“Sure you did. It’s the first time you’ve tried it.”
“Yeah, but I bet you didn’t fuck it up first time you tried.”
“I fell over a stack of crates and needed three stitches just above my ear.”
“You did not,” she said, but then she saw his expression. Still unmoving, in a way that made her realize something else about it—it was an excellent gauge of the truth.“Seriously?”
“Nobody is born good at this stuff, honey. It’s all just repetition.”
“So, I do this a thousand times, and then I get good.”
“You do it five, and you’ll see an improvement.”
She eyed the chair she’d almost knocked over. “I sincerely doubt that.”
“Then I’ll show you. You ready?”
He did it again the second she nodded—a little too fast for her liking, truth be told.
Though man, did it ever work. She seemed to clock the shoulder twitch and move in the same moment, not quite fluid like him but still fast and definitely more careful. This time, she didn’t get anywhere close to any of the chairs. And she didn’t stumble or forget to say something to distract him.
“Hey, have you seen the stain that looks like a dog?” she blurted.
But the best part was: he just went with it.
“I have seen that. Pretty weird.”
“Yeah I thought it was pretty weird, too.”
“Looks like it’s been here a while.”
“It does. In fact, I was just thinking that, andoh my god I did it. I totally fucking did it. I even want to carry on this completely irrelevant and stupid conversation about the dog stain,”she said, a little too breathlessly. A little too excitedly.
Not that he seemed to care in the least.
He just rolled right on.“Uh-huh. And that’s where you’re at a huge advantage.”
“Because I know how to discuss irrelevant shit?”
“Because you’re good at talking. See, I can do the sidestep and the shoulder watch, and I’m always aware of everything in the room. But I gotta be real careful what I draw attention to. Choose the wrong thing, and I’m out of words before they can pick up the thread. Then it’s just two people staring awkwardly at a dog shaped smear on the wall.”
“I don’t know about that. I think the stain talk was at least fifty percent you.”
“Nope, I was just following your lead.” He paused there, and looked at her again in that considering way. Though she still couldn’t quite tell what he was considering. Or what conclusions he was coming to. The best she could do was label how it made her feel when he did it: warm and good. And when he finally spoke, his words backed up that reaction.“It’slike I said—you make it real easy.”
“Thanks,” she said, thenpaused just long enough to get her blush under control beforebarreling on with what she really wanted to say. “And not just for the compliment. For the other stuff, too.”
“You don’t need to thank me for that. In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”
“Maybe we could just pretend to shake hands then, instead.”
“Or we could do it for real.”
“You up to that?”
“Are you?”
“I am now, yeah,”she said.
