Page 126 of How to Win the Girl

“How are you so tan? Do you run around with no shirt on?” I’m confused.

“I run during the week. Sometimes I don’t have a shirt on—I get sweaty. And we play a lot of pickup games in the park. Guess I don’t wear a shirt then, either.”

My nod is slow.

“You’re starting to make that face again,” he tells me. “The hot and bothered one.” Pause. “You probably shouldn’t play any poker in Vegas.”

“I’ll remember that next time I’m in Vegas.”

“Ever been?”

thirty-four

drake

I may not have been your first kiss, or your first fuck. But I want to be your last of everything.

“No,but my cousin Georgia got drunk and married her roommate there once,” are the last words I thought would come out of her mouth.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“My cousin went to Vegas with her roommate—some rugby player from London—and they got drunk and handsy in a hot tub and ended up in a drive-through wedding chapel.”

“Are you bein’ serious right now?”

“Serious as a heart attack.”

“Wow. That’s…” Crazy.

Wild.

Awesome.

“Would you do somethin’ like that?”

“Would you?”

“You can’t answer my question with a question. It’s against the rules.”

“I’d also probably have to be drunk.” She sighs. “Would you?”

“If I was in love, I would.” Maybe.

“Have you ever been in love?”

“No. Have you already forgotten I’ve never had a relationship with anyone other than my football coaches?” My father saw to that. In fact, it shocks me to this day that my brothers Dallas and Duke are in seemingly “normal” relationships.

“I do keep forgetting that,” Daisy says. “I just assume, ’cause you’re so…you, that you would have had a girlfriend.”

“I’m some. What does that mean?”

“Yes. You’re funny and a good catch. It blows my mind that you haven’t had at least one or two girlfriends. Ever.”

“You think I’m a good catch?”

Daisy rolls her eyes. “You know you are.”

“I mean. Yeah.”

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