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“Sure. It’s just unusual. How can I help?”
I closed my eyes. It was exactly the right thing to say. And also exactly wrong. Because it made me love him more—like that was possible—and he was clueless. “I think I have a date after church, and I’m not sure that I should have said yes.”
“A date?” He leaned in, eyes glinting with humor. “Do tell.”
“Luke Donnelly.”
“The youth pastor?”
I didn’t think Austin could have sounded more astounded if I’d said Tom Holland. “Is that a problem?”
He frowned. “No. I mean, he doesn’t seem like he’d be your type.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s my type?” This ought to be interesting.
Austin took his time digging into his insulated lunch bag. He finally pulled out a single-serve bag of chips and opened it before speaking. “Not Luke.”
I laughed, but it ended as a sigh. I retrieved my lunch from my bottom desk drawer. “So, not a decent-looking guy who loves Jesus and kids enough to dedicate his life to serving both of them?”
“That’s not…you’re in a mood.” Austin crunched a handful of chips. He washed them down with a swig from his water bottle. “If he’s what you’re looking for, then hey, who am I to stand in your way? It’s just not obvious. To me, at least.”
I wanted to push. I didn’t think dating Luke was crazy. He and I appeared to have a lot in common on the surface. I didn’t know him well enough—yet—to say whether or not there was more than that. But it also wasn’t wrong to date someone and figure that out. “Obvious isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.”
“I guess.” Austin crumpled up the chip bag. “I guess it’s in the water. Scott’s married. You’re dating the youth pastor. Maybe you have an idea of who I can ask out?”
“You know Anita’s desperate for you to date her.” I shot him a sharp grin.
Austin shuddered. “You’re mean today.”
“What’s wrong with Anita?” I tried to look innocent, but I couldn’t stop laughing. The drama teacher was well suited for her job. She also tended to have five or six boyfriends at a time and took great delight in playing them against each other.
“Pretty sure she’s not a believer. We could start there.” Austin shook his head. “Other ideas?”
It took everything I had in me not to hit him over the head. Maybe I should have, but my mother’s constant harping about women asking men out being unseemly had stuck. Yes, I knew we were in the twenty-first century and those rules didn’t necessarily apply anymore. But still. There was a big part of me that wanted Austin to figure it out on his own. I wanted the guy I was with to be there because he wanted to, not because I’d asked about it.
Was that too much to ask?
“Not really, but I’ll keep my eyes open. I guess it would help if I knew what you were looking for in a girlfriend.” I shot him an innocent smile and batted my eyelashes at him.
“Ugh. Not that.” He laughed and took his sandwich out of its baggie. “I don’t need syrupy sweet and vapid. I want someone I can be friends with.”
“Okay. And attractive?”
“Well, duh.” He bit into the sandwich.
I started peeling my orange. “Maybe you should fill me in on exactly what that entails.”
I listened as Austin bumbled through nebulous descriptions that could apply to just about any woman in the universe. Maybe it was good that he wasn’t super picky, but it didn’t help me understand why I couldn’t fit the bill.
He wanted someone he could be friends with. Check.
Someone who loved math and nerdy things. Check.
Someone who didn’t mind getting outside now and then to do semi-sporty things like hiking or swimming or scuba diving. Check, check, check.
Someone who enjoyed cooking.
Well, okay, no one was perfect.
