Chapter Ten
Oliver
Iliterally stomp back to my apartment like a child. I tried to keep my composure and remain a gentleman, but now I want to hit something. I know Allison isn’t mine and we’re not even officially dating but seeing her with that guy was like a punch to the gut. I may not be a smooth-stepping dancing machine but I’m not chump change.
I plow through the door and beeline to the fridge to grab a beer, then I plop on the couch and call Ty.
“Hey bro, I haven’t heard back from Shirley yet,” he says.
“That’s not why I’m calling. The girl I was supposed to be going on a date with had other plans.”
“What? Wait, is this the girl you keep running into that’s ‘so cute’?” Ty mimics me in a high-pitched voice.
“I didn’t say ‘so cute’. I said, ‘takes-my-breath-away beautiful’. I’m more eloquent than ‘so cute’, thank you very much. And yes, that girl.”
“What happened?”
“I showed up and there was another guy already there. Some guy she met at a bar.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah,” I say, pouting to myself.
“I can’t believe she picked him over you, man.”
“She didn’t exactly.”
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“I bowed out.”
“What? What kind of quitter talk is that? Have I not taught you anything?”
“I’m not getting involved with someone who’s just looking for a fling. I’ve done that.”
“Yeah, but it’s a lot of fun,” Ty practically sings.
“Sometimes,” I say.
“Always,” Ty corrects.
“Not when you get a stage-five clinger you have no connection with and the vocabulary of a first grader.” After my engagement fell through, Ty convinced me to date…a lot. And that’s when I found Candy, who talked baby talk and asked me for money. All. The. Time. I thought the baby talk was some cute thing she did to pick up guys, but it never stopped. Just when I thought I was seeing the real her, she’d fall back into that voice, and I couldn’t take it. I finally convinced her I wasn’t the guy for her and after a few crocodile tears, she left.
“Look dude, do you like the girl?” Ty asks me.
“Yes. We have great conversations. She’s sarcastic as hell, and I’m here for it. She writes. She’s funny. I love the way she blushes when she’s embarrassed. I just thought she was deeper. I thought it was going somewhere. You know they say you can’t come on too strong or you’ll scare them away. I was trying to be suave.”
“Suave? Ha. You have to be confident without being a dick. Show them you have a soft side but that you’re not a pushover.”
“I thought I was,” I say with annoyance.
“Well, I guess you’ll never know now that you ‘bowed out’.”
“Look, I put my all into my relationship with Tracy and what do I have to show for it? An ex-fiancé who now lives in France with some prince.”
“He’s not a prince.”
“He might as well be. So being the nice guy doesn’t always work, and I’m not about to get into something with someone who apparently has so many men in her life she can’t remember which night she scheduled dates with them.” I huff out, exasperated, and start pacing.
“Well, then, why don’t you go to that bar you were talking about and see what you can find? I know it won’t be the same without your wingman but I’ll be there soon to help you out.”
“I don’t know man.” I flop back on the couch and take a swig of beer.
“Fine. Don’t take my advice. Just sit on your couch and stew then. You let me know if you’re going to be a quitter or a fighter. I’ve got to go but call me later.”
“Bye, Ty. I will.” I huff and lay all the way down on the couch.
A montage of my brief meetups with Ally plays through my head. The chicken skirmish at Pat and Rose’s. The city lights reflecting in her twinkling gaze across the picnic table. The blush on her face when she admitted she had a box of sex toys with her. I still chuckle to myself when I think of the moment she let me see into her shopping cart. I thought she didn’t want to be with me and couldn’t understand why she had agreed to a date with me if I couldn’t even walk her home. When she explained her latest customer acquisition, it took all my willpower not to offer to help her test them out. It always feels so fun and fresh with her. I can clearly see a future with her, and I realize I’m an idiot for not fighting for her.