Page 36 of His Choice

“Maybe it would help to tell us which person you’re looking at and your initial reaction to their photos,” James suggested. “You know, an unfiltered first impression of each person’s looks.”

I shrugged and started back at the beginning of the slide show where there were a few photos of Alex.

“I still think Alex is very good looking. He has an ethereal beauty. And I like that he’s probably only a year or two younger than me.” I swiped right, and there were a couple of shots of him shirtless—one in which he was smiling and one where he was not. “Honestly, I prefer the serious-looking expressions. In those pics, he reminds me that he’s a smart, medical student. I find that appealing.”

“You don’t like his smile?” my mother asked.

I didn’t want to come off as petty. “Well, I imagine if he was my boyfriend, I’d want to see him happy. But it isn’t his best feature.”

“There’s something evil looking about it,” James added.

I nodded. “Yes, that’s it. It isn’t his fault. There’s something about the shape of his mouth and the prominent eye teeth.”

“Maybe he’s a vampire,” my mother suggested. “That would be sexy.”

I scowled at her. “You’d be okay with me dating a dead person?”

She pursed her lips. “They might feel they have something in common with you, Mr. Excitement.”

“Ha-ha,” I muttered.

“At least he’d never age,” she reasoned. “I wish I was a vampire.”

I shook my head. “Don’t add to the town folklore. Some people already explain away your youthful looks to being a witch.”

She grinned. “And here I thought they were just repeating what you call me.”

I moved on to the next person. It was Ted. He was ruggedly handsome. I might have hurried through the clothed photos to find the ones where he was shirtless. I wasn’t disappointed. He had a muscular chest, velvety brown skin, huge arms, and six-pack abs.

“Someone has your interest,” James mused.

“Huh? Oh, Ted. He’s um…handsome.”

“You’d make beautiful babies together,” my mother added.

“You might need to retake biology,” I joked.

She narrowed her eyes. “I meant if it were possible. Honestly, you talk about vampires and witches, but suddenly I’m ridiculous for mentioning a world where men can breed and give birth.”

I cringed. “Eww. Please don’t ever talk about pregnant men again. I don’t want to think about what the birth canal would be.”

I swiped the screen to pictures of Dani. He was cute, but he was too frail for my tastes. “Dani. He’s some people’s dream, I suppose. Just too much of a twink for me,” I announced. “And too theatrical. Every pose is…”

“Coquettish?” my mother asked. “Dramatic?”

“I guess. I have the feeling he’d need lots of stroking, too,” I explained.

“No pun intended,” James piped in.

“Definitely not,” I agreed before reaching the photos of Daryl. “Daryl. Very nice-looking, college-type guy. Nice hair and face. Slender, but in a gym-bod way. Well-toned. There’s just something about that smirk…”

James laughed. “I know! Somewhere along the line, his mother needed to smack it off his face at least once. And after serving the contestants, I can tell you it matches his demeanor. I get the sense he thinks the others can’t hold a candle to him.”

“He was probably the prettiest all through school,” I reasoned. “But you’re right, the other guys here are just as good looking. I’d argue, some are even more so. Welcome to the big leagues, Daryl.”

Brighton was next, and his modeling experience showed. Every shot of him was a winner. The man might have had tiny creases at the corner of his eyes when he smiled and a stray silver hair here and there, but age didn’t detract from his attractiveness. When I viewed the slides where he was shirtless, I marveled that his body was just as fit and toned as Daryl’s, who had to be more than a decade younger. Unlike Daryl, Brighton had a dusting of light brown hair over his pecs. It was very sexy.

“Who are you looking at?” my mother wondered.