Page 17 of The Boyfriend Hypothesis
Well, except for her family. They were important. And her friends, of course. Friends were also important. And people in need. You should always put the needs of those less fortunate ahead of your own.
But other than that, Penny was putting herself first.
Caleb was still hovering, but she refused to let him get to her. For months, she’d tried to be friendly and gotten clear signals that he wasn’t interested in talking to her. If he wanted something from her now, he was going to have to spit it out.
Old Penny would have felt the need to fill the silence with conversation, but New Improved Penny was done groveling for the attention of people who weren’t interested in her. Just because he was standing nearby didn’t obligate her to talk to him.
She pulled out her phone and opened up the X-Files fan fiction she’d been reading last night. Surely that would send a strong enough you don’t have to talk to me vibe. He’d see that she was reading, realize he was off the hook, and leave her alone.
Nope. Still standing there. Still not saying anything.
Fine, whatever. Two could play this game. He had no idea what he was up against. She could ignore him for as long as he could stand there without saying anything.
“What are you reading?” he asked.
Well, darn.
It was a fanfic reader’s most dreaded question. On the one hand, there was no reason to be ashamed of reading fan fiction, so she shouldn’t have to lie about it. But on the other…she really didn’t want to field the ignorant questions and disdainful comments that usually came next. Plus, he’d probably assume she was reading smut—not that there was anything wrong with smut. But she didn’t want him thinking she was sitting here reading it while he was standing two feet away from her, because that would be weird. She happened to be reading a plotty amnesia fic with only a moderate amount of smut in it. And she wasn’t on one of the smutty chapters right now. So there.
“A book,” she said without looking up. It was the path of least resistance and technically not a lie, since the fic was over one hundred thousand words.
She saw Caleb nod out of the corner of her eye and braced herself for further interrogation. After another moment, he heaved himself off the counter he’d been leaning on and wandered off.
Penny blew out a relieved breath and went back to reading her fic.
Caleb was off on Wednesday, but Thursday morning he was at it again.
“Got any plans this weekend?” he asked when he brought her latte to her.
Never once had he inquired about her plans before, on the weekend or otherwise. Never. Once.
Penny had asked him that exact same question many times, trying to initiate conversation, and never received anything more than a vague shrug and mumbled “Not really” before he made his escape from her presence.
“Not really,” she said, and shrugged.
Caleb continued to hover. Was he expecting her to make conversation? Because if so, he’d be waiting a long time. She was done with that. From now on, she was giving him what he’d always seemed to want: silence.
Malik was working today instead of Elyse, and Penny stared at the back of his dreadlocked head while he pulled shots of espresso. He had on an acid-washed denim vest that looked like something Penny’s mother might have owned in high school. A few stools down the counter, a man in a plaid shirt stood up from his laptop and paced nervously back and forth. He wore a headset, and from his occasional exclamations and muttered curses, she presumed he was on some sort of conference call that was going badly.
Penny took a sip of her latte and thought about getting out her phone.
Caleb cleared his throat. “One of my roommates wants me to go see the new Transformers movie with him, but I don’t know if I want to.”
What? Was happening? Was this the same Hottie Barista who had previously resisted her every attempt to coax him into conversation? After nearly a year of hitting a brick wall, she hardly knew what to do with this wealth of volunteered biographical information. He had roommates, apparently. One of whom liked Transformers movies. Which Caleb himself was ambivalent about. Would wonders never cease?
Something in her expression made him flinch. “What?”
“Nothing,” she said, taking another sip of her latte. “I’ve just never heard you talk this much before.”
“Oh.” He looked embarrassed.
She set down her cup. “Why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?”
“I’m not.” This was a blatant lie, and he knew it. She could see it in his face.
“You don’t have to feel sorry for me, you know. I’m fine. I don’t need pity.”
“I’m not—that’s not it.” He grimaced at the floor like this was the most painful conversation he’d ever had. It was certainly in Penny’s top ten.
