Test number one, how is this man going to react to being asked out by a woman.
He blinks a few times, seeming to glitch out. He opens his mouth, closes it, opens it, closes it.
“Arden?”
“Yes.”
“Is that a yes to the date or a–”
“Yes, just yes. Let’s go to dinner. Just,” he comes around the counter, looking at his watch. “I need like an hour to, um, study in my room and then I’ll be ready to go. Does seven work?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Do you want help? I’m about to take a break from my own studies.”
“No, no. You relax. Do something non-school related.” His phone starts to ring as he heads into his room. He looks at the screen and shuffles a little bit faster. “I’ll see you at seven.” He closes the door and I’m thrust into silence.
Well. That was weird.
Looking at my phone, I see it’s half past five pm so I’ve got an hour and a half to chill until he’s ready to go. I guess he passed the test but…something was off about that response. Still, I find myself smiling when I think about his reaction. His surprise and joy was adorable. I head to my room to get ready to scroll on my phone for a while before I get up and get ready. What does one wear when they’re going on a date with their best-friends-brother-slash-friends-with-benefits-fake-boyfriend-slash-roommate?
We decide to walk to the Irish bar on the edge of campus. I threw around a few different ideas but I really was craving a burger, fries and a beer so, pub it is. Arden seemed happy to go wherever I wanted, so that’s a plus.
“Can I ask you a question?” Arden asks as we are seated at a table near the bar.
“Shoot.”
“What prompted you to ask me on a date tonight?”
Damnit. Was hoping he wouldn’t ask me that.
“Well, we had a really good time at the escape room so I figured it would be a good time to go out to dinner…” I trail off, knowing my response is a total cop out and hoping he doesn’t call me on it. Arden only nods, letting me off easy this time.Phew.
Quietly, we glance over the menu and within minutes, we’ve ordered two burgers—mine with extra onions—and two beers. The waiter comes back with the beer quietly and Arden raises his to cheers mine.
“Cheers,” he says.
“To what? You have to cheers to something.”
“Fine,” Arden thinks for a minute and then smiles. “To good times.”
I roll my eyes but can’t contain my grin. “To good times.” Our glasses go to connect but Arden looks at the cups and I immediately pull mine away.
“What?”
“You have to look me in the eyes when we clink the glasses!”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s bad luck. If you don’t look into the other person’s eyes, then it's seven years of bad sex.”
Arden hits me with a heavy glance. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope,” I move my glass out again. “Well?”
Arden rolls his eyes before opening them very widely, staring at me very intensely. I meet his insane gaze with my own, and we tap our glasses together without breaking eye contact. It’s only when I nod and sip the drink that he looks away.
“You’re insane, you know that?”
“You love it,” I reply unthinkingly. And then I pause. I didn’t just imply that he loves me. Thatisinsane.Quick, change the subject!“So, got any shifts at the cafe this week?” I ask and thankfully the waiter comes to drop our food and hopefully mask the embarrassment I’m having for asking such a stupid question.