Page 4 of Lovestrung

I wanted to laugh when he took off his glasses to polish them on his flannel shirt and squinted at me, but I managed to suppress it. Normally, I wouldn’t give a damn about manners, but I figured it would be less painful – and less boring – to play nice for another half hour.

Instead, I smiled sweetly at him and nodded.

“Yes, but I prefer Pippa.”

Honestly, what kind of a guy can’t remember the name of the girl he’s out on a date with?

“Sorry,” he mumbled and pushed up his glasses that kept slipping down his nose.

When he didn’t even try to start a real conversation with me, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was just shy and if I should take pity on him. But as I leaned toward him and opened my mouth to try to engage him in conversation, his gaze flicked back up to the TV, and I ground my teeth. I wasn’t an expert on first dates, but I was pretty sure that in order for this to work, you had to be more interesting than a soccer game.

Clearly, that wasn’t the case for this guy.

I decided I’d had enough. I had better things to do on a Friday night than being ignored by a random guy that Ella had set me up with.

“Look, Cody,” I sighed. “Shouldn’t we spare each other a lot of regret and just call it a night?” I hopped down from the bar stool and started to rummage through my bag in search of my purse.

A hand clamped down on my arm, stopping me.

“Hey, wait,” Cody pleaded.

Surprised to hear the steel in his voice, I raised my head and blinked at him.

“Why should I? It’s clear you’re more interested in whatever is on that thing up there than me.” I shook my head when he opened his mouth. “Don’t bother. I have to go take my dog for a walk anyway.”

For the first time since I’d met him, his eyes lit up with interest.

“You have a dog?”

I yanked my arm free of his hold and blew out a breath.

“Yes,” I muttered.

“What kind?”

Note to self: don’t mention you have a pet when you’re trying to make a quick escape.

“An English bulldog. And before you ask, his name is Bernie, he’s five years old, and I got him from the animal shelter about a year ago.”

Finally, I managed to find the money I needed to pay for my drink. I hefted my bag on my shoulder and tucked my blonde hair away from the strap.

“Goodbye, Cody,” I smiled and tipped my imaginary hat. “I’d say it’s been fun to meet you, but since I’ve yawned more the past twenty minutes than I did when I got up at six a.m. this morning, that would be a lie.”

The mild interest in his eyes gave way to an unattractive frown, but I couldn’t care less. Instead, I turned around and strutted out the bar on my gorgeous stilettos.

“Ugh,” I grunted as I turned left to go home. I pulled out my phone and decided to call Ella and give her a piece of my mind.

“Hey, doll!” she hollered in my ear.

“What the hell, dude?” I huffed. “I just ditched Cody at the bar. What on earth made you think we’d hit it off? He spent almost all the time in my company looking more at the TV than down my cleavage.” I shook my head. “And you know how great my boobs are.”

“Bummer,” she sighed. “You do have great boobs, Pip. Why anyone would find a soccer game more interesting than them goes beyond me.”

“I know! That’s, like, Dating Rule number one – if a pair of great boobs are in line of sight, all else should fade into the background.”

Ella’s low laughter filled my ears.

“Your so-called dating rules are weird, but in this instance, I’d have to say you’re right.”