The Party Boy's Guide to Dating a Geek (Clumsy Cupids) (6 page)

presence Palpatine was in the films, a book

detailing his history was probably necessary to the

EU."

Ash nodded like he knew what she was talking

about. "Oh, yeah. I totally agree."

Fee looked at him for a long moment. Ash's face

warmed under the scrutiny of his gaze. He had a

feeling Fee could see right through him and his

reason for coming to the meeting. Fee had figured

out the truth, and he wasn't impressed. Not in the

slightest.

"So then," Fee said mildly, "what is your

opinion of Plagueis's determination to put an end to

the Rule of Two and his experiments to manipulate

midi-chlorians and make himself immortal?"

"Um." Ash swallowed nervously and wished

he'd grabbed one of the bottles of water from the

snack table before sitting down. He was sure he

sounded like a complete idiot with all the "um-ing"

and stammering. Vaguely he remembered hearing

something about how there were always only two

Sith, a master and an apprentice. Had Yoda said

that? He thought so, but he had no idea how to

answer Fee's question.

From his position beside Fee, Donovan snorted

and crossed his arms over his chest. "His

reasoning was obvious. He wanted to reign

supreme as the only Sith Lord for all eternity. As

for ending the Rule of Two, he figured if he didn't

have an apprentice, no one could ever betray him

as he had his own master." Donovan eyed Ash

with apparent scorn. "Why are you even here if

you didn't bother reading the book?"

"Yeah," said the guy next to Donovan. "The

purpose of a book club is for people to actually

contribute to the discussion, not just sit there

looking pretty. At least, last time I checked."

Ash shifted uncomfortably in his seat and

resisted the urge to reach up and tug at his collar.

He knew his face was probably bright red. He

couldn't remember the last time he'd been so

embarrassed. Maybe never. There were areas in

which he was confident. Art, music, tattoos—he

could talk about those things all day. But it was

rare for Ash to stray from his comfort zone. By

coming to the meeting, he'd knowingly walked into

a situation where he was out of his depth and now

he was suffering for it. Really, though, did they

have to be such jerks about his not reading the

book? What if he'd just wanted to check out the

club before committing to anything?
Way to make

a guy feel welcome.

The ginger-haired girl on Ash's left sat forward

abruptly and glared at the last guy who'd spoken.

"Lay off, Rob. You, too, Donovan. We're supposed

to be an accepting group, aren't we? Or is that just

lip service until someone different actually shows

up?"

Rob's only response was to roll his eyes, but

Donovan had the grace to look somewhat abashed.

"Sorry, man." His gaze met Ash's briefly. "You're

the guy who emailed the blog, right? Ash?"

Ash frowned in confusion, his eyebrows

furrowing together.
Oh, hell.
Had his email gone to

a shared address for everyone who ran the blog

and not to Fee directly? Ash bit back a groan. If

that were the case, it might explain the animosity

from Donovan, especially if he liked Fee and

seeing Ash had made him feel threatened. "Yeah,"

Ash answered. No point in denying it. "Yep, that

was me."

Fee cast a sharp glance at Donovan, but

Donovan seemed suddenly absorbed by the notes

in front of him. Ash watched him fidget with his

pen and avoid Fee's eyes. Well, that was

interesting. Maybe Fee
hadn't
seen his email then.

The thought comforted Ash a little.

"Let's move on," Fee said after a few seconds of

awkward silence. "Does anyone have any specific

topics they wish to discuss in relation to the

book?"

A brunette at the opposite side of the table lifted

her hand briefly. "I do, actually, but it's more about

the EU in general. You know how Darth Sidious

…"

Ash tuned her out as she started spouting names

he only half-remembered. With the attention of the

group focused on someone other than him, his

cheeks had cooled considerably. Humiliated was

the only word he could think of to describe how he

felt right then. Sure, it helped to know that Fee

hadn't intentionally ignored his message—at least,

Ash assumed that much from the look Fee had

given Donovan—but he'd made an ass of himself

by coming to the meeting. He'd expected to be able

to just sit there and watch, maybe nod every now

and again to make it seem as if he was paying

attention. He'd never thought they would single him

out. But even if Fee hadn't seen his email, he had to

have guessed Ash's purpose for being there. Fee

had been the one to start the whole inquisition,

after all, and Ash did resent that. Then again,

maybe his own behavior had been just the tiniest

bit … well, stalkerish. Ash supposed he could see

how Fee might be annoyed.

By the time the meeting was over, Ash was

practically crawling out of his skin with the need

to get away. He stood and shoved his book back

into his messenger bag. Just looking at the thing

made him feel like an even bigger jackass. Maybe

he would give it to Carley. It seemed more his

style than Ash's. Who was he kidding anyway? Ash

might have been able to pull off the sexy professor

vibe, but in appearance only. He wasn't all that

intellectual, and he'd probably never be a sci-fi

nerd. What was the sense in pretending otherwise?

Ash abandoned his plan to try to get Fee to go

out for some coffee and slipped away without even

glancing in Fee's direction. He'd had enough

humiliation for one night. He wasn't ready to give

up on Fee just yet—not entirely—but maybe next

time, instead of giving himself a makeover to try to

impress Fee, he'd settle for being himself. It had

never failed him before.

