Free Perfect Match by J. Minter Page B

confused.
    â€œHey,” I said, changing the subject, uh, slightly. “Have you talked to Phil since last night?”
    â€œPhil?” Alex squirted Tabasco sauce on his burger and looked even more confused. “I figured you’d be more interested in knowing about Saxton—”
    â€œNah,” I accidentally interrupted him. “I figure that’s a lost cause.”
    Alex didn’t respond. He seemed to be taking a really long time to chew.
    â€œOh my God,” I said, clapping my hand to my forehead. “I meant it seemed like a lost cause
for Camille
. And I was asking about Phil because Amorywas into him. You didn’t think I was—did you think I was …” I trailed off.
    â€œInterested in them?” Alex said, putting the remains of his burger down to wipe his hands. “I don’t know.”
    â€œAlex,” I said, putting my hand over his. “Not even close. You have no reason to be jealous. This whole thing started because—”
    â€œWhat whole thing?” he said.
    I realized then that I hadn’t really voiced my master plan to anyone since SBB concocted it on the fly behind the cafeteria vending machines. I took a deep breath.
    â€œWell … I’m sort of on a mission to hook all of my friends up with dates before Valentine’s Day.” There, I’d said it. It didn’t sound
that
crazy.
    â€œThat sounds crazy,” Alex said, shaking his head. “I mean, your friends are great, but come on—some of them are pretty picky when it comes to guys.”
    â€œI thought being picky was a good thing,” I said coyly. “That’s how you ended up with me.”
    â€œFair enough.” Alex winked at me. “But why is it your job to find everyone a date?”
    There was a time when I would have been too embarrassed to admit the girly truth to my boyfriend. There was a time when I might have come up with areally far-fetched story to explain it away. But tonight when I looked at Alex, I knew he’d appreciate total honesty the most.
    â€œThe thing is,” I stammered, “after Xander and Camille broke up, my friends rallied behind her and … I know it sounds dumb … but they wanted us all to swear off guys for Valentine’s Day.”
    â€œBut you’re not going to do that,” he snorted, then paused. “Right?”
    â€œOf course not,” I said, forcing myself to look him in the eye, even though I was nervous. “I’ve been really looking forward to spending Valentine’s Day with you. I just thought that if my other friends had guys that made them feel … you know … like you make me feel, they’d get over the whole boy boycott and then we could all just have an awesome time together at the dance.”
    â€œSo that’s why you brought the girls last night,” he said, processing my insanity.
    I nodded. “And that’s the
only
reason I was asking about Phil and Saxton … and uh, checking out Saxton’s butt.”
    Alex wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Well,
that
is a relief. I was wondering if I needed to be doing squats or something,” he joked.
    â€œSo even if you don’t manage to find dates for theentire student body before next week, can we still spend Valentine’s Day together?” Alex asked as I doggie-bagged the rest of my carrot cake to bring home to Noodles.
    We shook on it. As he helped me into my coat, I realized that yet another study date had passed without either of us cracking a book. At least I’d come clean to Alex about the reason for my interest in his friends. And I
had
snapped that shot of the carrot cake for my photography class.
    Outside, the night street was cold and quiet and we walked to the end of the block listening to our feet clack in unison on the pavement. The windows of the West Village storefronts were mostly dark, but you could still see signs of