Page 39 of Teach Me How

“There’s no list.”

He meets my gaze. “There will be.” He looks away, thinking it over. “I don’t like telling people about my problems because first comes problems, then comes pity, and I fucking hate pity.”

“Do you feel like you get pity from me?”

“No. You’re pretty much the only one.” He picks up his spoon again. “That’s why you’re the one and only person I’d agree to do this with.”

That fills me with a little thrill of pleasure. The one and only.

The one and only one to fix Skyler up with a woman who will take him away from me.

But that’s what I want, right?

Freedom?

Can’t fly if you’re holding somebody’s hand.

“So, where are you finding most of these dates of yours?”

“Mixer.”

“Like speeding dating?”

He laughs. “No. It’s an app.”

“Do you have a profile and everything?”

He nods.

“Show me.”

He groans, reluctantly pulling his phone out of his pocket. “This is fantastically uncomfortable for me.”

“Now you know how I felt last night.”

“But there was nothing wrong with you last night. You were amazing.”

I poke him in the arm, taking his cell from him. “There’s nothing wrong with you, either. For the record, I think you're pretty damn amazing, too.”

Our gazes connect for a few beats before we tear them away. Back to the banter, back to the safety of light jokes and easy smiles. I hold out his phone so he can unlock it. He scans his finger, unlocking it, before flipping to the app in question.

Mixer opens up on his screen, a martini glass stirs across the screen until his profile opens up.

26.

Skyler

I can’t look.

Fuck that, I can’t not look.

It’s like watching a car wreck.

She opens up my profile. A smile warbles across her lips and she does her damndest to keep a straight face.

“That’s it. Hand it back.” I reach for the phone, and she twists to the side, surprisingly quick for such a little thing.

Unfortunately for her, I’m far stronger.

---