I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. I guess I didn’t mean out of my league. I meant that the world he comes from is so different than ours.” The last woman he was associated with in the press was third in line for the throne of a European country. I had no idea if the rumors were true or not, but the point stood.
“What do you mean?” Megan asked. “He from the south or something?”
“I can’t really get into it,” I told her. “Sorry.”
“Okay, fine. Tell me some of his flaws.”
I sat there for a solid minute in silence.
Megan finally broke. “Seriously, Ella? The dude has nothing wrong with him?”
“No? At least nothing that I’ve seen so far?”
“Or are you just living that deep in crushville?”
“Legit possibility.”
“Okay, so say you break down and tell him how you feel. What do you think would happen?”
“I think he might want to stop hanging out. I don’t think he’s looking for anything other than friendship.”
“And how would that make you feel?”
“Like abject shit. The last thing I want to do is alienate him. He really seems like he needs a friend right now.”
“Good,” Megan said.
I stared at her. “Please elaborate on how abject shit is good.”
“Because that gives you something to focus on.”
“Yeah, so I’ve tried to focus on similar things when I’m around him, but every time I look at his face, I just -” I lowered my hands to either side of my hips and mimed my ovaries exploding.
Megan frowned. “What is that supposed to be?”
“All of the eggs getting released when I’m in his presence. He is the best-looking man I’ve seen in real life, by, like, a lot.”
“Is that the bias of your crush speaking?”
I shook my head. “Nope. If I showed a picture of him to anyone interested in men, they would try to lick the photograph.”
Megan stared at me. “Damn.”
“Welcome to my hell.”
She chewed on her lower lip for a second, the same way I did when I was deep in thought. Funny how alike we were in some ways, even though we weren’t related by blood. It lent credence to nurture over nature.
“I think you should hang out with him more,” she said.
“In a ploy to win him over with my stunning good looks and irresistible charm?”
She smiled. “There’s that self-esteem.”
“Megan, seriously.”
She threw her hands up. “I am being serious. When I first met Stacey, it was a struggle to keep from mauling her in public.”
“Stacey is, admittedly, gorgeous, so I get it.”
