Relationship Expert

Ryan Miller may be a science genius, but his relationship skills are put to the test when his boyfriend struggles to ditch his beard and come out of the closet in the coming of age love story One Little Lie. In this scene, Ryan uses his questionable expertise to figure out whether he’s about to go on his first double date. He is contractually obligated to freak out for all big moments like this. The contract is his life.

~

Ryan

“Why aren’t you more worked up? This is our first double date.”

The words first and date so close together made my heart speed up in anxiety. Ryan’s didn’t do well under pressure. Hey, wait. I pointed a finger at Luke. “I see what you’re doing.”

Instead of giving me his clueless, earnest gaze, he smirked. My boyfriend was secretly evil! I’d be upset about it, but it was a little hot.

“Is it working?” he asked hopefully.

“Why do you want me to be a nervous wreck like you?” I asked with a pout.

His smirk only intensified. “You’re fun when you’re a nervous wreck.”

“It’s not going to work,” I said haughtily. I did the teasing to Luke. It didn’t work the other way around!

Evil boyfriend continued to smirk. Had we ever been on a double date before? Oh, mother fu-

Wait! “No, we went to dinner with the girls earlier,” I realized triumphantly. I already defeated my first double date. Or a word less combative.

He frowned for a moment, then shook his head. “No, that doesn’t count.”

“You can’t decide that,” I decided. “Who made you the decider of all things?”

Relationships weren’t dictatorships! They were about give and take. God, I was one of those people who acted like an expert anytime I was in a serious relationship. I hated those people. Except when those people were me. Maybe I really was an expert.

Wait, I totally wouldn’t mind if we had a dick-tatorship…

-This is from One Little Lie, the second sweet and snarky M/M romance in the One More Thing series of contemporary YA novels. Grab the book here as part of the One Crazy Love Story box set, which features the first four books in the One More Thing Series.