Page 13 of Love's a Glitch
Not that my friends would say that—well, Cat might.
“We ordered our food,” I said to Luke, “and the waitress took away my menu.”
“I’m sure you’re aware that’s what they usually do.”
“Painfullyaware.” I twisted the end of my ponytail around my finger, tight enough the skin between the brown strands began turning as red as my face had during the date last night. “I know it sounds like a small thing, and I so shouldn’t be perturbed by him keeping his eyes closed—”
“I get it. One of my mom’s friends finishes sentences along with whoever’s speaking. I think she’s attempting to show solidarity, but it causes me to stumble over my words. Once, in a show of my immense maturity, I tried to throw her off, then then we both just ended up sounding bonkers.”
“Oh, I’ve dealt with one of those people before. Totally distracting. I also understand when people close their eyes for a second or two during an introspective moment. But Andrew must think every single thing he has to say is grandiose.” A band wound around my chest as I prepared to confess the part I played in destroying my dinner date. “I’m not proud to admit this, but as Andrew told me about the landscaping he’d just done in his front yard, and how frustrated he was with some of the unforeseen disasters, Imight’vetimed it.”
“Landscaping? And I thought my moves were rusty. To be fair, I’d probably snooze if someone told me about that, too.”
Wait.Hismoves were rusty? Why? Also, I highly doubted that. Did Luke want to use his moves on other women? Should I be the pal he’d been to me and offer to listen or help or whatever?
“How long?”
Luke’s question jerked me from my introspection. “Two minutes and eleven seconds,” I said. “Not long in the grand scheme of things, but practically an eternity when compared to the quarter of a second blink most people take here and there.”
“Yeah, that’s way too long.”
“Fun fact: it’s also a long time in cardio, crunches, or squats time. Although probably not for someone like you, who does the crazy all-day hiking type stuff.”
“Better than going nowhere on a stair-stepper or treadmill at the gym.”
Naturally, that made me think of his hiking picture. While I’d done my damnedest to sear the image into my brain, I could use a refresher course, so I put Luke on speaker and pulled up the photos he’d sent. “You know what’s not fair? You’ve seen one of my most embarrassing pictures ever, and all you sent me were ones of you being all manly and hot.”
“You think I’m hot?”
My face heated, as though his fineness had triggered a warming reaction, which it did, but embarrassment twisted through the mix. Do I glaze over the compliment? Or do I throw out a flirty line? Was there a middle ground somewhere between those two? If so, Luke had probably hiked it and, with my stamina, I’d never make it. “Humility doesn’t suit you—especially since you’re the one who informed me you had a charming voice.”
“Is that your way of calling me cocky?”
“That response proves why I don’t have to.”
His low laugh filtered over the phone, skated across my skin, and kicked my heart rate into high gear. “I’m not sure how we sidestepped into photos. Weren’t you telling me about your date?”
“Right.” I didn’t want to admit we’d taken this path because my brain constantly veered toward Luke. “Since I’m trying to be less hasty and give the guys I go out with more of a chance, I ignored the closed eyes and told him that tulips were my favorite flowers, doing my best to relate. In response, Andrew says, ‘I never planted tulips.’
“Then he launched into a story about work, and I wondered how fully closed his eyes were, so I pulled a couple of faces. And he totally didn’t notice. Until he, um…” I bit at my thumbnail, finding it harder than expected to admit my two-year-old tactics hadn’t—surprise, surprise—ended in success. “Until he did.”
Luke’s laughter rang through my ear, full and loud, and just when I was about to timehismaking fun at my expense, he sighed. “I wish I could’ve seen that.”
“Well, the guy who usually keeps his eyes closed wished he hadn’t seen it. He asked what I was doing, and I explained about how he occasionally talked with his eyes shut, and things fell apart from there. I insisted on paying the bill and fled.” Even though Luke wasn’t there to witness my humiliation, my hand returned to my face. Needing a subject change, I said, “So, photography. Tell me more about that. Is that what you do for work?”
“It’s the job I prefer, but currently I’m doing some work for my father’s company to give my brother a breather. It’s the only reason I’m currently in San Diego, and as soon as I help them catch up, I’ll be off traveling and taking pictures again.”
Did that mean he was only in California temporarily? A sliver of grief over what-might’ve-been pricked, and I allowed myself a handful of seconds to feel and process. If we only stuck to phone buddies, it wouldn’t much matter where Luke lived. If anything, it was good to be aware that was all it’d ever be. Then I wouldn’t go overly romanticizing things with Luke like I tended to do anytime a guy and I hit it off. Half the time I was the only one thinking that, too.
Just like with Dillon. I’d taken all the things we’d had in common and fixated on them to the point that I’d missed the little signs that warned he wasn’t as in love with me as I was with him. While smack dab in the middle of our fast and furious relationship, I’d considered falling so hard in a matter of months a fairytale IRL.
Lust came swiftly; love developed more gradually. It was pertinent to learn the difference to keep my heart safe, so I wouldn’t give eighty percent to a man who only gave me twenty.
Once Luke and I wrapped up our conversation, I opened up my dating app and flipped through profiles of the guys I’d written off before giving them a full chance, and even a few I’d written off because their profiles led me to believe we wouldn’t click.
With my wrong-number-buddy out of the realm of possibilities, it was time to reup my efforts with fellas from my past.
7
