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“Just don’t let him use that as a sneaky way to ask you out. He’s a charming fucker. You’ll be agreeing to have his firstborn child before you know what’s happened.”
She swallowed her food and smirked. “So now you get to determine who can and can’t ask me out?”
He frowned, his pizza slice halfway to his mouth. “I didn’t mean… Wait, do youwanthim to ask you out?”
Jasper didn’t like the burn that caused in his stomach. Whywouldn’tshe want that? Fitz was a good-looking, friendly guy. He was damn successful. He’d treat her well.
Jasper hated the idea immediately. He wanted to murder that idea, bury it deep in the ground, and salt the earth.
“That’s not the point,” she said. “And it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m not ready for that kind of thing yet.”
Jasper set his plate down, his appetite waning. “What kind of thing?”
“Going out with someone. I would probably have a panic attack before the appetizers hit the table,” she said grimly. “I don’t date.”
She folded her pizza New York style and took too big of a bite, like she wanted her mouth to be too stuffed to continue this conversation.
But Jasper couldn’t let that one go. “Wait. You don’t date?”
She shook her head, her nose twitching.
“Likeat all?”
She set her plate aside, finished chewing, and gave him an exasperated look. “Like ever. Do you have something to drink?”
“Uh, yeah. Bottled water, sparkling water, and beer.”
“Sparkling.”
Jasper went to the fridge and grabbed a random flavor of LaCroix, still hung up on what she’d said. He handed it to her. “You’re serious.”
She took the drink from him, her lips pursed. “Did you miss the part where I freeze up talking to people? Going on a date usually involves speaking to someone you’re attracted to. Remember how I was when we met that first day?That’smy body’s reaction to attraction. Tics and then flight.”
“Attraction.” Her words made him perk up. “So that first day…”
She gave him an are-you-really-going-to-make-me-say-it look. “Yes, Jasper. I thought you were hot, and I completely panicked.”
His lips parted. Closed again. “Wow.” Then another thought hit him. “Wait. So…have you never, like, spent time…with anyone?”
She leaned back against the counter and took a long sip of the water before giving him a droll look. “Way subtle, Jasper. I know what you’re asking. No, I’m not a virgin. I dated my best friend for about a year in college. But that’s it.”
It wasn’t lost on him that her tics had decreased despite the personal topic of conversation. This was Hollyn. He’d somehow gotten into her safe zone, and he was seeing the real her, the one beneath the stranger anxiety. And what he saw there was fascinating and beautiful but also…lonely. Isolated. She hadn’t been with anyone since she was in college? “So that kiss…”
She looked away. “It’d been a while.”
“I couldn’t tell.”
She glanced up with a gimme-a-break glare. “Liar.”
“I’m being serious.” He laced his hands behind his head and let out a breath, absorbing all the information. “I had no clue. Honestly. That’s…tough.”
“It sucks,” she said flatly and set her drink on the counter. “I had an idea, though. About how these lessons could help.”
He lowered his arms to his side. “With the dating stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I mean, if the improv makes you more comfortable thinking on your feet, I’m sure that will translate to—”
