“Kenzie, Daniel and I are talking.”
She frowned. “But I’m a girl.”
“Yes, a very pretty one. Who bakes the best cookies and is ignoring her guests.” Just as she started scowling, he added, “Rachel was talking smack about you. I tried to defend you, but—”
“Hey, you. Yeah, Rachel, I’m talking to you.” She stormed over to the group.
* * *
Daniel was in awe. “You totally deflected that.”
“It’s a gift.” Evan sipped his soda, not drinking beer tonight since he’d said he planned on driving home soon.
Daniel kept waiting for him to sleep over, but so far, Evan and Kenzie weren’t doing much more than kissing or holding hands in front of him, staying nights at their respective houses. And the kisses were short. Not that Daniel wanted to see any tongue action, but he would have liked to see them moving toward being a real couple.
He liked Evan. A lot. Evan was real with him, not trying to be his best friend or anything but not ignoring him or trying to get Kenzie all to himself. Kenzie had shared a few things Evan had told her, about how much it had hurt Evan to lose his fiancée to cancer. About how he still loved and took care of his mom. About how he worked hard and had plenty of money, to somehow ease Daniel’s conscience in case Daniel might think Evan was out to steal from them.
He didn’t know. He only knew Evan had become his friend, and not just because of Kenzie.
“So you were saying about girls…?”
“Oh, right.” Evan put the soda down. He looked dressed up even when he wasn’t. Daniel wondered if he could be like that. “Girls, under all their illogical weirdness, are people too. But you need to be straight with them. Pretending you like something some girl does, just to get her attention, is one thing. But then you have to keep pretending you like it when you’re dating, and then it’s lying. Lying and relationships don’t work.”
“Well, I get that. But what if you, say, liked a girl but she didn’t know you existed? I mean, how would you get her to talk to you if you say she’s obnoxious? Besides, even if she is, you might still like her.” Because Pam Webber was totally cute and sarcastic, and she loved computers. Sometimes she snorted when she laughed, which always made him smile. Plus she’d changed over the summer, looking more grown-up. Which he liked a lot too.
“What would I do? Find what you have in common and try to talk to her about it. I know girls like to travel in packs, which makes it tough to get one alone.”
“Well, typically in nature, the hunter separates the weak one from the herd and takes it down. Should I do that?”
“You lost me.”
Daniel felt stupid. “Well, that’s what they showed on the nature channel. This awesome lion took down a wildebeest and didn’t get trampled or anything.”
“Unless you want to date a wildebeest, I don’t suggest taking her down. Tiger.” Evan snickered.
Daniel tried not to blush.
“I’m messing with you. No. You like a girl, you talk to her when she’s alone, in between classes or at her locker. Or in a club. And you talk about the things you have in common. What does she like that you like? Do you know?”
“Computers.”
“Perfect. So you talk about computers, and then you segue into asking her favorite drink or food. She tells you, and you ask her if she’d like to get that food or drink and talk more about computers. See, the key is totalk to her. To be honest and be yourself. Because there’s no point trying to get a girl to like you just because she’s pretty but as smart as a doorknob or as mean as a drunken Lila.”
“Oh, too true.”
“You want her to be someone you can think about being with for more than just kissing…or whatever.”
Daniel felt his cheeks catch on fire.
“That stuff is nice too. But it’s nicer with someone you like a lot, or love.”
“Like you love Kenzie?” Daniel pressed.
“Yep.”
Daniel couldn’t believe the guy had admitted it. Holy crap, that washuge. He waited. “Does she know?”
Evan shook his head. “Uh-uh. That’s between me and your sister. But my point is that girls like compliments, sure. Everyone does. But you want to be real. And another thing. Most girls like to be complimented about more than how pretty they are. Try to see beyond the superficial.”
