Page 54 of Say It Again
He opened his mouth and closed it again. “Mmkay, but you don’t think that was maybe a little flattering?” he asked in an octave too high, crinkling his nose. “Just a little? No?”
Her expression didn’t look like she thought it was a little flattering. “Look, it’s obvious you’re way into Aaron, and he’s way into you. So far, he actually treats you well.”
“Treats me well?” He widened his eyes. “Lest we forget, he lied to me.”
“Okay, yes, Daniel.” She flopped her arms by her sides. “He did. Welcome to the world where sometimes people lie. Even really good people.”
“I don’t.” He blinked hard. “I don’t lie.”
“You lie constantly. Mostly to yourself about what you need. He lied because he wanted to keep seeing you, and because he knew you’d do this.” She swirled a finger around his chest. “Daniel-spiral it into a whole thing. At least he didn’t cheat on you with his first cousin like that investment banker. Remember him?”
“Okay, I get it! I have so-so taste in men.”
“You have horrible taste in men. And you date these men who look great on paper—even if they treat you horribly—because deep down, you’re seeking someone’s approval.” She slowed her words and repeated, “You’re seeking someone’s approval. What does that sound like to you?”
He let his gaze zigzag around the room.
“You’re going to make me say it? Fine.” She took a breath and nodded as if in solidarity, like whatever she was about to say, they’d get through together. “You date your dad.”
He gasped so loudly he swallowed the gnat that’d been buzzing around the studio for a few days.
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re okay.” She was suddenly so close to his face as he wheezed. How’d she get there so fast? “It could be worse. It’s not that bad.”
He jerked his head back as not to hack directly into her eyeballs. Very, very close.
“Aaron is not your dad, and that freaks you out.”
He coughed harder, suddenly freaking out worse.
“No! I mean, dammit. Let me rephrase that. Aaron may not look good on paper, but he’s not a horrible man, and you actually like him. Think about it. You’ve never dated someone you’ve liked.”
“What?” He patted his chest as he tried to roughly clear his airway. “Of course that’s not true—”
“Could it be for the first time, maybe ever, you’re scared?” She gripped his face in her palms and tugged it close. Very, very close. “You can’t get hurt if you never date anyone worth liking.”
He finally gulped—hopefully gnats had a little protein—while his shoulders softened. For being so clodhopping in her explanation, that might have had some merit.
“Give Aaron the same grace you would give a horrible man.”
Now surely that wasn’t a piece of advice he needed to hear. Was it?
“What if you just talked to him? What if you guys could figure something out that works for you both?”
“That’s like, two decently sized ifs.”
“But what harm could it do to try?”
“To try and date a sex worker? You’re asking me to change my entire personality. Have you ever met me? I get paranoid pulling into an automatic car wash because I feel like my tire’s never aligned on the track, and my windshield wipers are going to go swishing out of control because I don’t know how to turn them off, then finally, the big brush is going to come crashing through my window and impale me.”
She nodded as she petted his arm. “We lose millions of people a year that way.”
“I’d be too nervous, Olivia.”
“Too nervous about what?”
“That every time he left, it would be to fall in love with someone else.”
“I see.” To her credit, it was genuine empathy shining in her eyes as she offered the tiniest of shrugs and said, “But that’s always the risk you take when you finally find someone worth liking.”