The Heart Principle (The Kiss Quotient #3)(10)

Maybe she’s going through some life stuff and just wants to blow off steam. I can appreciate that. It’s not so different from what I’m trying to achieve.

I shake my head at myself as I tap on the button to message her privately. With a profile like that, she’s probably got hundreds of messages in her inbox already. I’m not the kind of guy who gives up without trying, though, so I give myself a moment to think, decide honesty is best, and start typing.


Hey Anna,


I like how direct you are. Right now I’m eating pizza and watching the last thing on Netflix that I haven’t seen before. Free to talk if you want.


Q



I send the message, turn my phone’s screen off, and toss it onto the couch next to me. I’m not going to sit around holding my breath for her to respond to me. Instead, I bite into a fresh slice of everything pizza and switch my attention to the TV, where the octopus is getting chased by a small stripy shark. She jumps out of the water, crawls over land—how boss is that?—and jumps back in, only for the shark to pick up where they left off. I’m so absorbed by the scene that I only notice the notification on my phone when I reach for my beer.

I wipe my hands and mouth on a haphazardly torn sheet of paper towel and pick up my phone. I have a message on the app.


Hi Q,


What are you watching?


A



I look up at the screen just as the shark bites the octopus and shakes her from side to side, and I have to laugh, even though I feel horrible for the octopus. A documentary about a dude and an octo pus, lol, I tell her, and yeah, maybe my face heats up a little. It would be cooler if I was watching Star Wars or Deadpool or something.

I loved that one! I watched it twice, she admits, and I can’t help grinning. That was the last thing I expected her to say.


This octopus rocks but I think the shark is going to eat more than just her leg this time.



Keep watching, she says.

So I do, and then I reply, I’m so impressed.


Right? She’s amazing. Maybe I need to watch a third time.



I hesitate a couple of seconds before pausing the video and suggesting, I’m at 1:05 if you want to watch the end with me.

She surprises me by saying, Okay. She even adds a smiley face.

We go through the process of syncing our videos, and soon we’re watching together, separately. It’s a weird experience for me. Kind of dorky—wait, very dorky. Let’s not forget what we’re watching here. Normally, people in our situation would be flirting right now. There’d be sexual innuendo, maybe even dirty photos. But I think I like this.

Oh, I love this part, she says.

When I see what she’s talking about, I agree. She’s playing with the fish, not even trying to eat them. I didn’t know an octopus could be so cute.

Haha! Me neither, she replies, and I’m grinning all over again.

We continue this back-and-forth, and before long, the documentary is over and I kind of wish it wasn’t.

Isn’t that such a bittersweet ending? she asks.

Yeah, but it’s a good ending, I say.

We both go quiet then, and I take a breath before asking, Do you want to trade phone numbers and take this off the app?

She doesn’t reply right away, and I fidget as I wait. I’m nervous, I realize. I like this weird octopus-loving girl.

Yes, please. This interface is so confusing. I accidentally sent octopus comments to other people while we were watching, she says.

The crack of my laughter is loud in my apartment, even as something uncomfortable pushes at my chest at the idea that she’s talking to other guys. Their responses were probably awesome.


They were. One guy said he didn’t sign up for this. The other said, “Baby, I only have two hands, but I’ll use my feet if you want.” I laughed so hard that someone’s dog started barking outside.



A second later, she sends me her number, and I feel like I won the lottery. I don’t think she gave her number to that other dude, even though he’s willing to get fancy with his feet.

Off app, I text her the question, Do you want to text or call?

There’s a pause before she replies, Do you have a preference?

I want to hear your voice, I answer.

Okay, she says.

But when I call her, the phone only rings a few times before the call disconnects.

Sorry, I’m nervous, she texts.

I’m cool texting. No worries, Anna. In the back of my head, I wonder if she’s really a middle-aged man catfishing me from his mom’s basement in his underwear. My gut tells me she’s real, though.

Thank you. I’ve never done this before, she says.

Hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve dated and stuff, so I feel a little awkward too, I admit.

Were you in a serious relationship too? she asks.

So that’s it. She’s coming out of a serious relationship and looking for rebound sex. I completely get it.

Nah, I had some health issues, needed surgery. Don’t worry, I’m better now, I tell her, hoping she thinks “health issues” and “surgery” mean a torn ACL or something like that.

I’m glad you’re better. She adds another smiley face, and it’s stupid of me, but it makes me happy.

Thanks, I say.