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“Only on rare occurrences. But I’d prefer it this way,” he says, motioning between his plate and mine. “Otherwise, I get self-conscious about looking like a pig.”

I tilt my head a bit to study him better. “Hmm, I didn’t realize some guys felt like that.”

“What do you think of the dating docuseries so far?” he asks, watching me closely.

“I’m good. Just nervous about what the next few dates will bring, you know? I mean, that guy–”

“Wart Vader,” Trey adds.

I smile, trying to keep it together as I picture the whole scene from earlier. “He seemed nice, but there were several signs that just pushed me away. The immediate hand holding was a bright red flag. PDA isn’t my favorite.”

“You haven’t had a problem hugging me. Did something happen in your past that made you avoid any kind of touching?”

I’m surprised he noticed. “I had a boyfriend, ex-fiancé actually, who was over the top with affection.”

Trey’s attention seems to perk up the minute I mention “ex-fiancé.”

“So, you’re against it because of him?”

I finally look up, locking eyes with him. “I don’t know if I can trust it, you know? Everyone says not to trust words but to trust actions. He proposed and then came back a couple days later for the ring, saying he was marrying a Thai princess.”

Trey blinked several times, as if trying to decide if I’m lying or not. “Wait, what?”

I let out a small laugh. “Yep, a real-life Thai princess. Like, how can a girl compete with that? I’m already different because I love sports and extreme activities, and I’m definitely not royal.” The laugh turns into a small cry and I bury my head in my arms for a moment.

“Uh, are you okay?” Trey asks, poking my shoulder.

“I’ll be fine. I’m just sick of being passed over.” I stab a piece of broccoli with my fork before taking a big bite. “Then again, I did the same thing to my date today.”

Trey frowns, patting my shoulder for a moment. “Sorry, I’m not good with tears even though I have sisters.”

His somber admission hits a chord with me and I nearly choke on the broccoli. He slaps my back, which helps dislodge things a bit. Not the romantic scene I’ve pictured a few times.

“How’s that Chinese food treating you?” he asks with a grin.

“Chinese always helps me figure life out.”

He nods. “I didn’t think there was that much to it. You’ll have to show me your ways, Jedi.”

I give a half-hearted laugh. “Just because I went on one date with a Star Wars fan doesn’t mean I’m ready to watch it. Or take nicknames from it. Then again, we could call you Pond Boy or something like that.”

We chat for a bit, eating the food in front of us. Once we clean up the mess and head into the living room, we sit on the couch and I pull out my laptop. I find the website for my favorite furniture store. Not that I have a whole lot of experience buying pieces from there, but the reviews are all amazing and it’s on my someday list.

“Okay, I want you to take a look at these options. We’ll need a lot to go in the guest bedroom, and several shelving units for your garage to hold all the totes, but those are some of the thoughts I had.” I hand him the laptop and stand up.

“Where are you going?” he asks, looking panicked like I’m leaving him here by himself.

“I figured the first thing to get done was to mount your TV.” I walk over to a box and pull out a small toolset I’d seen the other day.

“You know how to do that?” he asks, curious.

Flashing him a knowing smile, I say, “I’ve done it a few times.”

He looks even more guilty than he did about the TV setup. “I never really needed to. I’d just leave it there long enough and one of my roommates would set it up. Except for that plan backfired since I don’t have any roommates.”

“You focus on picking the furniture and I’ll start working on this. When I need your help to lift the TV, I’ll ask.”

“Ahh, so you do know how to ask for help then?” he asks with a smirk. My brain goes back to the boat earlier today when I insisted I could get in by myself.