“Was it a Bloody Mary?”
“Shut up.”
His laughter stops, and his smile drops. “Wait, really? That’s actually really disgusting.”
“You didn’t have to watch himspice uphis drink.”
“Yikes.”
“Then there was the Celebrity. He pretended to be Wade Boggs. Don’t even… It was stupid.”
He fights to hold back his laughter. “Too bad your brother’s a baseball freak.”
“Yep. Today was the final one. That was a wizard. He tried to tell me he wasHarry Potter.”
“No way.”
“Oh! I forgot the creepiest one!” I say, startling the puppy who whimpers but falls right back to sleep. “Fated Mates.”
He frowns… “How?”
“You don’t want to know. I don’t want to know, but I was there. There was no option but to walk away when he asked if I wanted the blood ritual before, during, or after sex.” I pause. “Wait, how do you know what Fated Mates are?”
He shrugs and looks at the ground. “I know things.”
“No, you knowguythings. This isn’t a guy thing.”
“I may have decided to catch up on some reading while I’m actively not picking up women in hopes that the woman I do want decides to pick me.”
My stomach flips. “You’ve been reading? Romance books?”
“I’ve read what’s popular.”
“You’re reading romance books?”
He flushes slightly. “Look, you downloaded an app in hopes of finding guys who fit those… tropes. I figured I’d check them out.”
“I can’t believe you’re reading romance novels.”
“I’ve got that Amazon subscription. Turns out, I have a lot of free time on my hands. And I’m kind of into the biker romances. At least there’s action with the sex.”
Laughing, I tilt my head. “You’ve been reading romance novels for me.”
“I need to be prepared. I want to know what you like. Bedroom skills I’ve got down, but the outside of sex stuff I know I need to work on. Mostly because I’ve never had to do that before.”
“You’re serious.”
“Dead serious.”
I can’t believe this. I just blink at him before finally saying, “You don’t need to change who you are to try and win me, Decker. To make me happy.”
“I’m changing who I am to makemehappy. You’re part of what makes me happy.”
Wow. If I didn’t believe he was reading romance novels before, I certainly do now. That’s romantic as shit.
“I haven’t made up my mind just yet, but I’m getting closer.”
“As long as I’m still in the running. Now, I gotta run. We need puppy supplies. Name him and text me so I can get a custom collar.”
