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"But you want to know what a guy thinks about that costume," Daniel said with a smirk. “Because of another guy.”
Beau watched Becca. Her cheeks were a little pink now. "You're a guy. Why can't you give her the opinion?" he asked Daniel.
Maybe the costume she wanted to wear was super ugly. Or silly. For some reason other people in Becca's life had a hard time giving her their honest opinions. It was because she was sweet. He knew that. It was always hard to hurt the feelings of truly nice people. He supposed that for him and Becca it was different because she had no trouble telling him the honest truth as well. Even if it hurt his feelings. They'd established this relationship a long time ago and they both appreciated it. Telling the God’s honest truth at age twelve was different than at age twenty, but because they had so much practice and because it had always turned out for the best, they both valued this particular role in the other’s life.
"Yeah, but I'm not a guy like you," Daniel said.
Beau arched an eyebrow. "What's that mean?"
"It means that we need the opinion from a guy who has a lot of experience with girls trying to get his attention," Savannah said. She leaned over and squeezed Daniel's forearm. "Danny's awesome, but most girls haven't quite caught on to that yet."
"I was a total geek in high school." Daniel lifted a shoulder. "I'm growing out of it. Slowly. Late bloomer."
"Please don't grow out of it completely," Becca said. "Brainy guys are hot."
Beau slid her a look. Becca had hardly dated in high school. Actually, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure she'd datedat allin high school. And now that he was wondering about it, he wondered if she dated in college at all. And if so, what was her type?
She hadn’t always been cute—when he’d first met her, she’d had crooked teeth and never seemed to know what to do with her hair and had been downright gangly—but she’d always been sweet and kind. Even when she’d been telling him he was an ass. She’d meant it to make him a better person.
She had, however, become cute around the time guys started noticing that stuff. And she’d definitely been beautiful when she’d gotten older. But yeah, he could see why Becca and Daniel had become friends.
Becca had been a nerd in high school. She'd been the smartest one in their class by far, and had always preferred books to people. She'd never gone out for any sports, had never tried out for cheerleading or dance squad, had never been in any school plays or musicals. She wasn’t even a band kid.
All he ever remembered seeing her do was read. Well, and study. Which also included books. He knew she'd tutored some kids, including a couple of the football players to keep them eligible for the team.
He knew she'd been on the speech team at least once, though, because she'd delivered an impassioned speech about the nineteenth amendment one year in their social studies class as practice for the big state speech meet that, if he remembered correctly, she'd gone on to win.
He also remembered that she’d spent a lot of time volunteering down in the elementary school. She was now planning to be a kindergarten teacher. And it was the most perfect fit of anything he'd ever seen anyone do.
She was sweet, patient, passionate about education, loved books, and was great with little kids. Becca seem to fit into teaching the same way he fit into woodworking. And she'd been the one that had talked him into finally telling his mother that he didn't want to go to college in spite of the football scholarship and that he wanted to do an apprenticeship with a woodworker instead. Beau was never more at ease and sure of himself than he was with a huge block of wood in hand and a set of tools on his hip.
"And obviouslyIcan't help her with what men like in the women who are seducing them," Toby said.
"Obviously?" Beau asked the other guy. "Why is that obvious?"
Toby laughed. "You're adorable. Iobviouslylike boys, not girls. I can tell her when she looks stunning, but I don't know what's going to get a straight, pussy-loving man's engine running."
Wow. Toby had just said pussy-loving out loud. Okay, then. Beau focused entirely on Becca. "You're trying to get a straight, pussy-loving man's motor running?"
Now, her cheeks were not just faintly pink, they were bright pink. She was not someone he would have imagined sayingpussyto before now. He kind of liked it.
"There's a guy. We have class together. I'm just trying to get his attention."
Savannah laughed. "She's got his attention. They’re partners in their science lab. It's completely cute and cliché. But our shy little flower has established the fact that she's sweet and smart and a very goodfriend. Now she needs to let him know that she can be more than that."
Beau identified the kind of clench he was feeling in his gut now. Bad. If he didn't know better, he would've called it jealousy. But he did know better. This is Becca. He wasn't jealous of this other guy. He was…concerned.
If he rejected her, he could make her feel bad. But worse, if he was a player, he could actually hurt her. Either break her heart or literally hurt her. Yeah, the clench in his gut was definitely a bad one.
"What's the guy like?" Beau asked. He was aware his tone was brusque now and he was scowling.
He knew because Becca scowled back.
"He's nice,” Becca said.
"He's a lot like you," Savannah added. "Big. Lots of muscles. Hot. Probably has lots of female attention."
Beau realized Savannah probably meant all of that as a compliment, but he wasn't taking any of it that way. Becca didn’t need a guy like him. She needed a nice guy. A nerd. A guy like Daniel.
