“Okay, this time, then. Are you really going to sit all the way over there?”
“You never told me this was a lesson.”
“I needed to see you in action. Try again.”
She sighed, stood, and grabbed a handful of popcorn before she launched herself…near me.
I motioned toward the inches of distance she’d left between us. “A real man like me can work with that space, but I’m still calling you a chicken.”
“I can’t make it that easy for you. Maybe I need the coach to prove himself.”
I eyed her proudly. “Good flirting, Tuck. But I don’t think making things easy for guys is your thing. Why is your foot moving like that?”
Immediately, her leg that was twitching uncontrollably on the floor stopped. There was a beat of forced stillness before herhands began sliding back and forth down her legs as though she had a bundle of energy to be released.
“Why are you nervous?” I asked her, wondering if I was making her nervous in some way I could fix. “It’s just me.”
“I don’t know. I just get like this around guys.”
“You were fine two minutes ago. Why is this any different?”
“Because now I know you’re going to make moves on me, and it's messing with my head. But even this isn’t the same as the real thing.”
“Why not?”
“Because guys don’t want to do that with me. You’re only doing it because you're teaching me.”
“I haven’t actually done anything yet because now I have to figure out a way to scoot a half a foot closer to you first.”
I was rewarded with a grin. “I thought a real man could figure it out.”
“Oh, he will. But we could already be cuddling right now if you weren’t such a big wimp,” I teased.
She smiled again. This time, a softer, quieter kind of smile. The shyness of it all suddenly made my heart feel like it was pounding a thousand nails into place. I cleared my throat and forced my body to stop responding like I was a fifteen-year-old kid about to make my first move.This was Shelby, I told my unrepentant body. We’d probably watched a hundred movies together in our lifetime.
This one was not going to break us.
She nodded toward the TV. “Why are you looking for a movie? We both know the one you’re going to pick.”
I couldn’t help the smile as she remembered my favorite movie from my childhood. “Joke's on you. We’re watching the sequel tonight.”
During the opening credits, I attempted to keep my thoughts in order and take my coaching job seriously by giving her allthe pointers I could think of. “I’d say a movie usually happens on date two or three. By then, you probably know if you like the guy. Or at any rate, you’re there, so you’re hopefully somewhat interested in him.”
“I’ve rarely made it past date two, so that’s probably why I’m clueless.”
“And these lessons are only for guys you’re interested in. If you’re not interested, then ignore all of this. But if you are, then you gotta help him out a little bit. At least come halfway.”
Suddenly, a cowboy on a horse moving a herd of horses through the mountains took over the big screen, and my attention was so taken that I almost didn’t hear her question. Her voice was so soft.
“What if he doesn’t want me to?” She refused to meet my eyes, keeping her gaze steady on the sweaty Australian. Maybe this movie was a bad idea.
“You think he invited you over just to hang out?”
“Maybe. What if I misread all the signals, and he really just wanted some company to watch a movie with?”
“Okay,” I relented. “Maybe. But what if hedoeswant you to?”
My foot bumped the coffee table in front of us, and we both watched as the bowl of popcorn began to tip, spilling popcorn on the floor at our feet. We scrambled upward and saved it from completely capsizing. We each quickly grabbed handfuls to put back into the bowl.