“And how doyouthink things are going with Julia?” She raised a brow and had a wicked gleam in her eye. Sonia could mean anything by this question. Things as in work stuff? Things as in practice-dating stuff? Things as in we-almost-kissed-until-my-ex-showed-up stuff? Things as in I-can’t-stop-thinking-about-her stuff? So many things.
“Good, good. I mean, she’s gone on three pretty epically bad setups. But none of them was her fault at all. Those guys were idiots. I mean, where did her parents find these guys? I know they mean well, and I suppose they look good on paper, but they were not good enough for her. She needs someone who will adore her. Respect what a badass she is. Reallyseeher, yaknow?” He stopped himself. Why was it so quiet? Why wasn’t anyone agreeing with him, chiming in, bashing these guys and taking the heat off Julia? He looked up at two faces stretched to their limits with goofy smiles.
“I’ll never doubt you again, honey. Add the twenty bucks to myyou’re always righttab. He’s whooped,” James said.
“It’s not just him. She’s whooped, too. The way she was defending his honor as a dating coach and almost taking offense at how bad her dates were, not because she had to go through them but because it might reflect poorly on Tae? And then there was the competency porn. Oh my God, I could barely hold in my squeals. Rachel had to kick me under the table.”
“How’s the bruise on your shin, by the way? Does it hurt any less?” James asked.
Tae waved his hands in James and Sonia’s direction. “Excuse me. Hello? Over here? I’m sitting right here. What are you talking about? Julia defended me? And, um, what’s this, uh,competency porn?” His voice had gone up an octave. Cool, Tae. Real cool.
Sonia flicked her hand in the air as if waving away the silly questions. “Girl talk. The good stuff.”
Tae nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed at what this girl talk might entail and how much of it entailed him. He reached for the architecture photography book on their coffee table to distract himself.
Sonia gasped.
Tae looked up.
Sonia stared.
“Does Julia know about—” she gulped “—those?” She lifted her chin in the direction of his arm.
Tae wasn’t sure he was following. He looked down at the arm holding the book. His arms weren’t particularly hairy. His nails didn’t have dirt under them.
“What?” he asked.
“Has Julia seen your... arm veins?” Sonia whispered in awe.
Tae looked again. His veins were prominent, but he’d never noticed before. Was Julia disgusted by this? Should he be wearing long sleeves even in these warm Southern California climates?
“Tae, you’ll have to excuse my wife and her complete objectification of you. She has a thing for veins,” James explained.
“All women. All women have a thing for veins,” Sonia explained.
“Like vampires?” Tae didn’t know why he asked that. But it just seemed so odd.
Sonia snapped her head up, eyes wild with excitement. “Exactly. Like vampires,” she yelled.
Tae leaned back, trying to make some space between himself and the, um, vampire. She was starting to scare him.
“Don’t worry, Tae. She’s mine. I’m taking one for the team and protecting you all from her,” James teased.
Sonia hit him playfully in the arm.
This. This was what Tae wanted. This was what it was like spending time with Julia. Could he possibly get more of this, now that the dates were over? Would Julia want more of this too? Tae thought back to his conversation with Kari. He’d told her he didn’t have anything to give to anyone. And he believed it. He believed that it wasn’t fair for him to be in a relationship right now when he didn’t have anything to give back.
But Julia had never really asked Tae for anything other than, well, himself. She always just seemed okay with Tae for who he was. She didn’t seem to mind that he was a college dropout and a failed salaryman living with his parents. She never looked at him with judgment or treated him as less-than. And she, successful and powerful, of all people, totally could.
It hit Tae like a ton of bricks.
Julia was everything he wanted.
And, if he was reading her right, beyond all reason, he might be exactly what she wanted too.
“Listen, Tae. I just gotta ask it. When are you gonna make your move? Are you gonna tell her how you feel? Maybe ask her out on arealdate?” James asked.
Sonia clasped her hands in front of her, shoulders to her ears, barely contained in her seat.
