“I don’t think we have enough time. In the short time that I’ve known you, I found a lot of distasteful things about you. In fact, I can’t think of a single good quality about you.” She smiles into my face when she says that.
“I’ll go first.”
She jerks her head back as if she’s surprised.
“What? You can’t possibly be shocked that I would find something wrong with you.”
“I am, as a matter of fact. How dare you, Cole?”
“You’re withholdin’.” She scoffs, but her face lights up. She appears even more beautiful in her unguarded state. I want to pat myself on the back for finally making her laugh.
“You’re annoying,” she retorts. “You can’t take a hint.”
“We’re supposed to be taking turns. That’s another thing I find distasteful about you. You can’t seem to follow the rules, and as the primo athlete that I am, I can’t abide by that.” She’s uncomfortable with my job, but it’s what I do, and there’s no point in pretending otherwise.
“Whose rules?” she asks. “Yours?”
“Mine?” I reluctantly pull my hands away from her and point to myself. I pull her back into me before she can run away. “Oh, you mean mine as in the patriarchy? Never. I don’t make the rules, but I do play by them. So, that’s another thing I find distasteful about you. You cheat at games.”
She rolls her eyes and does a loud, fake yawn. “You don’t know me well enough to make any of those statements.”
“But I’m right.”
“You’re full of yourself,” she tells me.
“You’re a liar,” I say back.
“There’s no possible reason for me to lie to you. Ever.”
“And you’re a terrible actor.”
“You like the sound of your own voice too much,” she tells me.
“You live in a cloud of denial by pretending you don’t want me.”
“Oh, Cole,” she says, looking into my eyes. “Delusional much?”
“And I could never be with you,” I tease, pulling her closer and we sway. We look totally ridiculous slow dancing to the fast song that’s playing.
“Well, we finally agree on something. That’s the one and only thing we have in common.”
“I have about a million reasons why I could never be with you, but I can’t imagine a single reason why you wouldn’t want to be with me.”
“Because women fall at your feet?”
“Every time I leave the house.” Just as the words leave my mouth, a woman walks by and snaps a picture of me.
She sighs and the smile leaves her face. The playfulness is gone now. “Here are the facts, okay? I’m only going to say them once, so listen up.” She looks up and gestures for me to lean down. When I do, she puts her lips so close to my earlobe that they almost touch. “One,” she whispers, “I don’t date athletes. Two, I don’t date men with kids, especially the type of man who’s at the club instead of at home with their child on a Friday night.”
I put a hand to my heart and pretend to swoon. “Be still my heart.” I exaggerate my southern accent as much as possible and channel Mama on a Sunday morning after she sees us dressed for church. “A woman who is protective of my son. I’m going to overlook how you’re judging me without all the facts. Maybe now there are only half a million reasons why I can’t be with you, darlin’. Keep going. You’re knockin’ down all my walls.”
She stares and opens her mouth, but no words come out. She tilts her head to the side as if she’s gathering her thoughts. I pat myself on the back for winning this round and striking her speechless, but my own smile is wiped from my face when she slides her hands up my chest and grabs my shirt with both hands. She pulls me down. She’s about as strong as a fly, but I lean down if only to be closer to that mouth of hers.
“You think you’re so charming, don’t you?” My wide smile is the only answer I give her. “Those words stick to your tongue like honey.”
“You’re the only honey I want on my tongue right now.”
She ignores my last statement and tightens her fists around my shirt. She pulls me down further. “Number three. Pay attention.”
