Page 35 of The One I Love
“Well, that’s too bad. You would have really liked that restaurant.”
“Why are you like this?”
“Part of my charm. Come on. Spill.”
He can’t know. Even if we were telling our friend group, Simon would be the last person to know. Well, either him orOliver. Simon because he’s an instigator and Oliver because he’d be too excited to keep it in. Same results, different energy.
But I know he’s going to dig in his heels about this, so I need to figure out a way to appease him, while also keeping this a secret.
“This is the first date,” I begin. “And we’re keeping things quiet until we’ve been out a few times. But if anything happens, you’ll be the first to meet her.”
His face turns serious. “The first, you say?”
“Before my mother.”
This gets his attention. “Before Barb? The woman who last year ran an ad in the newspaper asking for any single woman to please go out with her son because she wants grandchildren?”
“The very one.”
“Damn.” Simon finally takes off the black suit jacket and tosses it to the side. “This is for real, isn’t it?”
And just like that, Simon the arrogant prick is gone and replaced with the Simon we only see when he wants us to.
“Yeah, man, it is.”
“Is this your first date?”
“I already told you it was.”
Simon shakes his head. “No, not you and mystery woman, who for now I will call Mary since you won’t give me a name. For you. Specifically. When was the last time you went on anactualdate?”
I sit back and think about the question, because the answer is I don’t know. “What do you constitute as a date?”
“A planned outing that wasn’t just for sex.”
“Then never.”
Simon’s jaw drops. “Never? Shane, my friend, I am the king of not being in a relationship. I’ve practically perfected it. But even I have taken the occasional woman out from time to time. How have you never been on an actual date?”
“I don’t know,” I say with a shrug. “Just never been interested in taking anyone on a date.”
That’s mostly the truth. If I would have had the balls, I would have asked Amelia out years ago. It just never felt like the right time. I was also pretty sure she was going to shoot me down, and I didn’t need to live with that rejection.
“Shane, I need to ask you something,” Simon leans closer toward me. “Are you a…virgin?”
I laugh and shake my head. “No. I’m not a virgin.”
“Thank God,” Simon says. “I wasn’t ready to have that talk with you.”
I laugh. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have called you for that.”
“Why not? I must say I’ve never had a complaint in that department.”
“No. Your complaints come the next morning when you ask them to leave.”
Simon shrugs. “Some that night. But never during.”
We share a laugh as Simon grabs his phone and types something. “There. Sent a text to the restaurant owner. He has you down for two at seven-thirty.”
