Page 22 of The Other Side of Paradise

Oh—oh. Right. Yeah. She wasn’t asking me on a date, she was talking about helping me get a… yeah. Right. I felt my face burn. “Um.” I stood up taller. “Yeah. Stuff. I’m into… stuff.”

Stella blinked. Jesus, I was an idiot. I hung my head.

“Sorry, I’m a little out of it. Ryan and Brooklyn took me rock-climbing last night and I’m, uh, I’m not athletic. I’ll be recovering for the next two weeks.”

Stella’s jaw dropped. “They wentrock-climbing?My sister?”

Rocks weren’t the only things she was climbing. I shrugged. “Brooklyn loves it, but she’s the only woman who goes regularly, so every time she meets a girl, she tries to take them to rock-climbing.”

“Did Ryan like it?”

“She did. And she was really good at it, actually.”

“Ugh, I hate her,” Stella said, and I laughed, surprising myself.

“Me too. I told her that first thing when I got to the gym and saw her halfway up the wall already like it was nothing.”

She grinned at me, and my head spun. “So, you’re not looking for a rock-climbing date.”

“If I had a girlfriend who invited me rock-climbing, I’d be single.”

She laughed. “Okay, that’s a whole mood. We’ll just cross out all the sporty dates.”

“I like swimming, though…”

She beamed. “Me too. It’s the only good kind of exercise, because at least you can just float when you get sick of it.”

“Ha. Yeah. And it cools you down. The second I try to do any physical exertion I’m all sweaty and disgusting.” I’d gotten a conversation with the hottest girl on earth and I was talking to her about being sweaty and disgusting. She just grinned, though.

“Well, maybe we’ll get you a cute swimmer girlfriend.”

“I… um, I don’t think…” I pointed off into the vague distance. “I’m not really looking for a girlfriend, I don’t live here, I’m just… just here for the summer.”

“All right, point taken. Then we’ll find you a cute swimmer girl to have fun no-strings sex with for a few nights and call it a day.”

If… if Stella was going to hang around talking about me having sex, I was going to die. And get turned on. Death by arousal. “I mean,” I managed after a minute, my voice strangled. “Yeah, I guess that’s about the, uh, the long and short of it.”

She winked. I thought I’d pass out, especially when she leaned over the desk a little and gave me a once-over. “Do you have a cute date outfit?” she said, and it took me an eternity to put the words together.

“Um… no. I’m kinda… well… I’m kinda lazy with my wardrobe and stuff.”

She made a face. “Well, you’re not gettinganywhereseducing the ladies without putting some effort in. And you’re not going around in your uniform doing it, either. Let’s go clothes-shopping.”

“I—beg your pardon?”

“I love cute clothes. We’ll get you dressed up to make girls stop and stare everywhere you go.”

I didn’t know if this was heaven or hell. It was one of them, for sure. I blinked fast. “You—you don’t have to do that,” I managed. She raised her eyebrows.

“You don’t want to?”

“It’s not that. I mean, you’re very stylish. It’d be a big help. I’m not very stylish, so it’d be a big… help,” I said, wincing as I realized halfway through that I’d already said that. “Just—you know. I don’t want to take up your whole day.”

“C’mon, I’m invested. I’m taking you clothes-shopping, whether you like it or not. I always have my way.”

“Strong will, huh.”

She adjusted her glasses. “Strong will, very intelligent, and my glasses work. You have so many compliments for me.”