Free One Step Away (A Bedford Falls Novel Book 1) by Sydney Bristow

It’s not
attractive. Knock it off.” He took a sip of beer.
    Alexander had never given it much thought
because speaking that way simply had become second nature to him.
He ordered a bottle of Miller Lite from the female bartender, who
nodded, but cast another glance at Damon, who didn’t even look her
way.
    “Practice using a deeper tone, something
that feels comfortable, something you can use all the time. Got it?
Next, I watched you walk in here. I wasn’t impressed. But I should
have been.” Damon stood tall and threw back his shoulders. “Lead
with your shoulders. And take it slow. When I walk into a room, I
get all Samuel L. Jackson with my strut: ‘I own this mother-fucker
and every person in it. I can get whatever I want, whenever I want
it.’ So, I don’t care how you do it, but do what it takes to get
that attitude. You do that and Marisa will notice. I guarantee
it.”
    Alexander looked pessimistic. “Won’t I come
off as an asshole?”
    “Hell, no. It shows all the right things to
a woman: ‘I’m confident. I’m strong. You won’t be able to find
anyone better than me.’ And let’s get to the complete opposite of
that attitude – yours. One reason Marisa isn’t attracted to you is
because you do whatever she says. If she wants to go to the movie
theater, and you pick one movie, but she suggests another, you go
see that one. Doesn’t matter what you want; you see her movie
instead. It’s not her fault. It’s yours. Not attractive.”
    Laughing, Alexander couldn’t believe such an
outrageous statement. “It’s called compromise. Humans do that on
Earth – even on Krypton.”
    “Right, but you compromise too much. You
bend over backwards to please her. What does that tell her? That
she can stomp all over you. And you won’t care. Since you’re best
friends, I’m sure she doesn’t treat you that way. And from what
you’ve said, she doesn’t take advantage of you in any way. Which,
I’ve got to say, kudos to her. She must really care for you. But I
guarantee that she doesn’t want you to cave in so much. It shows
you have no back bone. Not attractive.”
    Alexander hadn’t thought of it that way. Put
in that context, he realized he did compromise way too often. Only
now that Damon had pointed out how Marisa might view him when he
acted this way, did he feel like a tool. “Okay.”
    “Same goes for always being there for her.
If you’re always there, how is she going to miss you? You’ve heard
the phrase, ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder’? There’s truth
in that statement. Remember it.” Noticing their bartender
approaching them with a smile, now that she caught Damon’s eye, he
said to Alexander, “Take note,” then turned to her and said in a
teasing voice, “Where’ve you been? It took you like five minutes to
get that beer. You stop off at the bathroom? Maybe powder your nose
while you were at it?”
    She placed the beer in front of Alexander
without even glancing his way. “It didn’t take five minutes.” She
leveled Damon with a wistful look. “And why would I go powder my
nose?”
    “Isn’t that what women do when they want to
impress a man?”
    She checked out the room, dejected. “There
aren’t any men I want to impress.” She settled her gaze on Damon
with a twinkle in her eye. “Have you seen any?”
    “Why would I be looking?”
    Another customer called her, making her
twist her lips in frustration. “Duty calls.” She grinned and
attended to her new customers.
    Alexander didn’t know what happened there,
but he could feel the chemistry between them. And it seemed so
effortless on Damon’s part.
    Damon turned to him. “I’ve watched you
approach women. You’ve never tried witty banter like that, have
you?”
    Feeling a little embarrassed, Alexander
decided not to admit that he’d written Marisa a poem last night
that he’d folded up and stored in his front pocket. At first, he
thought he’d give it to her so that she might