Chapter Three

IS HE A MAC OR A PC?

The question is not 'Does your geek have a computer?'

The question is 'How many computers does your geek

have?' Sub-questions may be 'That work?' or 'Which OS?'

OS here refers to the "Operating System." That could be

Windows, Apple, or one of the 'Linux Distros' (Linux

Distributions, i.e. RedHat, Ubuntu, or YellowDog). By

determining which OS your geek prefers to use, you can

make some determinations about his personality and

willingness to explore new options. Knowing his

operating preferences can give you a guide on how to

work his system.

3.1

Sunday dinner was going to be the worst, Ash

decided. It had been two weeks since he made a

fool of himself at Fee's book club, and he managed

to avoid seeing Jack and Mari, but he couldn't get

out of Sunday dinner at their place. Jack and Ash

made it a point to get together once a month to call

their parents in Florida.

Ash buried his humiliation and made the trip to

Jack's apartment. He ignored the burning in the

back of his throat and denied his stomach was

doing more flip-flops than usual for any reason

other than having to hear his father's disapproval

with his career choice, or his mother's

admonishments to make sure he was eating enough.

He wished he'd brought Carley along. His mother

always loved Carley, and Carley would be able to

deflect some of Jack and Mari's questions about

Ash crashing Fee's club.

The bus slowed as it neared the apartment

complex, and Ash thought about just continuing on

to another stop, but someone rang the bell, and the

bus stopped. He forced himself to get off and

sighed as he made his way to Jack's apartment.

Before he could knock, Jack pulled the door open.

"Oh, hey, bro. I was just taking this out." Jack

held up the trash bag in his hand.

"I'll take it," Ash said as he reached for it.

"Nah, I got it. You go on in. Mari's back there."

Jack pushed him through the door on his way out.

"Just get it over with," Ash whispered to himself

as he walked into the apartment.

Mari was on the phone in the kitchen. She

smiled and gave him a quick hug. He paced around

in the small dining room as she finished her call.

"Yes, it should say 'Feliz Cumpleaños, Fee'. Yes,

F-E-E. As in what you're going to charge me for

this. Yes, half chocolate, half vanilla. Thank you.

I'll pick it up Saturday morning."

The front door opened, and Jack came back in

as she hung up. They both looked at him, but he

held up his hands before they could say anything.

Jack was about to speak, but the apartment phone

rang. Both he and Ash glanced at the clock. "Six

o'clock, on the dot," Jack said.

Ash shook his head. "He's nothing if not

punctual."

"No kidding." Jack picked up the phone. "Hi,

Dad. How's it going?"

"Let me help you in the kitchen," Ash whispered

so he could put off the inevitable grilling for as

long as possible. "It smells great."

"Uh-huh," Mari said. She didn't say anything

else as she pulled the plates down from the cabinet

and handed them to Ash. He was setting their

places when Jack came in.

"Yeah, Mom. He's right here. Hang on." Jack

held the phone out to Ash with a smile.

Ash rolled his eyes but took the phone from his

brother's hand. "Hey, Mom. How are you feeling?"

He got the rundown of their latest ills, aches, and

pains before she asked about his eating and how

his roommates were doing. After grilling him

about his job and his love life, she handed the

phone to his father. He braced for the usual

comments about wasting his life, but his father took

it easy on him.

"You know you could probably make more

money if you moved to L.A. or Vegas?"

"But I like Chicago."

Ash's apprenticeship had always been a sore

spot between them. His dad never tried to forbid

Ash from pursuing his aspirations like some

fathers might have, but he wasn't exactly

encouraging of the idea either. More of a carefully

guarded neutral.

"You should try out for that competition show,"

his father said.

Ash looked at Jack with wide eyes. "He's been

watching the Spike Channel," Jack whispered.

Ash covered the mouthpiece and chuckled.

"That explains it." He had watched the
Ink Master

marathon, too, thinking of what he could do with

the prize money. "Don't worry, Dad. When we

open our own shop, Ty and I are going to do just

fine."

"I just hate to see you wasting your talent."

Ash's throat closed up. This was the most

supportive his father had ever been of his dream.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Just making sure you're going to be able to take

care of us in our old age, that's all."

"I've already got the home I'm putting you in

picked out," Ash teased. "Here's Marisol. I think

she said something about wedding registries and

baby showers." Marisol's eyes narrowed and she

held up a fist. "Love you, Pop," Ash said before he

handed the phone to Mari.

"That was mean," Jack said. They worked

together to plate the dinner while Mari fended off

questions of when she was finally going to accept

Jack's proposal and start producing grandchildren.

After she hung up, Mari swatted the back of

Ash's head. "Asshole."

"Sorry. Dad was getting heavy, and I needed to

deflect it."

"Well, I promised him you'd go to that

accounting class he suggested, so good luck with

that."

"You didn't." Ash's jaw dropped open.

"Yep. You'll need it for running the shop

anyway."

"She fights dirty." Jack grabbed Marisol by the

waist and spun her around before they sat down for

dinner. They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Fine, I'll take the class," Ash said between