‘So, me and Dex.’
‘You mean Sex.’ I glower at him, and he waves his hands around. ‘Sorry. Very serious me.’
I doubt that very much, but I let him continue making the drinks while I explain. ‘He wants to date me.’
Leaf’s eyes widen.
‘He wants more than fucking, so I took him on a date, and he graded me for it.’
Leaf nearly drops the shaker on the floor. ‘Grade? Like a teacher?’ I nod, and his lips curl up in laughter. As he pours the pink drink into martini glasses, I can see his eyes welling up with tears.
Fucker.
He slides one my way.
‘What this?’
‘Pomegranate martini. Safe.’
I sniff it, and it doesn’t smell terrible, so I take a small sip. ‘Not bad.’
‘Thank you. Now, go on. Tell me more. I want details.’
I tell him all about the date and how I only scored two points at the end. Leaf laughs so hard at that, he chokes. I ignore him, continuing on, sipping my drink as I go.
‘I need advice on new date idea. I want A+, but I’m bad at coming up with things that are romantic.’
‘I can see that. You’re not creative.’
I make a face at him and finish off my drink. Damn, that was good.
‘Another?’ he asks, and I nod. ‘What did internet tell you?’
He gets back to work as I explain the ideas the web has given me. ‘Skydiving. Costco sampling. Bookstore role-playing.’ That last one has Leaf giggling. ‘All terrible,’ I tell him, and he nods.
‘I agree. Those all suck. Hmmm.’ He taps his fingers against his lips and hands me my second drink. It’s not as pink as the first time, and I wonder what happened. Not that I bother to ask.
‘You know what would be fun? The cat café is opening up. Grand opening, actually.’
‘I heard about that. What day?’
He pulls out his phone, clicks on the screen, and holds it up. ‘Friday. You should take Dex. Maybe cute cats will score you some extra points.’
I think about it. He might like it. It might get me more than a kiss on the forehead and a lingering boner for the rest of the night.
‘And you know, make some good conversation. Flirt a little.’
‘I hate flirting. I’m not good at it.’
‘I’ve noticed.’
I flip him off and slide my glass toward him.
‘You drink like a fish.’ I say nothing, and he grins at me. ‘I like that. We drink same. We strong men.’
I feel my mouth quirk up. ‘Like sailors.’
Leaf flexes his arm, and I reach over and squeeze it. My fingers nearly meet, and Leaf glowers at me.
