The Art of Being a Gentleman

CHAPTER THIRTY

Mack's frown got deeper, "Our Hannah. You mean the girl I've been flirting with for months? From pretty much the moment I laid eyes on her?"

David licked his lips, his muscles readying themselves in case Mack lunged at him. "Erm. Kind of. Yeah."

Mack was quiet for about five deadly seconds, and David was a little worried that he had just trashed years of friendship over a girl, when suddenly Mack lightened up. "That's sweet, man, you guys would be good together."

"Wait, are you... are you serious?"

He laughed at David's dumb expression, "One hundred percent. I'm not even into her."

It was David's turn to frown. "But you just said... dude, you've been flirting with her this entire time."

Mack leaned lazily back in the chair, getting comfortable. "Yeah, I know. Her reactions are just so funny." He sent his friend a look, "I've told you tons of times that it was just fun and games. Hannah's cute, no doubt about that. But she's like a little sister."

"Oh my gosh. Please don't talk to a little sister the way you talk to Hannah."

Mack laughed loudly, "Okay, that's fair. But you two have a cute little thing going. And I wouldn't lie to you, I'm not interested in her. Maybe I was at the beginning, but I promise it never grew into anything more than just silly flirting."

"Oh," David was a little dumbfounded, but he knew he was being told the truth. His shoulders were suddenly lighter, and the icky sensation had dissolved from his stomach. "Okay, cool."

"So this thing with Alyssa is really over then, hey?"

David nodded slowly, "Yeah, I... I think it is. I think it needs to be."

"That's good, you have put her on a pedestal for the last year and a half," he chuckled. "It was good for you to realize she's a real person."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, Alyssa's a babe, yeah, and she's super sweet but she's not perfect. I don't know," he shrugged casually. "Sometimes I kinda wondered if you were using her as a distraction from everything that was going on, and you made her out to be this angel that would solve all your problems."

David stared at his friend who didn't seem to realize the weight of what he was saying. "Dude."

"Huh?"

"And you didn't think to mention any of that to me?"

Mack laughed and shrugged as if it didn't matter. "I don't know, man. I was kind of rooting for you two, either way. If you got in the Harvard family I'd finally have the rich best friend I'd always dreamed of."

He had to fight the smile pushing it's way onto his face as he shook his head. "You're the worst."

"Whatever, you're still ending up with a babe in the end, so why does it matter?"

David could only laugh.

After another moment of silence, Mack sat up as though he had come to a sudden revelation. "Wait. Does this mean I'm not allowed to use pick up lines on Hannah anymore?"

"...yes, Mack. That is what this means."

"Dang it."

⋈ ⋈ ⋈ ⋈ ⋈ ⋈ ⋈ ⋈ ⋈

Considering the amount of time David had spent trying to ask Alyssa out, he had never really thought about how to break things off with her.

This concept was making him much more nervous.