Page 65 of Promising You
“It is not. You get all sweaty and gross when you run. That’s not a date.”
“How did we meet?”
“You know how we met. You helped me unpack the car when I got here.”
“That doesn’t count. What happened the next day?”
“You met me out on the track and we raced. But you didn’t plan that.”
“No, but when I found out you liked to run, I kept asking you to go running with me. I hate running, especially at your insane pace. I only did it so I could spend time with you. It was the first step in getting you to go out on a date with me.”
“Okay, but that was you. Not Carson.”
“That’s a trickallguys use. Find something the girl likes to do, then casually offer to join her in that activity, and go from there. It’s a classic first move. And it has a much higher success rate than taking a girl out to dinner and a movie. You’re on her turf so she feels comfortable. You’re showing interest in something she likes.”
“If Carson goes on 10-mile runs, then he obviously already likes running. He’s not pretending to just to date me.”
“Then why does he want you to run with him? He doesn’t need a running partner. You always say running is a solitary sport. And we know he’s not using you to feel safe when he’s on the trails.”
“Okay, fine. Maybe there’s a tiny chance he’s interested in me. But he’s not now that he knows about you.”
“Did he act different after he met me?”
“No. He just acted normal.”
“Normal as in he kept asking you out? So he just ignored the fact that you have a boyfriend.”
“He didn’t ask me out.” I slip my arm around Garret’s and tug on him until he sits down with me. “Are you seriously jealous of this guy? A guy I don’t even know?”
He takes his arm back. “You know him well enough to tell him your major, which apparently you’ve decided is something I don’t need to know.”
“I’m sorry about that. It just came out because he told me something and I didn’t know what to say.”
“What did he tell you?”
“He said he wants to be a cancer doctor so he can help people like his sister. His sister died of cancer last month. She was 16. That’s why he didn’t start college until now. And you know I never know what to say when people tell me sad things. So I just blurted it out.”
“You just blurted out that you want to be a doctor? This just occurred to you at lunch?”
“No. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I just haven’t made a decision yet. But I’m taking some of the courses I would need if I decide to go to med school.”
“Why haven’t you ever told me this?”
“Because I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted to do.”
“It doesn’t matter. You still could’ve told me. You know how shitty I felt today when some guy I just met knows more about my girlfriend than I do?”
“He doesn’t know anything about me. And I didn’t mean to tell him about the pre-med thing, but I can’t take it back, so can we just move past this?” I sneak my arm back around his. “You know I love you, Garret. I’m not interested in Carson. I’m only interested in you.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just don’t trust other guys. As a guy, I know how we think. And I don’t want you hanging out with Carson outside of class.”
“We’ll have to get together for the homework at least a few times.”
“I get that, but I don’t want you doing other stuff with him.”
“Thenyoucan’t be friends with other girls.”
“I stopped being friends with girls the day we met. Because they weren’t friends. They were girls I was trying to sleep with.”
