The door opened and they both looked over. In the far corner, a big guy with a full beard, who probably played football, was talking to a petite blonde girl. When he smiled, it was creepy.
“Him.” Liam tried to be inconspicuous when he steered Coury to the guy.
Coury turned. “Who?”
“Beard guy in the back.”
“Him?That’syour type?”
Fuck no!“Yeah. I bet he’s a Rhodes Scholar under that beard. What’s not to like?”
“Oh. Right.” Coury blew out a long breath. “Okay. I can see that.”
“You can?”
“Yeah sure.” The mocking tone Liam expected—hoped for—was missing. Coury sounded resigned. “Big and smart. Like you said, what’s not to like?”
“Exactly.”
Fuck my life.
Chapter Nine
Coury
Nico and Luke snuggled on the bed reading something on Luke’s laptop. They looked up as Coury shut the door.
“How’d your date go?” Luke asked.
“Cokey had a date?” Nico shut the screen, smile widening. “With a guy?”
“It was so not a date.” Coury flopped onto his bed and threw his arm over his head.
“You said you were going to find out . . . ” Luke shifted to face him. “Oh. He’s not interested.”
“Nope.” Coury hadn’t realized it would hurt this much. “I’m not his type.”
“Is the boy blind?” Nico asked. “I say that as a joke, but I’m serious. You’re a total cutey.”
“Thanks, but he likes big, smart, and hairy. Basically Paul Bunyan with a PhD.”
Nico snorted. “I like that. I might have to steal it.”
“Keep it.” He didn’t need to be reminded that he failed on both counts—looks and brains.
“How did you find out?” Luke asked. “Did he point to a guy and say he’s hot?”
“That’s tacky when you’re on a date, not date,” Nico said.
“I asked him what his type was and the guy he pointed out looked like he played offensive line for the football team. The whole line all by himself.”
“Wait, you asked him that on your date? Oh no.” Nico waved a finger at Luke and then turned it on Coury. “Were you expecting him to point to you?”
“No, I asked him about some other guys that, you know, were kinda like me. He didn’t like any. So I asked who hedidlike.”
“This is worse than I thought,” Luke said, shaking his head.
Nico murmured. “It is. He’s so far gone, he’s lost the ability to think.”
