The Introvert's Guide to Speed Dating (The Introvert's Guide 2)

“Where do you want it putting up?” He looked around the room. “Posters everywhere.”

Yeah, didn’t think that one through.

“Above the dresser,” I said, walking over to the giant Pikachu poster. “We’re redecorating anyway,” I lied.

“Okay. How high?”

I pulled the poster down and reached up to pull the remaining tack off the walls. “About here?” I gestured with my hand.

“Sure. Can you just watch and make sure I get it straight?”

“Uh-huh.” I put the poster on Leo’s bed and waited until he handed me a long stick with bright yellow liquid in. It was like a flat hourglass, but with liquid instead of sand. “What’s this?”

“A spirit level. Shows me when the shelf is flat, but I can’t always see it.” He held the shelf up against the wall. “Can you set it on the shelf?”

I put it in the middle where I knew he could see it. “There okay?”

“Perfect.” He adjusted the shelf, and the liquid inside the stick moved until it was perfectly in the middle. “Can you get the pen from my toolbox and draw a couple of lines under the shelf?”

“Draw on the wall?”

“I need to know where to drill.” Ollie’s voice almost broke with laughter. “You won’t see it, I swear.”

“Okay.” Hesitantly, I approached the wall with the pen. I couldn’t reach it unless I ducked under his arm, which meant I’d be right up against him. “Where should I mark it?”

“It’s got three holes to attach it, so if you do it roughly in the middle, I can figure the other two out.”

“Um.” I licked my lips. “Excuse me.”

“Gonna have to duck, love. I can’t move from here.”

Love.

Ughhhhhh.

This man.

I ducked under his arm like I knew I’d have to. My butt brushed against his body, and I tried not to swallow too hard as I drew a line against the underside of the shelf.

“Like that?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he replied in a low tone. “Like that.”

Oh, God.

I quickly retreated. “Do you need more help? Is that fine? I need to go and cook.”

“No, you’re good. Thanks.” Ollie smiled at me, and his eyes twinkled knowingly. “This won’t take long.”

I disappeared quickly and headed to the kitchen to cook where I was much more comfortable. I pulled the chicken from the fridge and seasoned it, then put it in a hot pan to cook slowly while I fixed the salad.

I could hear Ollie drilling upstairs, and I looked up at the ceiling more than once. I almost sliced through my thumb when I wasn’t paying attention, so I stopped thinking about what was being done upstairs and started focusing on the salad I was chopping.

The drilling stopped right before the chicken was done. I hoped that was the end of it because it was hugely distracting. The last thing I needed at the end of cooking chicken or dicing pepper was a distraction.

So it really didn’t help when Ollie walked in two minutes later. “All done,” he said, wiping his hands on his shorts. “Do you need any help with anything?”

“No, it’s fine. You can sit down. Thanks, though.” I scooped salad onto two plates and turned to the chicken, catching it just before it was about to be too overdone. I served it up and set the plates on the table, while Ollie turned and helped him to a bottle of water from the fridge.

I watched with amusement as he located my water jug, used the ice dispenser in the fridge to put ice in it, then filled it up and put it on the table with two glasses. “My, look who’s feeling at home.”

He laughed as he sat down to pour the water. “Thought I’d be helpful.”

“Very helpful.” I smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for lunch.”

“Thank you for putting up my shelf.”

“Ah, your last-minute shelf you ordered to get me over here.”

I choked on a piece of cucumber and had to thump my chest to get it to go down. I grabbed my water and took a long drink to calm myself, then finally choked out, “What?”

Ollie fought a smile. “I was kidding. You did, though, didn’t you?”

“I—” I swallowed. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you just ask me to come over?”

“I don’t know. It was awkward after we spoke on Saturday, then I kind of wanted to spend time with you but not make it a date, but I didn’t know how to explain that, so I just… Bought a shelf.”

He ran his tongue over his lower lip. “I don’t know how to respond to that.”

“Neither would I,” I admitted. “I just wanted to hang out. I don’t know what I want to do, but I like spending time with you, but it’s the most fun when it’s… normal. You know? And I just wanted that.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” His lips pulled to one side. “I’m not annoyed. I had nothing else to do and I like spending time with you. What do you wanna do after lunch?”