Page 34 of The Rules of Dating

Colby went quiet for a few minutes. He seemed lost in thought. So I tucked a pair of socks into a ball and chucked it at him. “What are you thinking about over there?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

He smiled. “I guess I was just thinking about how the woman who is the president of the All Men Suck Club is actually a romantic at heart.”

“I am not. It’s just a tattoo.”

He caught my eyes and grinned. “Uh-huh.”

He surprised me by letting the subject drop. “Have you eaten?” he asked instead.

I placed a neatly folded pair of pants to my right. “Actually, I had dinner with Deek a couple of hours ago.”

“A couple of hours ago? Well, you must be getting a little hungry again. Let me get you a snack.”

“I’m not a three-year-old. That’s not necessary.”

“You’re a guest in my house.” He stood up. “It is necessary for me to offer you something. Want some wine?”

“No, thank you. I drank with dinner.”

Colby went to the kitchen before returning with a couple of things that made me smile.

“In these parts, there is no lack of kiddie snacks. I figured if you like Goldfish, you might like these.”

He placed a small Lunchable container in front of me, along with a box of grape juice.

“You know me so well. This is perfect, actually.” I laughed. “Don’t mind if I do.” I opened the package and placed one of the small slices of cheese atop a cracker and took a bite. “I thought maybe you were going to grab me a spinach brownie.”

He hopped back up. “I have some of those. Want one?”

I chuckled. “No. Sit. This is more than enough.”

Colby returned to the floor and watched intently as I devoured my snack, as if watching me eat was some kind of spectator sport.

“What?” I finally asked with my mouth full.

“Sorry. I like watching you—the way you lick the corner of your mouth every once in a while. Even the way you eat is unique. It’s cute.”

“Well, you haven’t watched me eat a rack of ribs. Because there is nothing cute about that.” I took a sip from the juice box.

“Note to self: figure out a way to get Billie to a steakhouse, just so I can witness this.”

“Make sure you pack wipes, then.”

After I finished my snack, I got up to discard the rubbish. Then I resumed folding. We were finally starting to make a dent. “I’m not gonna find any random women’s panties in this pile, am I?”

He shook his head. “No panties to be found in here unless they have Disney characters on them in toddler size three.” He grinned as he fished through socks for matching pairs. “On the subject of undergarments, though, I have to ask you a serious question.”

“Okay…” I said, shaking out one of Colby’s shirts to smooth the wrinkles.

“What’s with the corset thing?” he asked, his eyes dropping to my chest.

I looked down at my open plaid shirt. “Why do I wear them all the time?”

“Yeah.”