Page 34 of Adorkable

I shook my head. “That is so wrong.”

Becks rolled his eyes. “So, who is this guy anyway?” He took a seat in his desk chair and gestured for me to do the same. “He must be something for you to go to all this trouble.”

Setting my hat and cloak on the floor, lowering myself slowly to the bed, straight-backed on the very edge, I forced myself not to look away. “He is,” I said.

Becks made a weird noise in the back of his throat. “You could at least tell me the jerk’s name.”

“No.”

“Aw, come on.”

“No, Becks.”

“Why not?”

Because youarethat jerk, I thought, but just shook my head.

Becks furrowed his brow, deep in thought. Finally, he said, “Then can you just tell me about him? Is he athletic?”

Without meaning to, I took a glance at all the soccer trophies lining Becks’s shelves. “Yes,” I replied. “Very.”

Becks nodded. “So, a jock, then. Must be pretty stupid, huh?”

Thinking of all the times he’d made honor roll, I shook my head. “He’s actually really smart. Sounds like a great package, doesn’t it?”

He made that noise again then said, “He’s hideous, isn’t he? Has a face only a mother could love, a mug that makes little kids cry on sight. Wonky ears, jacked-up teeth, a unibrow.”

Picturing Becks with a unibrow, I laughed out loud, relaxed for the first time since I’d entered his room. “No way, he’s totally beautiful.”

“Beautiful?” Becks repeated dubiously. “Wait, is this guy one of those metro-sexuals or something? It’s not that Beau LaFontaine from Physics is it? Ah, Sal, I thought you had better taste than that.”

Still smiling, I let myself recline back a little on the bed. This was sort of fun. “No, that’s not really my type. Besides, I don’t think Beau’s all that into sports.”

Becks seemed to sag in relief.

“Why so interested?”

He suddenly righted himself, grinning, back to the confident Becks I’d always known. “No reason,” he said. “Just wanted to know what we’re dealing with. So, you ready to start lesson one?”

“Lesson?”

“Yeah, Sal.” The twinkle in his eyes made me feel nervous and excited, scared and hopeful all at once. “Like I said before, if we’re going to make this believable, you’re going to have to get used to us having more physical contact.”

Physical contact? That sounded ominous.

He laughed. “Wouldn’t want any future girlfriends getting the wrong impression, right? Your skittish reactions might put a damper on my rep. We need to practice here before we take it public”

“Go on,” I said slowly.

Standing, he walked over and took a seat next to me on the bed. Angling his body toward mine, he said, “I thought we’d start easy, just a little touch exercise, since you seem so edgy.”

Ignoring my thumping heart, I said, “I’m not edgy.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Are to.”

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