How to date a Nerd

Chapter 10

Who knew pulling out a sliver could be so sexy?

"You know, I think I'm going to ask Mom to start locking the door when we leave. We don't want any crazy neighbors to get in." She chuckles and shrugs out of her jacket.

My back hovers over the machine, and I hope she won't immediately go to it. My fingers are slipping over buttons, but I'm afraid I'll accidentally hit PLAY instead, so I don't push anything. "Um, I came through the window."

She shakes her head, letting her hair wave away from her eyes. She's laughing as she peeks outside. "Did you lose your pants on the way?"

Ugh! How could I forget I'm only in a sweatshirt and underwear? I want to act cool, like it's totally on purpose. I mean, I do that all the time! I prance around in much less, but I find myself grabbing her blanket and awkwardly wrapping it around me. "Sorry," I mumble. "I forgot to put them on." Could things get any worse?

She pulls out a pair of jeans and tosses them at me, her face lobster red. "Well, wear these till you remember yours." My jittery hands do not help as I pull up her pants. I suck a breath through my teeth as the material scrapes against that darn sliver. "Did you hurt yourself?" Her amusement wipes from her voice, replaced with that worried look I still don't know why she gives me.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."I reply trying to act cool.

"You sure?"She asks. "Just a sliver." She gulps and for the first time, I see her eyes flicker to my legs and stay there. "You should really get it out before it gets infected." Her voice and hands shake, and her face flushes so darkly, steam would come off her if I poured water over her head.

Maybe my thighs aren't as thunderous as I thought. I smile and let the jeans fall to the ground, stepping out of them gently while keeping my eyes locked on her. "Will you help me?" My heart crashes around my chest. I've done the whole sexy, flirty thing millions of times, but I never meant it. I'm not using Lauren for anything. I just want her to find Geek Camila sexy. To totally treat me like I'm her own Princess Leia.

She closes her eyes and turns her back on me. I'm ready for a rejection, for her to tell me to go home, but instead, she grabs a pair of tweezers from her desk and motions for me to sit on the bed. She sits next to me, her eyes desperately trying not to look at my bare skin, but I know she has to.She knows she has to, but she's fighting it.

I should help her out, even though she's being so cute, and I like seeing her get all nervous because of me. The sliver is jammed into my inner thigh, high enough you can see my cute boy short underwear—good thing I didn't go with the thong today—but low enough she won't have to touch my crotch. I pull up the oversized sweatshirt so it reveals more of my attire, but I stick my leg out in such an unsexy way I'm sure she'll be able to control her shaking hands.

She laughs as I almost kick her in the face, and she moves to the floor, crouching so she can get a better look at the nasty thing. "Ouch. I wouldn't call this much of a sliver. More of a twig." I punch her in the shoulder. "Well, maybe you should consider sanding down your ledge."

"I didn't realize my neighbor would leap into my room in her underwear." She teases. "Ha ha." The cold tip of the tweezers hits my burning leg, and I cringe. "Does it hurt?" She asks. "No. Just cold."

"Try to hold still. I don't want to hurt you." Her voice hitches on the last sentence, and I suppress the wide smile that wants to form on my lips. Holding still is going to be a problem.

We're silent as she tries to get it out. I wince from the brief seconds of pain, but mostly I focus on the way she keeps her distance. Like she doesn't want to touch me. I know this will go a lot faster if she grabs my leg to balance while she works, but she doesn't. The only touch I feel is from the tweezers.