“Take a wild guess,” she said, holding up her yoga mat while looking at him as if he were a dimwit.
I took the opportunity to sneak a glance at Ms. Wilde, who was still smiling sweetly and sipping her drink. The sight of her lips wrapped around the straw brought images from last night into my head and I quickly looked away.
“We should get going,” the girl named Sophia said. “We’re late for our afternoon classes as it is.”
“Yeah, you’re right. It was great seeing you again, Stephen,” Ms. Wilde said.
“Yeah, uh, you’re g-great,” I stammered, fighting the urge to bang my head on the table.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She chuckled, brushing her hand over my shoulder for a second. The contact made me flinch as if I had been electrocuted. I glanced over at my brother to see if he noticed what a gargantuan fool I’d just made of myself. Thankfully, he was preoccupied staring at Ms. Wilde’s friend.
“I’ll see you Friday,” Ms. Wilde said as she turned to leave.
“Friday,” I echoed.
“It was nice to meet you,” she said to Matt.
“You too,” he said, all the while trying to catch her friend’s attention. “Have a lovely day, Megan.”
She whipped her long hair over her shoulder and sauntered away without giving him a second glance. The three of them walked down the street and I found myself unable to not stare at Ms. Wilde’s backside. I suddenly realized that I was leaning out of my chair to do said staring, and sat up straight again. Matt was looking at me, a huge grin plastered on his face.
“So, not your type at all, huh?” he asked.
“No,” I muttered.
“She didn’t seem annoying to me,” he said. “She seemed pretty great, actually.”
“I guess.”
Just then, the waitress came out with our food and drinks, and this time, Matt didn’t flirt with her. I had a pretty good guess as to why he wanted to get rid of her so quickly.
“OK, so you need to hit that,” he said.
The only thing I need to hit is you, stepbrother dear.
“She’s my student, Matt. And I don’t even like her.”
“You’re so full of it. You were practically drooling all over her. If that wasn’t a total eye-fuck, I don’t know what is.”
“It wasn’t,” I said firmly, although I didn’t have a clue what an “eye-fuck” was.
“She did it to you too, you know, She’s totally into you.”
“No, she isn’t!” I insisted. “I’m too old for her and, according to you, I’m exceedingly boring. Can we drop it, please?”
“I’m just saying. That little firecracker could be just what the doctor ordered to resuscitate you. If you’ve ever been alive,” he added under his breath.
I sighed and started to eat my sandwich, which wasn’t even that good.
Ms. Wilde’s was better.
“Oh, and I really liked her friend, Megan. Do you think you could get me her number?” Matt asked eagerly.
“I think that would be crossing a line.”
Like I haven’t done that already.
“Besides, you only like her because she wasn’t fawning over you like most women,” I added.
“Yeah, what was that about?” Matt asked, seeming genuinely surprised. “I think it will be fun to pursue her. A little chase makes for an interesting change.”
“Well, I’m not asking my student Ms. Wilde for her friend’s number, so I guess you’ll have to find an alternate way of wooing the girl,” I said, taking a drink.
“ ‘Wooing’?” he asked. “Dude, what century are you living in?”
“You’re one to talk. You sound like you belong in an ’80s movie when you call me ‘dude.’ ”
“Ooh, snappy comeback,” he chuckled. “I think Ms. Wilde may be a good influence on you.”
I highly doubt that.
“Maybe I should find that Megan girl on Facebook and send her a message,” he mused.
“Do you think she’s on there?”
Matt gave me a look. “Everyone’s on there.”
“I’m not.”
“Everyone who doesn’t still use a fountain pen for writing, I mean.”
“I have a computer!”
“An old one. It’s not even a laptop.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I should definitely contact her. What was her last name?”
“I’m not telling you if you’re going to write something obscene,” I said.
“I won’t.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“Please, I swear I won’t write anything offensive. I like this girl.”