Page 46 of Betting on the Best Friend
“No. I was helping.” His hand is warm, almost hot, through the sleeve of my sweater.
“I know you were trying to.” He gives me a light squeeze, his eyes trained on mine, serious, searching.
A wisp of concern feathers through my mind as I meet Charlie’s gaze for a couple of seconds. Is he taking my help the wrong way? My eyes drift to his hand on my arm, a subtle signal that he should move it. Instead, he gives me another soft squeeze, and it sends a shiver up my arm. I hate being so ticklish. Wait a minute . . .
I shoot him an annoyed look. “Very funny.”
He removes his hand in the same unhurried way he does everything. “You’re a good teacher. Sydney will appreciate it.”
“Have her send me a thank-you card. Now, if you’re done being the worst, I’m going to the children’s section to cover so Thùycan go on lunch.”
“Toddler terror time is all yours.”
My arm tingles where he squeezed it, and I resist the impulse to rub the spot in case he’s watching as I walk to the kids’ section. But why would he be? I even glance over my shoulder to confirm that I’m being ridiculous, but Charlieiswatching me.
I whip my head straight ahead, which is not a normal thing to do. But neither is checking to see if he’s watching me. And neither is him watching me, is it?
“Be cool, Ruby,” I mutter under my breath as I walk to the kids’ section at my normal pace.
But . . . why do I feel like I’m running away from Charlie?
Chapter Sixteen
Charlie
Time to check myprogress on Turning a Friend into More.
I opened at the library this morning, and I’ve been packaging sneakers since I got home. I’m halfway through the ones I need to ship in the morning, so it’s a good time to take a break and work on my actual favorite project.
I lean against the passthrough counter of my kitchen, studying my list.
Number one: spend a lot of time together.It’s probably cheating that I even put it on there, but I needed to start with a win.
Number two: create opportunities for her to see you as dateable.I’ve created the opportunities. The only way to measure if it’s working is if she dates me.
Number three: stay safe but become less comfortable. Yes. I’m surprising her without making her anxious. Becoming unexpected.
Number four: intentional connection, e.g. focused eye contact. I know a soft whisper near her ear makes her shiver. I didn’t know that last week. Progress.
Number five: share intense sensory experiences, e.g. live music, adrenaline stuff. Need to figure that out. This is why there’s a scene in every holiday movie my sisters make me watch where the couple goes ice skating, and one of the leads has to be super bad at it so there’s lots of “helpful” hand holding and catching of falls. That counts as an intense sensory experience in Hallmark land. If I could think of a smooth way to get Ruby out climbing, that has some possibilities, but it’s never come up organically before.
Number six: create demand. Turning her down for dinner the other day made a bigger impression than anything else I’ve done. The most effective strategy so far is the one that I like the least because it means choosing not to spend time with her. But I want her thinking that whatever she’s doing when I’m not around would be better if I were there.
I have to find the balance between creating demand through scarcity butalsospend more time around her. Who made this dumb list?
The answer is quality over quantity. That’s how I balance the two. Not just spending more time; spending quality time.
I brainstorm ideas while I print shipping labels, but I’ve barely come up with an idea when Ruby solves the problem with a text.
Pickle ball?
What’s the rest of the question?
She FaceTimes me. “Lunch guy called.”
“Lunch guy?” I pretend I don’t know who she’s talking about.
“West Elm sofa dude.”
