The Bookworm's Guide to Flirting (The Bookworm's Guide 3)

“So you don’t think I look hot?” Saylor pouted, but her eyes were far too bright and they gave her away.

Besides, I knew her, and I knew that face.

It was the same one she made when I told her Friends sucked and I wasn’t going to binge watch season three with her.

Granted, she’d won, and I had actually binged half of the season with her, but that wasn’t the point.

I leaned forward and met her gaze. “Saylor, I can’t tell you what I think you look like right now, because it’ll be incredibly awkward tomorrow morning if you end up waking up in my bed, won’t it?”

For a second, her expression flashed with shock. She quickly schooled it back into one of nonchalance, but she couldn’t hide the blush that was coloring her cheeks.

She was so bloody adorable when she blushed. It was the one thing about her that she couldn’t control, and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that.

The last thing I needed was her not being able to control her reaction to me, even if I was only messing with her.

Mostly messing with her.

The starters were brought out, bringing an end to that awkward little conversation. It was one of those that should have never started, but at the same time, I hoped would put an end to me having to think about how much I wanted to take her dress off.

Because that would be fucking awkward.

Of course, Saylor wasn’t eating a starter because she lived to be awkward.

I finished mine and pushed the plate to the side. “So what happened to you that made you hate dating so much?”

“Hm?” Her eyebrows shot up. “Does there have to be a specific reason?”

“No, I just assumed there were one or two instances that really put you off. Like, for me…” I paused. “Yeah. So, when I was twenty-two, I’d just graduated and got a job working for one of the lower-table Premier League teams.”

“What is that? The Premier League?”

Of course she had no idea. “Football. Or the sport you call soccer.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything else.

“Do you want me to finish this story?”

“Dylan, I didn’t ask you to start it.”

I gave her a flat stare. My God, she was a pain in the ass. “It was the end of the season and one of the strikers was lining up for a move to one of the teams at the top of the table. I met this girl and on our third date, I needed a date to some party the team was throwing for everyone, including the medical and training staff. Long story short—”

“This is not short.”

“—I found her making out with that striker by the bar.”

Saylor winced. “Ouch. What happened?”

“He moved to the big team, she got pregnant, and he dumped her a year later for a model. Then I moved to the same team a few months after that. It was right around when his form dropped, and he had to do extra work… with me.”

“Oh, damn. What happened?”

“The striker who replaced him outplayed him and they sold him. I went from there to here, and I’m pretty sure he’s now back at the first team.”

“Serves him right,” she muttered as the starters were taken from all the tables. “All right, fine. You told yours, I’ll tell one of mine.”

“One of?”

“I told you I hated dating. There are, like, five reasons why off the top of my head, and they all have a penis.”

That was a fair point.

I nodded for her to continue.

“Hmm, okay, first really bad one was when I was nineteen. I was in college, and we met at a frat party—”

“From everything I know about those, that should have been your first warning.”

“All right, smartass.” She sipped her wine. “We went out for a few group dates then he was arrested for trying to rape someone.”

I blinked. “Wow. That took a dark turn. Did he do it?”

“Turns out, he did. If he hadn’t been found he would have done it.” She shrugged.

“And that didn’t put you off?”

“Well, for a while.” She paused. “Nobody else I’ve dated has been that… awful. At least not that I know of.”

“Always a plus. Who else?”

Our meals were brought over and set down in front of us.

Saylor asked for another glass of wine, then turned back to me. “Hmm, there was the guy who I dated for three months before he ran off with my cousin. That was awkward at the wedding, considering she didn’t know.”

“Ouch.”

“After I graduated and moved back here I dated this guy from Dartree Mountain. It was going really well for about eight months until he told me he was gay.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’ll put a dampener on things.”

“No kidding. There’s nothing like being the girl who turns a guy gay.”