Whit hums into the phone and spoons another scoop of peanut butter into a foul-looking smoothie.
“Are you listening to me? It says here that male penguins gift female penguins with rocks for their nests. If she likes the rock, she’ll mate with him. But if another male gives her a nice rock, she’ll mate with him too.”
“And?” He scoops some green powder into his smoothie.
“I let Seth give her rocks. And Ryan. And that guy at the bar.” I lean forward, closer to the screen. “I haven’t given her any rocks, Whit.”
“Is this a metaphor?” He wrinkles his nose. “Tristan, it’s nine a.m. here and I swear, if rocks are a stand-in for your dick, I’m going to blend my phone up with this kale.”
“No.” I shove a hand through my hair. “I’m so behind. I’ve never done this. How do I know what she wants?”
Whit shrugs. “You’re her best friend.”
“So what?” I’m nearly shouting, and I push off the stool and start pacing. Friendship means nothing. “I need her to see me romantically. I need to give herrocks.”
Whit is staring at me like I have four heads.
“What? You think it’s a bad idea?”
“Assuming I buy this metaphor, I think you need to give her Katie-specific rocks. Rocks that make her feel things. Rocks that mean something.”
“Rocks that make her cry.” I grab my list and start scribbling. I think about what Aiden said the other day, about showing Katie pieces of myself. A seed of an idea takes root and forces my pen to move faster across the page.
“Uh, sure. Rocks that make her cry.”
“That’s what she likes. She wants to go to college, but she won’t admit it, and she loves documentaries about people who do impossible things, and she has a whole bunch of dreams she’s stashed away and never accomplished. I bet I can make her want to cry.”
I smile triumphantly.
Whit is squinting at me.
“What?”
“I don’t think you’re fit to run the company.”
“Shut up.”
He laughs. “Tristan, if it were me, I’d give her the best sex of her life and make her breakfast. But your way sounds good too.”
Two hours later,I pull on my jogging pants and grab a long-sleeved shirt before I smile to myself and toss it back on the bed. In the animal kingdom, males display their feathers to attract a mate. I might not have feathers, but Katie’s eyes kept dropping to my body last night while we watched TV.
She likes my body.
She really likes what my body can do for her.
She wanted more, which is exactly why I didn’t give it to her.Never try to take by force what you can win by cunning.
I assess my pants with a critical eye. I should have showered. Or maybe not. Maybe my just-fucked hairstyle will remind her that she wishes she were just-fucked.
I run a palm down my face.
This is the hard part.
The wanting to tell her so badly that I nearly blurted it out while kissing her part. Theyou better not fuck this up or she’ll runpart.
I hook my thumbs into the waistband of my pants and push them down just a little, flashing a little more of my stomach. I think she liked that too. She couldn’t stop touching it yesterday.
I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and snort alaugh. I look insane in the light of dawn—eyes wild, hair standing up, pants low slung enough that I look like I’m about to rip them off and go to town on her.
