Page 25 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

My mouth falls.

Shit, is heright?

Aaron suggested we go for coffee, and I didn’t think twice about it. But if TJ’s right, it means he’s not sure if he’s interested in me.

“So, Aaron’s not into me, then?”

“Not necessarily. You could be the exception, but if you ask me, he’s giving himself an out. In case he needs to run for the hills mid-date. Or pull the bathroom trick.”

I join him at the table, dropping on the chair across from his. “What’s the bathroom trick?”

He looks at me like he’s not sure if I’m kidding. “You don’t know the bathroom trick?”

The expression on my face must be answer enough because he lets out a laugh.

“Damn, Mattson. You’ve got a lot to learn.”

Do I? I used to consider myself pretty decent, if not good, at this whole dating thing, but this is making me wonder if my yearlong celibacy’s turned me into a clueless idiot.

“I do not. I’m just not familiar with the bathroom trick, that’s all,” I argue.

He cocks an eyebrow as though he’s not buying it and thinks on his answer for a second. “Fine. The bathroom trick is when you’re on a bad date, so you excuse yourself to the bathroom, but then you just never come back.”

Ouch. People really do that?

“And if you’re thinking sometimes you have a clear shot of the exit, so they can’t leave without you seeing them, I promise you they aren’t above sneaking out the bathroom window.”

My confidence in the male species is increasing by the second.

“Speaking from experience, I assume?”

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear TJ pulled the bathroom trick himself. He seems like the kind of guy who could easily abandon a girl on a first date.

“Nice try, but this isn’t about me,” he deflects.

I snort out a laugh. “That’s a yes.”

He doesn’t deny it. “Any other questions?”

“Yes, one. Why not just come clean? Say something like, ‘Hey, you seem really nice, but I don’t think this is going to work out’?” I ask.

He laughs. “You poor, innocent little thing.”

I frown. “What?”

“Dating 101: if there’s any way people can avoid an uncomfortable situation, they’re going to take it. Every single time, without fail.”

I slouch into my seat. “So, what? They just sneak out and then never speak to that person again?”

He nods. “Yeah. That or make up an excuse. Which brings me to our next lesson. Ghosting. I can assume you’re familiar with the concept?”

Of course I am. I might be single, but I haven’t been living under a rock.

I nod. “What about it?”

“Have you ever been ghosted before?”

All the time. When I was in high school, Theo wouldn’t answer most of my messages and only got back to me when he was horny. It didn’t stop me, though. It only made me want himmore. Makes me sick just thinking about how much disrespect I accepted.

---