Page 87 of How To Tackle A Crush
She snorts.
An actual snort. Completely unfiltered.
“Wanting children isn’t always the problem,” she says. “Finding someone who also wants to be the dad tends to be the sticking point.”
That surprises a quiet laugh out of me.
“That bad?”
She shrugs slightly. “I always had a bit of a structural problem.”
“That sounds very you.”
“I find most men boring.”
I blink. “That’s… brutally honest.”
“It’s not even meant badly,” she says. “I just… never really clicked with the whole performance of dating.”
“What performance?”
“The pretending to be more outgoing than I am. Pretending I enjoy loud pubs. Pretending I don’t notice things.”
I smile slightly. “You definitely notice things.”
“That’s part of the problem,” she says dryly. “A lot of men say they don’t want an extrovert. What they mean is they don’t want someone louder than them. They don’t mean shy women who correct their spelling.”
I laugh quietly. “You did not.”
“I did.”
“You’re brave.”
“I’m socially incompetent,” she corrects. “Different skill set.”
I grin. “What happened?”
“They didn’t like it,” she says simply. “Turns out most people don’t enjoy being told they’ve usedyourinstead ofyou’rewhile trying to flirt.”
“That seems unreasonable.”
“I thought so.”
She traces small patterns against my arm, not looking at me now.
“I was always shy. That part never changed. But I was never willing to pretend I didn’t know things when I did. Knowing things was… kind of the only thing I had going for me.”
I frown slightly. “That’s not true.”
She gives me a small look that sayslet me finish.
“I’m not particularly pretty,” she says matter-of-factly. “I’m not naturally funny like Chloe. I’m not effortlessly cool like AJ. I’m the quiet one who reads the instructions.”
“That sounds like a very useful person to know.”
“It’s not very exciting on a date.”
“It is to the right person.”
