“This is a good one. Do you have a flaw that you think I might not be okay with?”
I think it over for a minute while I chew. “I think this will work better if we say what each other's flaws are. It’s harder to point out your own flaw.”
“So, we’re just going to be telling each other what wedon’tlike about each other?” Miles asks, titling his head to the side.
“Don’t think of it like that. You asked the question. I’m just trying to make it easier,” I suggest. “Do you want me to go first?”
“Sure,” he says, slurping his milkshake.
“It’s not really aflawbut just something I’ve noticed,” I start tentatively. “You get very attached to things.” His face doesn’t move, as if he’s already been told this before. "I mean, you literally had a full-on meltdown when we switched to a different gym."
He throws his head back laughing and god, I hate how much I love the sound of it - It's masculine and airy and you just want to melt into it. I can't help laughing too.
"What is it that you said? That I was hyper-fixating on you instead of dealing with my problems?” he mocks. I nod my head, suppressing my laugh. “I don’t disagree. It’s just something I do but if it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t be doing this right now.”
“That’s very true,” I say, raising my glass. He clinks his milkshake carton with my glass. “What about me? What’s my fatal flaw?”
“Woah, it’s not fatal. Like you said, just something I’ve noticed,” he says, leaving a dramatic pause. “You are a very stubborn person, Wren Hackerly.”
I gasp in fake shock. I have been told this my whole life; that I can’t let things happen without putting up a fight no matter how ridiculous it seems. I’ve always stuck to routines, traditions, order. I’ve never felt the need to branch out of that. To get out of my comfort zone. Everything has always seemed so black and white.
Until him.
“You refused to do this in the beginning, but it wasn’t until your friends pushed you that you realised how irresistible I am. And now look at us,” he grins, moving his hands between us.
“And how well is that working out for us so far?” I raise my eyebrows. He shakes his head, a serious expression taking over his face.
"Wren," he presses. "We had one set back. We've been out one time. It's going to take a while for us to get used to each other."
"I know," I murmur. "I just really want this to work."
"I know. And it will," he says certainly before digging back into his fries. I pick up his phone off the table, looking for a question.
“Which of my qualities do you like the most?” I ask when I land on one. He chews thoughtfully before clearing his throat.
“I like that you are what you get, you know?” he says. I draw my face into a puzzled expression, not fully understanding him. “Like, I knew from day one that you were brutal. I knew that I had to earn it, to deserve it, for you talk to me. You weren’t going to let me have you so easily.”
“I’m glad you think it’s a good quality,” I say softly.
“What do you mean?”
I take in a deep breath, my chest shaking on the exhale.“For as long as I could remember, I’ve kept my card to my chest. Never letting anyone get too close to avoid getting hurt but that was always such a dealbreaker. That’s why Augustus left.”
"Why do you think you do that?" he asks. "Push people away, I mean."
"Hey," I laugh. "This isn't a therapy session."
He shakes his head. "It's just a question, Wren. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I'm just trying to get to know you better."
I sigh. I want him to know me. The real me. If we're going to pretend to date, the least I can know is make it seem like he knows me. I can deal with us being friends at least.
"I think I'm just always trying to be good enough. To keep people interested. Then I started to realise that if I act the same all the time, no one will expect anything different from me."
“You don’t seem to be like that with me,” he says after a while.
“That’s because I know you’re not going to break my heart. And you’re easier to talk to than most people.”
“Why do you think that?”
