I looked at the likes. There were almost two hundred likes on the photograph. It was a picture of me kissing Shannon. It was from a date we’d had a few days ago. I had pushed her up against a brick wall in the inner city. We’d had an absolutely delicious makeout session and I had been so involved, I hadn’t noticed her taking out her phone or her taking pictures of us.

It was an incredibly sexy picture. I was really into kissing her and all that vulnerability of what a man looks like when he’s in love was showing.

Her face was a puzzle. She was trying to match my enthusiasm, but she was also trying to take the picture. She had a selfie stick. I knew she had it on her that night. Before we’d gone on our date that was half dinner and half defacing the city street, she’d asked me if it was okay for her to post any really good pictures of us on her social media accounts. I said it was fine. The last picture she’d taken of us had been a big hit and this one was an even bigger hit, except that I didn’t like that she’d put that little piece of my soul on the internet for my mum, my coworkers, and Simon to see.

Simon was seething. I went home to see my parents after my poster date with Shannon and he was over visiting my younger brother, Finn, who still lived at home.

“What did you do?” he asked without saying hello.

“Hmm?”

“What did you do to make Shannon Bilx fall in love with you?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I didn’t do anything. She’s not in love with me. We were just fooling around.”

I said that last line just in time for my mother to hear me say it. “I don’t like the idea of you fooling around with anyone, and posting it on the internet is just tasteless.”

At that moment, I realized another reason why it was in Shannon’s best interest not to tell her dates what she was really like. There was no way their mothers would approve of a woman like her, and if she kept her mouth shut, she could easily slide under their radar without rousing their open disapproval.

It was at that moment that I realized that Shannon must really like me. She had posted that picture in order to bring everything out in the open. If I couldn’t handle the blowback after a tiny picture of us kissing, there was no way I could handle the pressure of being her man.

I turned back to my mother and tried again for an explanation. “I shouldn’t have said we were fooling around, mum. I was kissing her. We’re dating. It’s just a bit awkward to talk about when Simon used to date her before me.”

My mum immediately jumped on Simon. “You used to date her? What kind of a girl is she?”

I also wanted to hear his answer.

“She’s crabby,” he responded. “She doesn’t like anything. She doesn’t say what she’s thinking, and she’s a tease.” Soon he petered out, not sure how to bash her.

“Do you feel like she’s teasing you, Fletch?” my mum asked.

I shrugged. “I’m hardly a prize, mum. I’m sure Shannon could find a fancier man to hang out with if she wanted to boost her ego. She’s really exciting. She could have anyone.”

Simon snorted.

“What I mean to say is… it might not work out with her, but I don’t think she’s playing with me just to have another scalp on her belt. So far, all that’s happened is that we enjoy being together.”

“Is she as crabby as Simon says?”

“She just has clear boundaries about what she’s willing to talk about. That’s all. Some things are nobody’s business.”

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“Hmm…” Mum hummed. “She sounds like trouble. How could you trust someone who tells you some things are none of your business when she goes ahead and posts a picture like that? She’s careful with her own privacy, but not yours?”

“Exactly,” Simon chimed in.

I scoffed. “It’s not important today when I’ve only gone on a handful of dates with her. She’s not my girlfriend even. She could even be seeing other guys for all I know, and for now, that’s fine. I don’t own her.”

“Then you don’t mind if I set you up on a date with someone?” my mum asked tentatively.

“It might be better to wait if you want it to work out.”

“Why? If she’s not your girlfriend?”

I glanced at Simon, who was staring coldly at me.

If Simon had not been standing there, I would have told my mother that it didn’t matter what woman she set me up with, I wouldn’t like her. Next to Shannon, she would look like a sad replacement, and I didn’t think it was right to put someone at that kind of disadvantage.

I brushed off any discomfort I was feeling, the same way I had seen Shannon do it. “I’ll take out whoever you want, mum.”

Simon was staring at me. We had known each other all our lives, but he had never looked at me that way before. “You’re doing it!”

“I’m doing what?”

“You’re acting like her! Classic Shannon! That’s exactly the way Shannon acts when she’d rather not talk about it. Later tonight, auntie, you’ll get a text from him saying he’s changed his mind, but he won’t be here for you to interrogate.”

My mother chuckled. “That may be ‘classic Shannon’, but it is also ‘classic Fletcher!’ If you must know, I do it too.” She patted me on the cheek. “Let me know if you want me to set you up.”

“Right. Thanks.”

She wandered away from relieved me and stunned Simon.

Later, when I was on my way out, he stopped me. “Fletch… seriously… what did you do to get her to notice you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You had to have done something. We’re not that different. How could she fall for you and not me?”

I brushed off my clothes and took a deep breath. “I told you. She’s not in love with me. She’s trying me out.”

“That picture is her ‘trying you out’?” he gaped in amazement. She had never tried him out.

“Does it bother you that I’m dating her?” One look at Simon and I saw that I shouldn’t have asked. Of course, it bothered him. “It might turn out to be nothing,” I amended.

He scowled.

“Look, I met her because of what you told me about her. I’m sorry, but I was curious and I wanted to get to know more about her. You know how different she is from other women. I liked what I saw, kissed her when I felt like it, listened to her when she talked, and she liked being listened to… so she talked more. I kissed her more and she posted that picture on the internet.”

“You kissed her when you felt like it? And she let you?” he growled.

“Yes.”

“That simply?”

“Yes,” I repeated, my patience wearing thin. “But she’s not my girlfriend or anything. For all I know, she’s out with someone else right now.”

“She’s going to rip out your heart,” he warned.

I did see where he was going with that, and honestly, I didn’t think he was wrong. I thought about patting him on the head and spewing some crappy speech about how dating was a journey and each person you dated was another stepping stone to prepare you for the person you were meant to be with. I also considered turning to him and mouthing off some other crap about how she was likely to dump me before the weekend, but I didn’t think that was true either.

Instead, I turned to him and said, “She told me why it didn’t work out with you.”

His eyes narrowed. “She did?”

“Yeah. She told me that you were a great guy, but that she had nothing in common with you and didn’t want to bring you into her world when there was so little the two of you shared.”

“And you’re so different from me?” he gasped. “We’re basically the same.”

“Stop,” I said, putting my hands on both his shoulders. “She liked you. That means a lot about what a good person you are, but she’s not for you. You just didn’t want to hear it, but I think you knew it too. You’re going to have to take the valentine and go home.”

Simon knocked my hands off him. He started heading back up the stairs to the kitchen when he abruptly turned around. “I want you to call me when it doesn’t work out. Whatever time of day or night, I want you to call me the moment she tells you that she can’t be with you. Can you do that for me?”

I nodded. “I guess.”

“I’ll have some advice for you when that happens.”

He walked away, but I called after him, “Can’t wait to hear it!”