Page 45 of Clinically Awkward

“Come in.”

I stepped inside, and his apartment was exactly what I expected. Clean. Organized. Bookshelves alphabetized by author. A couch that looked comfortable. A coffee table with a pizza box and an empty beer bottle. “Sorry about the mess,” he said, closing the door behind me.

“This is a mess?” I looked around. “Quinton, I can see your floor. That’s not a mess. That’s a showroom.”

He laughed.

God, I loved that sound.

“Beer?” he asked.

“Please.”

He disappeared into the kitchen as I sat on the couch, trying not to think about the fact that I was in Quinton Wesley’s apartment. Alone. At night. After a terrible date with my boyfriend.

This was fine. Everything was fine.

He came back with two beers and handed me one as our fingers brushed, and I felt it everywhere. “So,” he said, settling onto the couch beside me. “Want to tell me about the angry emoji?”

I took a long pull from the beer. “He spent the entire dinner talking about his car.”

“His car?”

“His car. For forty-five minutes. I timed it.”

Quinton’s eyebrows shot up. “Forty-five minutes?”

“Forty-five minutes. He described the engine. The horsepower. The custom leather interior. The sound system. The—” I stopped. “I don’t even like cars.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“You drive a twelve-year-old Honda Civic with a bumper sticker that says, ‘My other car is a broom.’”

I stared at him as he shrugged.

“I notice things.”

Something warm bloomed in my chest. “He also talked about his workout routine,” I continued. “And his meal prep. And his promotion at work. And his fantasy football league.”

“Did he ask you anything about yourself?”

“He asked if I wanted dessert.”

Quinton winced. “Ouch.”

“Yeah.”

We sat in silence for a moment, drinking our beers when Quinton said, “For what it’s worth, I would’ve asked you about yourself.”

I looked at him and noticed that he was looking at me. Really looking at me. Like I was the only thing in the room worth paying attention to. “What would you have asked?” I heard myself say.

“How your day was. What you’re reading. If you’ve tried that new hiking trail we talked about. Whether you’re still mad at Fitz for the thing with the stethoscope.”

I laughed. “I’m always mad at Fitz.”

“I know. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”