Smooth.
Grayson looked at her seriously for a beat, weighing upwhether to push her on it, and then he smiled and picked up a menu. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he said, ‘So how is that guy? The one who got fired? He seemed pretty upset when he left.’
‘Riggs?’ Lorelai, grateful for the subject change, pondered how much to say. ‘It got a bit hairy there for a while. He had areallybad day and then he tried to kiss me and it quickly spiralled from there.’
‘Oh. Were you two…?’ Grayson asked casually, not quite meeting her eye.
‘Me and Riggs? Oh my god, no. Absolutely not. No. No way. No.’
‘Oh, that’s good.’
Lorelai couldn’t help but feel happy at the look of relief on his face.
‘Riggs is sweet but we’re just friends. He took something I said the wrong way, and misread the situation.’ Lorelai wanted to get off the subject of kissing Riggs. ‘Anyway, he’s dealing with some personal things now, so he’s taking some time out to figure out what’s next for him.’
‘I see,’ Grayson said. ‘But the two of you are definitely just friends?’
‘Definitely.’
‘Good.’ Before Lorelai could think aboutwhyGrayson was so happy that she and Riggs were just friends, he pointed his menu at her and raised an eyebrow. ‘So, tell me. What do you think about the gherkin theory?’
‘Excuse me?’ She laughed.
‘The gherkin theory! Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of it?It’s a cutting-edge scientific theory that neurobiologists have been working on for years.’ He nodded seriously.
‘Oh yeah?’ She mimicked his serious nodding.
‘Yes. The theory is that two people are only completely compatible if one of them likes gherkins, and the other doesn’t.’
‘This sounds legit.’ Lorelai put her chin in her hand but then quickly sat up straight again. She didn’t want to look like a doe-eyed teenager.We’re friends.
‘Hear me out! It’s so when you both order burgers with gherkins, one gets the satisfaction of handing over their gherkins and making the other happy and the other takes away the thing that makes the other unhappy.’
‘Are gherkins really that much of an issue in relationships?’
‘It’s symbolic.’ Grayson batted her hand with his laminated menu.
‘Symbolic of what?’
‘I have no idea. I didn’t read that far down the BuzzFeed article.’
Lorelai whacked Grayson with her menu. ‘Idiot,’ she said affectionately.
The waitress skated up at that moment and they placed their order – a blue cheese burger for Lorelai, and a bacon cheese burger for Grayson.
‘So much for brunch!’ he said.
‘I’m too hungry for brunch.’
‘Me too. So. Tell me about yourself.’
They were four simple words but they had the power to make Lorelai sweat.
‘Why can’t you tell me aboutyourself?’ she asked.
‘Well… I will.’ Grayson laughed, sitting back in his seat. ‘But right now this feels very one-sided. You know about my love of nerdy movies. You know I have a brother. And, most embarrassingly, you’ve seen me dressed as a hobbit. I think it’s only fair that now I get to know you a little better.’
His tone was jovial but the look in his eyes was determined. Lorelai’s stomach flipped. He was interested in her. Grayson wanted to know abouther. She needed to give him something.
