The Introvert's Guide to Online Dating - Emma Hart Page 0,22

not superhuman.

“Come on.” Tori nodded for me to follow her, and it wasn’t until she’d stopped to hold open the door that I realized Agatha was hot on our heels.

Well.

Not that hot.

The woman was in her eighties.

We finally made it to the pond. The ducks were all over the water, swimming happily and dipping their heads in and out, and one in a smart bow tie waddled into the duck house with a big quack.

“Oooh, that’s Cheese. She’s off to lay,” Agatha said excitedly. “I do love her eggs.”

Like you could tell the difference.

“Where do you want this bag, Agatha? It’s about to break my shoulder.”

“Oh, in here.” She hefted the door to the metal shed open. “I’ll get the basket. You’ll have to carry it for me.”

“I will?”

“Yes, dear. My arthritis is playing up.” She wiggled her fingers at me,

Like I hadn’t just watched her cross-stitching just fine.

I put the bag down and opened it for her. She was able to bend over okay to scoop the corn stuff into the basket, and she could hold the damn basket just fine until it was full.

Then, apparently, she needed me to do it.

The woman was a menace.

I dutifully took the basket, making sure to beeline for Grandpa before Agatha had me doing pitstops at every single chicken and duck out here. He gleefully took a handful and held it out for Meryl who happily pecked away at it.

Damn.

I kind of wanted one of those myself.

What was happening to me?

“Is it just me or is that chicken… cute?” Tori asked, standing next to me with her head tilted to one side. “Like, I kind of want to cuddle it, and I don’t really know how I feel about that.”

Grandpa chuckled.

“I’m extremely uncomfortable with this.” She turned and walked away, heading for Agatha. I followed her, laughing, but I quickly stopped when I realized Agatha wanted to feed every single bird one by one instead of scattering the feed across the floor.

“This is going to take forever,” I lamented to Tori.

“Yup.”

***

“What are you doing tonight?”

Tori tossed her keys in the air before she caught them again. “I am regrettably meeting someone for a drink.”

“Oh.”

“It’s nothing crazy,” she said quickly. “Piper met this guy and wanted me to join them since he said he had a single friend, so I kind of don’t have a choice.”

“Hey, it’s not a big deal. Like I said before, you don’t have to justify yourself to me.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “I know. I just… don’t really want to go. I have a ton of work to do and the last thing I need to be doing right now is talking to some random guy whose name I don’t even know.”

“So don’t go.”

“I have to. I promised.” She shrugged and leaned against her car. “What are your plans?”

“Laundry,” I said dryly. “Not exactly a stunningly exciting night.”

“I’d rather be doing laundry.”

“Feel free to come and do mine. I’ll even feed you for your troubles.”

Her lips pulled up. “I’ll pass for a few more days, if you don’t mind.”

I raised my eyebrows when I realized what she was saying. “Friday at ten?”

“My place.”

I groaned. “Your cat hates me.”

“My cat hates everyone. She’s a cat. It’s what they do.”

“I’ll bring tuna.”

“No, thank you. If she likes you, I’ll have to keep you, and I can’t think of anything worse than spending more time than absolutely necessary with you.”

“Ever the charmer, Victoria.” I headed toward my car. “Does she prefer brine or spring water?”

“I’ll kill you!”

“I’ll haunt you,” I shot back, unlocking my truck. “Enjoy your date tonight.”

“I doubt it!”

Laughing, I shut the door and put the key in the ignition to get it started. The air conditioning blasted to life, chilling me, and I quickly turned it down to a more manageable speed that wasn’t trying to blow me out of the car. Then, I pulled out of my parking spot and headed for home.

The fact she had a date tonight was a sucker punch to the gut.

I had no right to feel this way, not really. If I wasn’t going to be honest with her about how I really felt, I had no business being gutted when she went out with other guys. Maybe one day I’d pull my head out of my ass and tell her, but I had the feeling that if I did, she’d run.

Selfishly, if casual sex is all I could have from her, I’d hold onto those times as long as I could.

Sounded fucking pathetic