“Investing? No, that’s at the other end of the community center. And it’s a terrible group. They don’t even have snacks.”
“Can you be serious for a minute?”
“Probably not.”
“Try.”
I take a deep breath and sit down on the carpet, cross-legged. I put my palms together and calmly say, “Om. Serious.”
Drew slides off the end of my mother’s bed and sits in front of me, also cross-legged.
“You’re flexible,” I comment.
“I really was going there for an investment seminar. As soon as I walked into the room, I knew I was in the wrong place. But there was this cute girl there. So I stayed, even though I didn’t have any emotional or life problems to discuss.”
My neck is itchy. I rub my neck. This conversation is uncomfortable.
“You’re going to be late for work,” I say.
He keeps gazing into my eyes, unwilling to let me go. “The more I spent time with you, the more I realized I did have a problem. I was lonely. And I was afraid of being with a woman, because my last relationship was so exhausting.”
I let out a big breath, blowing the air up my face to make my hair flutter. “If you don’t like exhausting, you’d better stay far away from me.”
“I find you invigorating. You’re a little… complicated, I’ll give you that, but you’re the good kind of complicated.”
Scratching my ear while I look away, I mutter, “I like you too, dude.”
“Since you’re helping me with my problem, maybe I can help you with yours.”
“I don’t have a problem.”
“Whose clothes are these?”
“They’re your clothes now. You can throw them out when you get home. They’re from some guy who was passing through.”
“Some guy passing through?”
I stare at him with bugged-out eyes. “Yeah, Drew. Just some random guy. I couldn’t even tell you his name. Don’t worry, he didn’t hurt me or do anything bad. It’s not like that.”
“If you want to talk, I can stay. I should call the office so they don’t worry about me.”
I nod my head forward, over my knees, and then throw my torso back and roll over my shoulder then spring up to my feet.
“I’m fine.” I stretch my arms out wide. “Get dressed and get going. We’ve got plenty of time to talk.”
“You’re sure?”
I walk over to where Drew’s still sitting cross-legged, and I pull his borrowed white T-shirt off over his head, then grab his hands and help him to his feet.
“You can talk to me,” he says.
“I have plenty of people to talk to. I have a whole group full of them.”
“They seem like decent people.” He holds his arms out and lets me slip the khaki shirt on him. He buttons the shirt.
“You’d think it was custom made for you,” I murmur, admiring him.
He pulls on the pants. “You can have the self-help group back to yourself. I’ll stop going, of course. In case you need to talk to them about relationship stuff and the new guy you’re seeing.” He tucks in the shirt and admires himself in the mirrored door on the main closet. “I hear your new guy is quite the catch, a dentist with a good credit rating, and no arrests for public nudity… yet.”
I wrap my arm around Drew’s lower back and start showing him out of my mothers room, and onward to the front door. “No public nudity. We’ll see what we can do about that.”
He grins. “I’m looking forward to it.”
We get to the front door, and I pick up his shoes to sniff them for signs of trouble from Muffin. They smell fine, but when I tip one over, a furry catnip toy falls out.
“Good news,” I say. “My cat likes you.”
“I’m so relieved.” He puts on the shoes, then kisses me goodbye. “Should I call you tonight?”
“About what?”
He looks mildly exasperated. “To talk? I don’t know. Don’t you girls like to be called?” He opens the door, but stands in the doorway. “What’s up? You can tackle a man to the ground, lick all the jam off his English muffin, and countless other things I can’t say with your door open, but the idea of a phone call makes you uncomfortable?”
I shrug and look around for a distraction. Where is that cat when I need him?
“Let’s just take it one day at a time,” I say sweetly, moving toward him.
“Are you herding me out of your house?”
“No,” I say, even though I clearly am.
He darts back in, getting past me. “Forgot my phone,” he says. He gets it from the table where we ate breakfast, and then makes his way out the front door again, watching me warily. “What’s your number again?”
“I never gave it to you.”
“I know. You called my after-hours line from the home phone. I want your cell number so I can text you my address for Saturday.”
I give him my number, and then program his number into my phone, since it would be rude not to.
Standing in the doorway, he looks down at how close I’m standing. Our stomachs are nearly touching. He says, “You can’t wait to get rid of me.”
“I think you’re projecting. You should probably talk to someone about that. Maybe a self-help group.”
He grins. “You’re so cheeky.” He gives me another kiss, and then he finally steps back out of the doorway and turns to leave.
I watch his GQ-adorable butt as he walks past the spot where we got the grass stains last night.
He stops and points to the lawn in that area. “Looks like some wild animals bedded down here last night. You can see some of the blades of grass are bent.”
“Maybe coyotes.” I wave at him. “Have a good day at work.”
Still grinning, he waves back, and then disappears around the hedge.
I close the door and finally relax, slouching forward with my hands on my knees as I mutter a string of curse words.
I’m in a real pickle now. I certainly don’t want to go to Drew’s dumb house on Saturday and meet his roommate and then his parents who live ten blocks away. I don’t want to date someone who badgers me about how long I left stain remover on grass stains.
I don’t know what I want, or why I want what I want. Or why I don’t want what I don’t want. But I do know I need to take another shower, and throw this stupid BJ shirt out, and get my life together for once.