“Want a ride?” Jay calls, his arm resting along the side of the window. A car behind him honks and then overtakes him. “Hop in.”
I hurry to the car and slide into the back seat. Jessie sticks her smoke in her mouth and says hello to me.
“You looking forward to tonight?” she asks.
“Yeah, are you coming with us?”
“I can’t. I’ve got a hot date with the cougar from the casino. You remember her?” The grin she gives me is devilish.
“I do.”
“I’m thinking she’s a sure thing, but you never know. I guess you’re out to trap yourself a fella tonight, then.”
My cheeks redden, and I think I catch Jay giving her a hard look through the overhead mirror. “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t have a lot of luck with men. I’ve actually been trying online dating, but I’m not sure if it’s for me.”
Jay’s eyes meet mine in the mirror briefly before flicking back to the road. I can tell he’s listening to all this intently, even though he’s acting like he isn’t.
“Yeah, I’ve met a few people online myself, but they mostly seem to be out for casual sex,” says Jessie. “Not that that’s a bad thing, but I’m guessing that’s not what you’re out for.” She gives me a sympathetic look.
Christ, could my cheeks get any redder? “No, not really,” I reply.
Jay raises one eyebrow. “What does ‘not really’ mean, Watson?”
I scratch at my arm. “Well, it’s not like I’d mind if there was sex involved. It’s just that it never seems to get that far. Michelle says it’s because I don’t give out vibes of availability. I give out ‘stay away from me’ vibes.” I laugh lightheartedly.
“Nothing wrong with that,” says Jay. “Your friend sounds like she wants you to act like a slut.”
“Jay!” Jessie exclaims.
I scowl. “Uh, no. That’s not it at all. Michelle is very supportive of me.”
“If you say so.”
“So, have you gone on many dates?” Jessie asks, still turned around in her seat to face me.
“Not with any of the online guys. They all seem so sleazy and only interested in sex.”
“Oh, you’re obviously on the wrong site, then. Here, give me your number, and I’ll send you a list of which sites are for hook-ups and which are for relationships.”
She hands me her phone, and I programme my number into her contacts. “Thanks, that’s so nice of you,” I say.
“In what way are they sleazy?” Jay asks, his brow furrowed. I could be mistaken, but there seems to be a protective note to his voice.
I swallow hard. “Oh, God. You really don’t want to know.”
Jay goes strangely silent, and his jaw is tight. He seems annoyed. We drop Jessie off at her apartment, and I wave goodbye while Jay pulls back onto the road.
“You shouldn’t be meeting up with random men anyway,” he says out of nowhere.
“Well, I haven’t, not yet. But if I do, I have a number of rules to follow.” I hold up my fingers as I list them off. “It has to be during the day in a public place — never go to somebody’s house alone. I have to tell Michelle and Dad exactly where I’m going. And most importantly, Michelle and I have code words to text if we need each other to call and pretend there’s an emergency. That’s only for if the date is really bad, although so far I’ve only had to do it for Michelle twice.”
His eyes meet mine, and there’s something in them that I can’t quite decipher. A minute or two of silence passes.
“I’ll help you,” he says then.
“Huh?”
“With the dating. I’ll teach you how to come across as available. I shouldn’t have said that about your friend earlier. I’m sorry. She’s actually on the right track with what she’s told you. Usually, people who are single show that they’re available through their body language, while people who are happily in a relationship don’t. Since you’re single but are supposedly giving out unavailable vibes, there must be a reason why.”
I fold my arms. “What kind of a reason?”
Jay shrugs. “It’s probably just anxiety or something like that. But don’t worry — we’ll figure it out.”
Seven
When we arrive at the house, I go straight to my room. After the topic we discussed in the car, I don’t really want to face Jay for a while. It’s humiliating to have people know how hopeless I am when it comes to romance. The problem is, whenever I’m asked about it, I can’t help but to be brutally honest. It’s sort of a relief to get it all out and see what another person thinks. The idea of Jay helping isn’t as appealing as it should be. I mean, he probably really knows his stuff. However, I’d much rather if he helped me to successfully score him, rather than other men.