Boyfriend by Christmas

Chapter 8

"I think you should take a break."

I stare at Niyata over our peppermint hot chocolates at Starbucks. We met here to discuss the top three and how I should approach the subject of second dates. Apparently, Niyata has other ideas.

"Excuse me?"

She takes a sip of her drink. "I think you should take a break from dating the list guys."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because you're moving really quickly. I think you should save the second dates for after Thanksgiving break."

"Oh," I say. "That's only a week."

She shrugs. "A week is like a lifetime in high school dating time. Who knows what might happen in a week."

"I don't really get why I have to wait, though. Even just a week."

"Maybe because you just finished five dates in five days. Plus, what are you going to do? Date tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then say "see you next week!"?"

"Okay, that's a good point. I hadn't really thought about it."

"Which is why you have me!" She laughs. "No second dates until the Monday after Thanksgiving. That'll give you a break from the dating scene and avoid any awkward pauses after date number two."

I bite my lip. "Are you sure waiting is a good idea?"

"You're killing me, Cass. Yes. It's a good idea."

Garrett walks in and notices us sitting in the corner so he walks over to say hello. "What's up? Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not," Niyata says. I nod and take a sip of my drink. I don't remember everything, but I definitely had a dream about Garrett last night. It wasn't weird or dirty or anything. It just happened. And I just liked it.

But he is not on the list!

The line isn't long so Garrett grabs a drink – mocha with a shot of espresso and whipped cream – and sits down at our table. It hurts me more than it should when he chooses to sit next to Niyata rather than next to me.

"So what am I interrupting?"

"We're talking about the list," Niyata fills him in. "I think Cass here should wait until after Thanksgiving to go on second dates. Cass can't decide if she thinks I'm a genius or if she wants to ignore my very good advice."

"I think you should wait," Garrett says quickly. "Give them time to miss you."

Niyata lifts her drink to him and they tap their cups before taking a sip.

"You're ganging up on me!"

They both laugh. If Niyata didn't have a girlfriend, I'd be worried she was moving in on Garrett.

Not that I have any claim on him. If she wanted to date him it would be fine. Sort of. Probably.

"Garrett, why do you think I should wait."

He thinks for a second. "It just seems like the smart thing to do. Give everyone some breathing room. Give you a break. I was serious about making them miss you, too."

I roll my eyes. "As if they'd miss me. It's only a week."

"It's easy to miss you," he says like it's easy to say things like that. Like it doesn't faze him at all to turn my insides into a butterfly garden. "Why don't you want to wait?"