I don’t fire a comeback his way. Instead, I kick at my front tire and let my mind float back to Avery.
When I went to bed last night, I figured I’d wake up and feel different about her. Not as . . . interested. Less curious. Something. I certainly didn’t think I’d find myself wanting to see her again.
I’m Penn Etling, for fuck’s sake.
But here I am, Penn Etling. Trying to scramble to see Avery again without looking desperate.
“Anything remarkable happen after I left?” he asks.
“Nah.”
“Did you at least get her number?”
I consider telling him I did.
“You didn’t, did you?” Matt’s face fills with humor. “She held out. Good for her.”
“She wants me,” I say.
“Eh, I think maybe she doesn’t, actually.”
“Yes. She does. I can tell. She’s just fucking with me, that’s all. Making me work for it.”
Making me woo her.
I take off my hat and scratch the top of my head. I did woo her. I’m sure of it. But maybe I need to woo her harder—and not the way that sounds when I say it in my head. Sadly.
I sigh and look at Matt. “How do you . . . How do I say it? How do you . . .”
I pace a circle. Slamming my hat back on my head, I try to think of a word other than woo. I’d never live that down.
“I want to win her over,” I say. “And she wants to be won over. I just have to, I don’t know, show her I want to win her over, I guess. Does that make any sense?”
Matt stands in front of me with a smile on his face.
“What?” I ask.
“You actually like her.”
I flinch for both our benefits.
He says the words “like her” as if I’m trying to date her. The concept in itself makes me ill. My face screws up like I’ve sucked on a lemon, and that only amuses Matt more.
“I don’t like her. Not like how you said it,” I say, slightly offended.
“How’d I say it?”
“Like I like her like her. Like I have lost my balls like her. Like I want to attach myself to her like her.” I shake my head. “It’s not like that.”
“What’s it like, then?”
“I don’t know . . .” I take my hat off again. My fingers slip through my hair as I try to figure out what I’m thinking. “She’s a challenge, I guess. She asked me to give it my best shot last night. To give her my best pickup line.”
Matt leans on his truck with one ankle crossed over the other. He looks too damn comfortable for this conversation.
“I’m intrigued,” he says.
“Why?”
“I’m dying to know how you responded to that.”
“Probably like anyone else would’ve,” I say. “I mean, what do you do when someone says that and they have their clothes on?”
Matt bursts out in laughter. His delight in my frustration doesn’t help. It only makes me more irritated.
“Matt, seriously. Shut up or help me here.”
He shoves off the truck, a shine in his eyes. “Is the Penn Etling asking for my help on how to win over a girl?”
“No,” I protest. “That’s not what I was saying.”
“Sounds like it to me.”
I put my hat back on. “I was just a little thrown off, okay? Put on the spot. Guys like me don’t have pickup lines shoved in our back pockets. We don’t need them.”
“I think Avery proves that’s not quite true,” Matt says, patting my shoulder as he walks by. “But I like your confidence.”
I walk beside him as he heads toward the front door. He watches me out of the corner of his eye, waiting to see where I direct this conversation. The truth is, I don’t know where to take it.
Do I need help getting Avery to admit she wants me? No. I can manage that just fine. It just might take longer than I want it to. But would I feel a little better if Matt would just tell me this is all normal? Fuck yeah.
“It’s okay to like someone, you know,” Matt offers. “It doesn’t make you weak or anything.”
We stop a few feet short of the door. He turns his body to face mine.
“Yeah, I know,” I say, blowing him off. “It’s just fucking with me because she didn’t give in. That’s all.”
Matt opens his mouth and then shuts it. He sticks a hand in his pocket as the wheels turn in his brain.
“Can I ask you something?” he asks.
“I guess.”
“If you did like her, would you tell me?”
What the fuck?
“Why? Do you like her or something?” My blood begins to heat as the idea of seeing Matt and Avery together washes over me. When Matt laughs at my reaction, I narrow my eyes. “This isn’t funny.”
“No, I don’t like her, caveman. Settle down. Damn.”
“I’m not unsettled.”