This time, I'm serious

First Night Jitters

Bruno felt his legs shaking as he struggled to get his foot into his pyjama shorts. He would be sharing a bed with Jas. She had picked him . Not Youcef. Not Kobi... not that she could have picked Kobi anyway... but she at least didn't seem that interested in him. She had picked him . And she looked happy about it.

He had absolutely no idea why. Jas was... urgh . She was so effortlessly sexy. She was a sculptor, and he couldn't help but admire the way she just... admired things. Like she was deconstructing them. Stripping them down to their barest elements. He'd caught her looking at him like that a few times... like she was peeling him. She was so confident. Cool. But at the same time... unbelievably silly. More than a few times, she'd come out with a joke so lame, or so incredibly witty, that he was completely shell shocked. She was so quick on her feet. He knew there was an incredible mind underneath that thick, flowing mess of hair. How could she be so damn awesome? And why the hell did she like him ?

Bruno was... a loser. No self-respecting woman wants to date an aspiring stand-up comedian. Especially one that isn't Pete Davidson. But Bruno didn't have cool tattoos, or a gig on SNL, or 'big dick energy' as the Americans called it. Bruno was just... Bruno. Not overly hot. Hair that never fell quite right. Made jokes instead of letting anyone in. If everyone just sees you as a walking joke, no one will ever figure out that you are one.

His shoulders fell a little, as he brushed his teeth, staring himself down in the mirror. He'd almost let Jamie in. Almost. He wasn't even sure why he'd asked her to marry him. They hadn't even been all that serious. They'd mostly just been fucking. He knew she'd been seeing other people behind his back, but couldn't really bring himself to confront her about it. He already knew the choice she would have made. He thought that asking her to marry him might be just the push she needed to consider him as more than just a big joke. He probably should have thought it through first. Maybe asking her to move in would have been a better first step. His Mum had tried to talk him out of it, after all. They really didn't like her. 'You can do better, Bruno. Don't be a doormat, Bruno.' But that was his way. He didn't stand up for himself, why would he? That would mean that he took something seriously. And taking something seriously means that you cared.

He heard the door creak a little behind him, as Angie came in, toothbrush in hand.

"You right, mate?" she asked

"Mmm-hmmm" he murmured back.

"You sure?"

"Mmm-hmmm?"

"You've been brushing your teeth for like, ten minutes"

Oh . He spat into the sink. "Yeah, ha, got to, um, make sure they're super clean"

She smirked at him. "Get out of your head mate."

Bruno sighed, rinsing his toothbrush thoroughly. "I can't. My brain's in there."

Angie looked at him, waiting for some kind of elaboration. Bruno smiled at her.

"Just trying to figure out what she sees in me". His voice carried upwards at the end of the sentence, implying a subtle question mark, hoping Angie would volunteer some tidbit of information to help him out.

Angie squeezed some toothpaste onto her brush. "Not exactly my place to talk about her feelings on her behalf. But she could have picked Will at the first recoupling, and she didn't. She could have picked Youcef today. Or Hazeem. Or James. And she didn't. She picked you , Bruno. Take from that what you will."

He groaned and looked at her, pleadingly. "Can't you just tell me if she's said anything"

Angie shoved her toothbrush in her mouth, pointing at it, and shrugging her shoulders.