“Cooper, I don’t think you understand how this works.” Ally laughed as he leaned back against the wall.
She shook her head. “You have to talk to a girl before you can ask her out.”
”I knew I was missing something.” He glanced over at her, where she was leaning her shoulder against the wall next to him. “And out of everyone here, who should I talk to first? They all look the same to me.”
“Then pick one. Talk for a minute, then if she is still interesting after that minute you keep talking to her. Do that until she is no longer interesting or until it’s time to leave and you get her phone number.”
He groaned and laughed at the same time. “That sounds a whole lot like speed dating without anyone to ring the bell when it’s time to move on to the next one.”
With a well aimed punch to his arm, she flashed him a smile. “Cooper, I’m not the one making you find a date to bring to your big family dinner or find yourself shamed for life. That is your mother.”
“I’ll be shunned Ally, not just shamed.” He tapped his head against the wall in frustration. “Does she really think that forcing a girl to come to a tense family gathering is going to inspire me to propose to her? And even if I did theoretically propose to this stranger, the girl would have to be crazy to say yes after knowing me for less than a week. And I don’t want a crazy or desperate girlfriend, fiance, or wife.”
“Ironically, you are pretty desperate at the moment too. It could be a match made in heaven.”
“Not funny, Ally.”
Ally continued to scan the room. “Your mom just wants you to be outrageously happy and give her grandbabies. And to her that means finding a girl to fall in love with. And apparently you haven’t brought a girl over to meet her in over a year. She thinks you are a lost cause. Now, start small and just focus on finding a girl who doesn’t annoy you to death in the first few minutes of conversation.”
“Why don’t you have to bring a date?” He glared at her. As if it were her fault that his mother had singled him out as the only one required to bring a date.
Pushing off the wall, Ally attempted to drag Cooper with her. “I am not her darling child. Just her friend’s daughter that has been around forever. Now, as your wingman or whatever, I will help you get started.”
“How would you help?”
“I can start the conversation, introduce you, then all you would have to do is flirt long enough that she melts into a pile of goo in your arms. Then you can ask her to dinner.”
“Melts into a pile of goo? Do I really want that? And I think you overestimate my flirting abilities.” If he could have leaned any further into the wall, Ally was guessing that he would have.
“I’ve seen you flirt. You have got it down fantastically. I think you just need to want to. Besides, you have plenty to work with.”
“Plenty to work with?”
Ally folded her arms and smirked. “You keep repeating me. And yes, you are the cliché fantasy. Haven’t you heard the phrase tall, dark and handsome.”
Cooper leaned forward, his attention riveted on her face. “You think I fit a fantasy cliché? Or your fantasy cliché?”
She bit her tongue. Now was not the time to be dipping into that conversation. “Focus, Cooper.”
He suddenly pushed off the wall and stepped directly in front of her. “I’ll make you a deal.”
“What deal?” Ally’s eyes narrowed.
“If I do my best and try to convince someone to come to my family’s dinner and still end up solo at the end of the night, you have to be my date to the dinner.” There was a light, dare I say a gleam, behind his eyes as he spoke.
Shaking her head she laughed, “Not a chance. I’m already going. And your mom knows me and would know that I was your fake date.”
“You wouldn’t be fake.”
That pulled her up short. “What do you mean by that?”
He stared into her eyes for a very long time until she could barely think straight. The last time they had been this close they had been in high school and he had been trying to convince her that they both needed to practice kissing. He had almost convinced her back then and his gaze was still just as effective. Only, Jessica Florez interrupting had saved Ally from agreeing to his dumb idea back then. Jessica must have overheard their conversation because she had swooped in and planted a kiss on him without even looking at me.
“You can practice with me.” Jessica had cooed at him. And thus started their dating relationship that had lasted until graduation.
Shaking her head, Ally pulled herself back to the present. There was no Jessica Florez to distract him now. “Cooper, I am not going to be your fake date. Go find yourself someone who can.”
“I don’t want a fake date.”
There was something in the way he looked at her that got her heart pumping wildly and her breathing kicked up a notch. He stepped closer. So close that she could feel the heat from his body against hers, even though they were not touching. As his head leaned in closer to hers she couldn’t find the motivation to look away. He was going to kiss her.
At the last second she whispered. “Is this all to save yourself from your mother and her dinner?”
Cooper abruptly pulled back. His eyes pierced her. “Is that what you think this is?
“Yes.”
He practically jumped away. “It wasn’t. Now, do we have a deal? I’ll try, really try. And if not, you go with me…as my real date.”
Without thinking it through she heard herself laugh lightly. “Deal.”
“Let’s get this over with then.” Cooper strode off in the direction of a knot of girls standing off to the side near where we had been standing.
Ally watched him walk away, stunned, and finding herself slightly hoping that he did fail. If only so that she could be his real date for once.
