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How does 7pm sound?
Great. I’ll see you there.
LA traffic being what it was, a seven pm meet up didn’t actually leave Meegan the opportunity to take her sweet ass time. She headed straight home and warmed up some leftover chicken and pasta she’d been looking forward to all day. After a quick shower, she changed into something more cozy and casual, then headed over to Yogurt Mart. As soon as Meegan pulled into the parking lot, she saw Olin standing by the front door of the shop. For some silly reason, tingles sparked in her belly and she knew she really needed to get out more. At the very least, she needed to take Daniel and Kiera up on their standing offer.
Who the hell gets excited over a fake date?
She parked her SUV, grabbed her purse and headed for the door, bunching her hands around the cuffs of her oversized sweatshirt. Getting closer, she took in every detail of the real life Olin Breivik. He was tall. She was tall herself at five-ten, so tall was good. He looked the same as in his pictures. The dusting of a goatee and mustache on his face. He was wearing jeans, a pair of Nike high tops, and a black North Face hoodie. Meegan was glad he hadn’t dressed up either. They were at this Yogurt Mart to scheme and nothing else.
“Meegan?” he said, and she almost swallowed her tongue. She didn’t know why she didn’t watch one of the few videos she saw of him giving a tech bro speech, but she wished she had. Then she wouldn’t have been so caught off guard by how sexy his voice was. Deep, but soft. She smiled to stop the glitching going on in her brain and held out her hand. He took it and gave her a firm, but short shake.
“Olin, I presume?”
“That’s me.”
She glanced at the door beside him and saw the sign taped to the inside. CLOSED FOR PRIVATE PARTY.
“Oh, they’re closed. We can go somewhere else,” Meegan suggested. She was a little bummed because she was ready to demolish some frozen yogurt.
“No, actually,” Olin said, glancing over his shoulder. “It’s closed for us.”
“It is? Oh, well I guess you wouldn’t want to talk about this whole plan with an audience.”
“It’s more that I heard girls—women. Women like it when you close down places for them.”
Meegan blinked, taken aback by his statement. She almost said it wasn’t necessary going to these lengths just for a conversation, but she was not gonna turn down private, exclusive yogurt. “That’s sweet. Thank you. Shall we?”
“Uh yeah.” Olin turned and opened the door for her. Meegan stepped inside and chuckled a little. Beyond the two young girls behind the register, the shop was definitely free of other patrons. The whirling buzz of the yogurt machines and some pop music coming through the speakers filled the air.
“Welcome,” the girls greeted Meegan in unison.
“Hi,” she snorted back.
“He’s taken care of everything,” the shorter of the two girls said. “So go crazy.”
“Oh, I’m gonna.” Meegan crossed the shop and grabbed the biggest cup they offered. “Let me sugar up and then we can talk.”
Olin just nodded and hovered close by as she loaded her cup with cake batter yogurt and enough gummy bears to kill a weaker woman. She followed Olin to the table furthest from the register. Meegan sat on a chair opposite him, took a bite of dessert and then dared to look at his face up close. Olin Breivik was downright adorable. It was a good thing he wasn’t looking for anything real and that they were ultimately incompatible. Otherwise she would have asked him out for real.
four
“So,” Meegan said, focusing back on the real reason she was there. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Actually,” Olin said. “Hold on.” His chair skidded across the floor as he jumped up and went over to the stacked yogurt cups. Meegan glanced over at the girls behind the counter. One had their back to them, but the other one was doing her best to pretend she wasn’t eavesdropping. Meegan didn’t blame them at all. She would have found an excuse to suddenly polish the whole store if she was in their shoes. Olin came back with a mountain of pistachio yogurt and no toppings. Not a bad choice. “Sorry. I need something to do with my hands while I’m talking about something this nuts. I don’t know if Xeni or Duke told you. I’m autistic.”
“Oh, okay.”
“That’s not a problem, is it?” Olin asked. It didn’t sound like he was asking for approval. Instead he was letting her know that aspect of himself wasn’t going to change anytime soon.
“Nope. A bunch of my friends are neurodivergent. I’m sure I am on some level. My mom definitely is. It’s all good.”
“Okay, good. That's part of the reason I’m in this whatever you want to call it.”
“Yeah, tell me what's going on.” Meegan listened as Olin recounted his recent run-ins with the ladies of greater Los Angeles. And a few in New York and Miami. And one in Seattle. All the attempted setups and the assumptions that he was gay, simply because he wasn’t accepting every offer thrown his way.
“I guess I should be flattered, but it’s getting on my nerves. Especially when I’m attending professional events. I’m not there to meet someone.”
“That does sound annoying,” she replied. “Getting hit on is only fun if you want it. Otherwise it’s just a nuisance. If you don’t mind, why are you single?” Meegan watched him as he poked at his frozen yogurt. He’d only taken one small bite.
