“No one at this bar, I’m sure,” he shot back when she teased him about bragging. He knew that he had a bad habit, but she was just as bad and she knew it. He refrained from harping on her for it just yet. Maybe he would catch her on her next brag which was likely to be within the next ten minutes, tops.
Chris didn’t realize that being more alone with him was going to be such a difficult decision that it required a full uh followed by a pause. If he were an insecure man, it might have crushed him. Instead, it merely fueled him on. So much so that when she agreed and ordered a beer for herself, he cheered his second shot to her and downed it. “Sure!” he said back, discarding the glass for a plastic pint glass the size of a double. He sipped at the head to make it easier to carry and less likely to splash as Sage took off and he struggled to catch up.
“My mom?” he asked, falling in just behind her as they trailed the edge of a large heated pool. “She still talks about you when I go home.” It was something he had grown used to over the years. Sage had always been her favorite girlfriend of his. She liked to claim that they had one of those relationships that meant that they were destined for each other but stubborn to realize it. He wasn’t exactly sure what he felt about Sage, but that definitely seemed like a reach. “You should probably shoot her an owl, if you have time,” he added with a sigh, hating that he was passing on his mother’s message now. “She was hoping to get some recipe from you for, I don’t know, cookies or something?”
Ready to be done with the talk of his mother, he motioned at a cushioned bench that sat just off the main area overlooking a garden to the east. People passed in front of the bench as they moved from the pool to the garden, following a lit path. “I feel like it’s been a while,” he said, knowing it was stupid. He wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to say. ‘Did you miss me?’ seemed more stupid. He took a drink of his beer and hoped that she would sit first. Chivalry was not his strong suit, but he had his little quirks of what he thought was considered more charming that creepy from the handbook. “We never really got to celebrate you making the team. Congrats! I hear the coach is new this year?” Quidditch was always a safe topic.
Chris didn’t realize that being more alone with him was going to be such a difficult decision that it required a full uh followed by a pause. If he were an insecure man, it might have crushed him. Instead, it merely fueled him on. So much so that when she agreed and ordered a beer for herself, he cheered his second shot to her and downed it. “Sure!” he said back, discarding the glass for a plastic pint glass the size of a double. He sipped at the head to make it easier to carry and less likely to splash as Sage took off and he struggled to catch up.
“My mom?” he asked, falling in just behind her as they trailed the edge of a large heated pool. “She still talks about you when I go home.” It was something he had grown used to over the years. Sage had always been her favorite girlfriend of his. She liked to claim that they had one of those relationships that meant that they were destined for each other but stubborn to realize it. He wasn’t exactly sure what he felt about Sage, but that definitely seemed like a reach. “You should probably shoot her an owl, if you have time,” he added with a sigh, hating that he was passing on his mother’s message now. “She was hoping to get some recipe from you for, I don’t know, cookies or something?”
Ready to be done with the talk of his mother, he motioned at a cushioned bench that sat just off the main area overlooking a garden to the east. People passed in front of the bench as they moved from the pool to the garden, following a lit path. “I feel like it’s been a while,” he said, knowing it was stupid. He wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to say. ‘Did you miss me?’ seemed more stupid. He took a drink of his beer and hoped that she would sit first. Chivalry was not his strong suit, but he had his little quirks of what he thought was considered more charming that creepy from the handbook. “We never really got to celebrate you making the team. Congrats! I hear the coach is new this year?” Quidditch was always a safe topic.