives me a quick once-over, looking down at my shoes. “Or maybe you don’t wear mainstream brands.”

“I own, like, five pairs of shoes. I’m trying to be a minimalist.”

“Well, I own about a hundred pairs, so I’m not sure this will work.”

I take a sip of the beer to gather myself, unable to say what I’m thinking, which is that it wouldn’t be a deal breaker.I’m so flustered.

“I saw you wearing glasses yesterday. How blind are you?” She’s clearly enjoying this game of back and forth or enjoying how fucking nervous she’s making me.

“I don’t know what the definition of legally blind is, but I have to be close.”

“Same. I couldn’t function without contacts or glasses.”

“I promise my eyes are worse.”

“Well, one of us should always carry glasses then,” she jokes. “For safety.”

“For safety.” Even though I might have a heart attack, I like this rhythm between us.

“You’re really bad,” she says as I miss again.

Our opponents are pros, and they’re demolishing us. The balls keep sinking into our cups with painful precision.

“I wasn’t much of a party guy in college. More of a gamer, hacker kinda guy.”

“Hacking?”

“Yeah.” I don’t want to bore her, but she looks interested. “I hacked into the company I work for now. Caused enough of an inconvenience that they hired me.”

“Badass!”

She thinks that’s cool?That makes me feel more confident.

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