Page 6 of Love's a Glitch
3
Ellie
“Holy mother of…” I twisted the phone screen to show my long-haired Himalayan calico kitty the pictures of Luke. Due to past experiences, I’d expected him to send pictures of himself at the gym, or lying back in bed shirtless, leaving me no choice but to declare him a fuckboy.
Or worse, that I wouldn’t be attracted to the guy who’d made me smile on one of the worst nights of my life, and that’d make me shallow.
But the dude on my screen was completely droolworthy. Enough so that Dottie licked the screen. To be fair, my rescue kitty did that to most everything, forever hoping she’d discover something tasty.
Speaking of, Luke wasn’t the only gorgeousness in the pictures. Every shot included beautiful natural backdrops.
The first photo showed him waist-deep in a river with white rapids in the middle. People were climbing into the raft he was holding steady, and perhaps I hadn’t been cleared of that shallow charge quite yet, as I couldn’t help despising the life jacket covering up his torso. On the bright side, it left his muscular arms on display. Naturally, I took a moment to enjoy them before zooming in to examine his face. Strong jaw, covered in dirty blonde scruff. His helmet and sunglasses prevented me from making out any further details.
I’d never considered blonde guys my type, but I was fairly certain this guy was most people’s type. What was he doing talking to someone who’d sent an unflattering photo and desperate declaration of love?
Instead of examining that too closely, I chose to examine the next photo, and not only because Luke didn’t have a shirt. He stood on a bridge so rickety my heart ceased beating, the tightness in my chest rising up to claim my throat. Did people actually traverse those? I thought they were just in action movies to prove how tough the hero was and make it seem like he might fall during his attempt to get away.
A baseball cap and sunglasses covered the top half of his face, and backpack straps emphasized the division of his shoulders and defined pecs, andoh my. Hiking and climbing were very good for the physique.
Guess I should try hiking, but not on whatever trail of death this is.
The last picture was of Luke relaxing on a hammock a hundred or so feet in the air, one leg dangling over as though there were a cushy lawn underneath to catch him instead of pointy rocks and pines. The grin stretched across his scruffy face elicited butterflies, and I couldn’t help thinking whoever’d taken the picture was one lucky person.
Hopefully they were still alive and stuff, as that looked like the sort of trek only half the party came back from.
When he’d said adventurous, the dude meant it. Judging from these photos, he crossed deep into adrenaline junkie territory. Was there a line between adventurous and insane? Exactly how fine was it?
I wasn’t sure, but studying these photos left me yearning to walk it.
I zoomed in on his face, happy he’d included a photo without a hat, helmet, or sunglasses to obscure his features. “Fine applies to more than the line, don’t you think, kitty?”
Dottie gnawed on the end of my phone, and I lifted it out of her reach, earning a disgruntled meow.
“If anyone’s licking or biting this guy, it’s me.” The dots dancing inside the gray bubble left me paranoid Luke had somehow heard me, and my neck heated from more than the ogling I’d done.
Luke:Did I scare you with my hobbies?
Me:Mostly I’m just scared on your behalf. My sense of adventure is, like, seeing a guppy. Yours is swimming with sharks.
Me:Don’t tell me you’ve swum with sharks.
Luke:Ok, I won’t tell you.
“How intriguingly cryptic.”Did I press for details? Did I cut our conversation short so he’d be the intrigued one? I didn’t like playing games, but guys didn’t like women who were too convenient or overshared or outstayed their welcome. It was all about choosing the bait, setting the hook, and then letting them reel themselves to you.
I didn’t think that was how fishing worked, and it struck me a bit odd that a male dating coach would use that an analogy for his female clients, but what did I know?
So, even though I was enjoying this back and forth more than most of the interactions I’d taken part in on my dating app, I needed to play it right. Especially since Luke with the amazing grin and abs hadn’t asked if I was single, or mentioned he was, and it’d be so like me to get all wrapped up in a guy who didn’t have as much as an inkling of romantic feelings for me.
Honestly, I did have a busy day to get started. I’d awoken to a message this morning from Ben, a guy I’d gone on a few decent dates with. Things just never really took off from there. I’d sensed he was holding back, and according to his message, earlier this year when we’d gone out, he hadn’t fully healed from a rough breakup. But he claimed to be ready now and asked if I’d like to grab dinner later this week.
A real date in hand was better than two in the bush, whatever that saying meant. The idea was to go for the sure thing, and I’d learned my lesson when it came to waiting on guys who never planned to commit.
“Keep it light and flirty,” I muttered to myself, typing a message and then editing it so many times the tattletale bubble on his end was letting him know I was struggling. Before I could overthink my words yet again, I quickly hit send.
Me:I’m totally going to get that shark story out of you, but I’ve got a big day planned.
Luke:Cool. Anything fun?
