Tom turns his blinker on. I’m unsure if he was listening until he answers. “Sure. But wouldn’t it be more time efficient to send scouts to those things?”
My heart sinks as he pulls up to the kind of stuffy restaurantmy dad would take me to. The kind where I’ll have to remember the correct cutlery to use and sit ramrod straight all night while waiters fuss around me.
“Here we are,” Tom says, switching off the engine. “Ready?”
I take a deep breath and paint on my best fake smile.
9
ELIAS
Ididn’t sleep well last night.
When my alarm wakes me up, I’m groggy and bad tempered. My roommates keep out of my way when I barrel into the kitchen on the hunt for coffee, grunting, and possibly speaking a language they don’t understand.
I did not stay up looking at my phone and waiting for a text from Ben last night. And I also do not care how his date went.
And when he texts, asking if I want a ride to class, my stomach does not do a relieved, swoopy thing. And my mood does not instantly lift to the point where my roommates look at me like I’m on drugs.
Ben is waiting outside when I come out with my books and my racket bag for practice later.
I tell myself I’m not going to ask how his date went, but when I climb into the passenger seat, I can’t help but notice he seems a little dejected.
“How was your date?”Scheiße.
He shrugs. “It was fine.”
Just fine? Yes! No, why am I celebrating?
“Tell me about it.”
Ben presses his lips.
“Spit it out. I won’t tell Nate, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He sighs. “It was … fine. Really. It wasn’t a bad date.”
“But?”
“He was a gentleman. He picked me up, made reservations at a nice restaurant, the conversation was ... pleasant.”
“He was a bore?”
“Not exactly, it just felt like …” He lets out a big sigh and takes one hand off the steering wheel to brush his hair back. I have to resist the urge to replace his hand on the wheel with my own. “It felt like I was on a date with my dad.”
A part laugh, part strangled sound of horror rips through me.
When I glance in his direction, he’s smiling uneasily. “So, you know what I mean?”
“Yes. I mean, no, I’ve never been on a date that felt like I was with my father, but I can imagine how terrible that would be.”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with my dad.”
“No, mine neither. I just don’t want to date him.”
“Exactly.”
He lets out another sigh. At this rate, he won’t have any air left in him. “He doesn’t like sports.”
