Page 26 of The Frathole

I should ignore him.

I shouldn’t press because that’s exactly what he wants, but I can’t help myself. I crack the door open. “What about Angie?”

9

Ryan

People like Martythink I’m some dumb jock, but clearly not that dumb.

Took a couple of days, but since my bet with the guys, I came up with a plan that could earn Marty’s trust and maybe get him off my ass long enough to survive this probation and prove to my fratbros I didn’t get to be linebacker for Peach State without having some discipline and self-restraint.

I can only see a sliver of Marty as he stands in the bathroom, hidden behind the door, obviously enticed by the plan I’ve concocted. That he’s even opened the door again assures me I struck a nerve.

I know your weakness, Marty McGovern.

“You want me to tell you through that crack, or you want to come back out here and talk?”

“I can hear you from here,” he insists, so I approach him.

“I’ve noticed you don’t exactly have smooth moves with Angie, right? But you’ve seen the way I am, not only with her, but other girls. I could maybe help you out in that department. Be your coach, basically.”

His eyes narrow as he studies me, as though still trying to work out if this is all a con. I mean, guess it is, but not in the way he’s thinking.

He cracks the door open a little more.

“You’d help me flirt with Angie?”

“Hell, if you’d asked me before all this, I would’ve.”

That’s the truth. If we hadn’t been down each other’s throats, then I wouldn’t have had an issue giving him some pointers.

“And all you want in exchange is for me to show you some tango moves?”

“Yeah, sure. Seems like a fair trade to me.”

He angles his head as he glares at me. “You think I don’t know what you’re doing? You’re trying to get on my good side so when you fuck up again, which you will, I won’t get you expelled from the house, so I should warn you this isn’t gonna work.”

“Then what do you have to lose?”

“Besides my pride?”

I throw my hands up. “Okay, guess you didn’t like Angie as much as I thought.”

As I spin around, he says, “Wait, wait, wait. I didn’t say no.”

I can’t help but smirk, appreciating that I have some damn good negotiating skills. Those guys will have to pay up.

I turn back to him, and he bites his bottom lip, clearly thinking it over. “I feel like I’m gonna regret this. I don’t want to, like, trick Angie into liking me back.”

“Is that what your flirting is? Tricking someone into liking you?”

Misguided as his comment may be, it’s sweet that he wouldn’t be interested in tricking someone into dating him. He’s got good parts to him that, whether he shows them to me or not, a girl would be interested in.

“Honestly, I’m not even sure I know what flirting is,” he admits. “Isn’t that obvious?”

Fair point.

“It’s about being comfortable with yourself and confident,” I explain, “and if she’s into that, then she’ll be into you. I don’tknow her type, and I can’t guarantee she’ll like you back, but at least, even if it doesn’t work for her, maybe you can use it when you run into another girl you like.”