The Scenic Route by Devan Sipher Page B

like to take you.”
    â€œYou don’t have to do this,” she said, lowering her voice again.
    â€œDo what?” he asked, not sure what they were keeping secret.
    â€œThe whole polite morning-after thing.”
    He was being many things, but polite wasn’t one of them. “I’m going to the airport. You’re going to the airport. I’m not being polite. I’m being practical.”
Practical?
Could he be less romantic? “And environmentally friendly,” he added, which had a distinctly more flirtatious intonation in his head than when it came out of his mouth.
    â€œI just don’t want to make things uncomfortable,” she said.
    Did she mean uncomfortable for him or for her? Because the only thing making him uncomfortable was having to say good-bye. Well, the only thing other than her seeming to be okay with it. Or was she just being self-protective? He needed to let her know how much he wanted to see her again. But he needed to find a low-key way to do it.
    â€œSo, has Austin asked you out for New Year’s yet?” Stu’s voice boomed across the buffet table.
    â€œNew Year’s?” Naomi was confused.
    â€œStu!” Austin squawked.
    â€œAustin used to have this obsession with finding a New Year’s date.”
    â€œIt wasn’t an obsession,” Austin objected. If Stu thought he was being funny, he wasn’t.
    â€œIn college, he used to count the days remaining until New Year’s. Do you still do that?”
    â€œNo!” Austin avowed, a little too strongly.
    â€œHe used to start counting from a year out.”
    â€œYou’re exaggerating.”
    â€œWas it someone else I lived with junior year who announced on January second, ‘Only three hundred and sixty-four days to find a New Year’s Date’?”
    â€œI did that one time,” Austin said, “and it was meant as a joke.”
    Naomi was laughing as she headed toward the fruit sculpture at the far end of the buffet. It was unclear if she was laughing with him or at him. He grabbed a plate and started digging into the corned beef hash.
    â€œYou son of a gun,” Stu said, socking Austin in the arm.
    â€œWhat are you trying to do to me?” Austin asked.
    â€œWhat are you talking about? I totally have your back.”
    â€œWhy the hell did you bring up New Year’s?”
    â€œWomen eat that stuff up,” Stu said. “Makes you look sensitive. I’m betting you’re going to be the next one going down the aisle.”
    Typical Stu. Whatever he was doing, he wanted Austin to do. That was how Austin had ended up taking the computer programming class. It was also how he had ended up joining a fraternity. “Well, lay off,” Austin said. “She hasn’t even agreed to let me drive her to the airport.”
    â€œThat’s cause you move too slow.”
    â€œI don’t move too slow.”
    â€œLike, turtle speed.”
    â€œI don’t think that’s exactly accurate,” Austin said, his voice doing its characteristic rise in pitch.
    â€œWhat’s not accurate?” Naomi asked, returning with a plate of blackberries. Austin didn’t know what to say.
    â€œAustin’s opinion of Silicon Valley,” Stu replied, confirming he had Austin’s back. “Did he tell you I asked him to be my partner on EZstreets?”
    â€œHe did,” she said while procuring a buckwheat-pecan waffle.
    Stu looked surprised. “Did he tell you I continue to ask him every week?”
    â€œHe didn’t,” Naomi said.
    â€œIt hasn’t been every week,” Austin assured her, inching closer to her.
    â€œJust about,” Stu insisted.
    â€œStu, I have a career. I have a job.”
    â€œYou have a job in Michigan. Most people couldn’t find Michigan on a map.”
Was
this supposed to be helping?
“It’s like you’re living off the grid. Come and join the real