Page 61 of Pucking Your Best Friend

“Oh, you have no idea. And Maddie, you should be brave enough to search for one hundred percent. Or at least ninety percent.”

“One hundred percent scares me,” she admitted, unlocking the door. “What if they don’t exist? What if my dream man doesn’t exist? Or, what if I believe I’ve found him…but I’m wrong?”

Matt didn’t answer directly, so she glanced over her shoulder questioningly. She was surprised to see him narrowing his eyes at her.

“You have a list, right? A dream man checklist or something equally silly?”

“It’s not silly to write down what you want!” she countered.

“Okay, tell me. Who is your dream man?” He closed the door and went straight to the kitchen, probably because he was still extremely hungry, just like her. They had been thrown out before they could enjoy much of the food.

“You don’t want to hear it,” she said, snorting.

“Oh, yes, I do. I need to meet this legendary creature you’ve been talking about for a year,” he replied seriously as he placed two plates, bread, mustard, lettuce, and cheese on the counter. “So, go ahead while I make dinner.”

Her cheeks were probably deep pink again, but what the heck, he was asking! “Well, if you must know, my dream man doesn’t force me to send back my salad because he knows how uncomfortable it makes me!”

“Ah, so you want a man who doesn’t challenge you. I see.”

She ignored that. Sighing, she walked over to him and leaned against the kitchen island. “My dream man asks me how my day was and really listens. My dream man helps around the house without me having to ask. My dream man loves my family even if they’re hard to love at times. He’s intelligent but has no problem with someone else being more intelligent. He is generous and warm, and willing to open up. And, the perfect man knows when I’m feeling bad even if I don’t show it. He calls because he happens to be thinking about me. He supports me in my pursuits and my work but also gives me space when I need it.”

Had she forgotten something? She believed she had, but Matt’s expression distracted her. His eyebrows were drawn together so that they formed a straight line and his lips werepressed together skeptically. He looked a little like a child who had been given an impossible math problem.

“I don’t understand,” he finally replied slowly, handing her one of the sandwiches he had made—with lots of cheese, naturally, even if it wasn’t Babybel. “If there are no outward signs that you’re not feeling well, how is this guy supposed to know?”

“He just does.”

“Buthow? Reads it in your eyes?”

“For example.”

Frowning, he looked deep into them. “Don’t get me wrong, Maddie, your eyes are very pretty, but they’ve never screamed,I feel terrible even though I’m pretending to be fine. Expecting someone to be able to read your emotions is stupid.”

She scowled at him darkly. “No, it’s not. Anyway, he’s a dream man.”

“The emphasis is ondreambecause he’s not real,” Matt said with his mouth full. “So, you seriously want your boyfriend to be able to read minds? I imagine that would be incredibly uncomfortable. I would hate it if my girlfriend read my mind. What would we talk about then? And what if my intense sexual imagination scared her?”

Maddie had to laugh. “That’s a good point. But it’s important that he’s sensitive.” She nodded firmly and took a bite of her sandwich. You could say what you wanted about Matt’s cooking, but the man could make a sandwich!

“I believe everyone is responsible for their own emotions. If you want someone to know how you feel, you have to damn well tell them! To make it easier for the other person.”

She paused and swallowed. The familiar heat that she’d been feeling lately whenever Matt looked at her for too long tingled in her stomach. “Like…how you told me how you felt a few days ago?”

She saw his jaw twitch before he replied harshly, “Just like that.”

“And you think that made iteasierfor me?” she whispered, lowering the sandwich as her fluttering stomach clenched. “You seriously believe that since you confessed, I’mlessworried about what you feel and want, and what you’re thinking about? That I’m no longerdriving myself crazy?Even though that is what you wanted to prevent?”

She saw him swallow. How his Adam’s apple rose and fell. How he licked his dry lips. How he hesitated before he murmured, “At least you didn’t have to read it in my eyes.”

No. But she noticed he had read it in hers, that she felt the same way. Otherwise, he would never have brought it up. She lowered her gaze and nodded.

“What about appearances?”

She blinked in confusion. “What?”

“What does your dream man look like?”

Oh, right. Her dream man. They’d been talking about her dream man. “I don’t care. Looks are secondary,” she mumbled, taking a bite of the sandwich even though she was no longer hungry.

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