Page 14 of Mostly My Boss
“Notmyguy. He’s…a friend. And he’s super weird. So be careful what you say around him.”
“We’re going to meet up with some people for coffee,” Nicki announced to him. “You should come with.”
“Yeah. Okay. I like coffee.” He turned to me and wiggled his bushy eyebrows like he was making a point. “Now, seriously, are belts still a thing?”
I stood and sized him up. He had a polo shirt tucked into khakis with a brown belt and half boots. “No,” I said definitively. Tucking his shirt in only highlighted how narrow he was through the waist.
Because he was right. While I didn’t work too hard on how I looked (see previous commentary on my latent insecurity issues), I had also been raised with three brothers who wanted to get laid all the time. Clothes had mattered to them.
I pulled out his shirt and took a step back. “Better. But you need to find something other than polos.”
“There’s something other than polos?” he asked.
“Okay, so Julia, are you going to change and then we can go?” Nicki asked. Innocently. I think it was innocently.
“Yep.” I tried to think through my inventory of T-shirts. Surely there was a medium in there somewhere that would make me look more put together. I pulled out the one I was thinking of and popped into the bathroom for a quick change.
When I glanced down at myself, I could see my boobs were now officially there. I suppose that was an improvement. I walked into the dorm room and Nicki was still fawning over Ethan’s blatant flirting.
Then she turned toward me with her eyes really wide.
“It’s too tight, isn’t it?” I asked, wondering what the hell else I could change into.
“You didn’t tell me you know Ethan Moss!”
“Uh, yeah, I think I did. When he walked into the room.”
“You’re seriously him,” Nicki said to Ethan.
“The one and only.” He half smiled and half smirked. Oh my lord, he was cheesy when he was flirting.
“Oh my gosh, this is so cool. We should go. I can’t wait to tell everyone who I brought.”
She was already out the door when I made my way over to Ethan. “Why do I think she doesn’t mean me?”
“I told you. I’m a genius. You should have believed me.”
“Whatever. I said yes to coffee, with people I don’t know,” I told him, feeling a little proud of myself. “And I’m wearing my tight shirt.”
“That’s not tight. Not even a little.”
“It’s a medium!”
He sighed. “It’s an effort. That’s all I’ll give it.”
“Says the guy in the navy polo.”
“Come on,” he said, pushing me out the door. “We’re going to go make friends and influence the lives of others just by our presence.”
“That sounds daunting. But if I sit there the whole time and don’t say anything, kick me under the table.”
“Fine, but then I should get a discount on my next invoice.”
He’d actually done me a solid today by pushing my buttons enough to motivate me into something that wasn’t exactly comfortable for me. I suppose I owed him a little for that.
“Fine. I’ll send you a coupon. Five percent off.”
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