The rest of the evening goes smoothly. I find myself laughing at Nathaniel’s corny jokes and smiling to myself when he turns away. Every once in a while, I catch sight of Julian’s table from the corner of my eye. His book rests at the edge of the table, his gaze squared directly on us—or rather, onme. I’ve already found him out, so I guess he figures he has no reason to hide anymore. That unreadable expression of his doesn’t waver once.
Nathaniel turns his head to see what I’m staring at, but I stop him by laying a hand on his arm, letting it slip down. He turns his hand over in mine and squeezes my fingers lightly, curling his lips in a smile that dazzles me. I’m more conscious than ever of Julian’s eyes on us, but when I turn my head, he’s not looking at us. He’s staring straight ahead at the table in front of him, jaw clenched. Weird, but I don’t let myself dwell on it.
At the end of the night, Nathaniel walks me up to my door like the gentleman he is.
“I’m not going to kiss you,” he says.
My stomach flips, suddenly aware that kissing was a possibility right as he takes it off the table. Do Iwantto kiss him? I suppose it’s a moot point now.
“But I would like a second date, if you’re willing to grant me one.”
“Of course.” I smile as a well of relief fills me. He’s the kind of person I’ve been waiting for. Kind, polite, fun. The perfect first date after a long string of awfulness. I should be disappointed that he doesn’t want to kiss me, shouldn’t I? So why am I relieved instead? “Text me.”
“I will.” I watch his back as he climbs down the stairs, and I unlock the front door once he’s out of sight.
18
Leti
So how’d it go?”
Jesus Christ.I plant a hand on my chest, startled by Julian’s voice as soon as I enter my apartment. “How thehelldid you get in here?!”
“Bella let me in.” He lifts his chin to my roommate, who’s standing in the kitchen, arms crossed over her chest and staring at me expectantly, amusement twinkling her eyes. “So?”
As if you don’t already know.
“Why bother asking when you’ve probably already given her the play-by-play?” I turn to my roommate. “Well?”
“He might’ve given me some details already,” she hedges. “But you know we’d both rather hear how it went from you.”
The date with Nathaniel went surprisingly well—at least, compared to my last two dates—but I’m still puzzling over the end of the night when he said he wasn’t going to kiss me. The possibility hadn’t even crossed my mind despite this being the best first date I’ve been on in recent memory. That has to be a bad sign, right?
“It was…pretty good.”
When I don’t say anything else, Julian says, “That’s it? ‘Pretty good’?”
“What else is there to say?”
“We don’t get any detailsat all?” Bella chimes in with a huff.
“Yeah,” Julian adds. “What was he like? Did you get along like you thought you would? And most importantly”—he pauses for effect—“did he wear North Face? I couldn’t tell from where I was sitting.”
“Given that it’s September and still hot as hell, no. He did not.” This is the most I’m willing to confess, though I do feel like I owe Julian a few more details for all the effort he went through to make it happen. “He was a gentleman. We talked about work, our families, and hobbies. Stuff like that.”
“That doesn’t tell me very much, you know,” he says as I take a seat beside him on the couch. “Do you like him?”
I make the mistake of looking away from him. When I chance a glance back at him, his smile is gloating. Behind him, Bella’s eyes narrow on me like she’s not so quick to believe what Julian does.
“Youdolike him.” He nudges me with an elbow. “See? Aren’t you glad I talked you back into it?”
“Not at all.” I shake my head, but I can’t stop smiling. Why can’t I stop smiling? Sure, Nathaniel was great, but nothing to cheese over.
“And you felt good? About the date?” There’s something in Julian’s expression I can’t pin down. His smile is softer, but there’s something flat about it too.
“Yeah,” I say. “I feel pretty great about it.”
“Good,” he says. “Don’t forget about your other matches, though. They deserve a chance before you make up your mind about Nathaniel.”
