He backed up toward the door but Cat’s mind was still on the whole nerd thing. He thought that she thought that he was a nerd. Why? It bothered her that she’d made him feel that way, because she really didn’t think that about him. He was cool and interesting and fun. And, looking at him now in his joggers and V-neck T-shirt, he looked casually cool.

Actually, if she were being honest, he looked handsome. She hadn’t really thought that before now, because he didn’t have that knock-you-in-the-teeth sort of prettiness that Jared had, but Quentin was definitely handsome. He had broad, even features, a good strong jaw and blue eyes the color of a quilt that had been washed a thousand times. Faded, friendly, warm.

“Cat, are you coming?”

“Oh.” She shook her head a little to break her reverie. She’d been daydreaming about Quentin when she should have been getting ready to see Jared. “Right. Just gimme a second and I’ll change.”

“Why?” Quentin asked, his head cocked to the side.

Cat looked down at her attire. “Because I’m in yoga pants and a T-shirt.”

“You don’t have to change.” Quentin, pink in the cheeks, dragged a hand over the top of his head, straightening his coppery hair. “Trust me, guys like yoga pants.”

He held her eyes for half a second longer than she expected and something in his expression made her stomach swoop. “Oh. Okay.”

Feeling a little flustered, she followed Quentin into his apartment.

“Hey, Jared, we’re ready to watch whenever you are!” Quentin called. He waited a second, and when he didn’t hear anything, he headed toward Jared’s room. A moment later he came back out, a confused expression on his face. “That’s so weird. He was just here.”

“He’s not here?” She should probably feel disappointed that her hookup was thwarted once again, but she was just happy that she got to spend some time with Quentin.

“I guess he went out?” Quentin scratched at his head. “Sorry for the false alarm.”

“That’s okay. What’re we watching?”

“You’re gonna stay?”

“Yeah! A movie sounds good.” She made herself comfy on his couch, pulling an afghan down to cover her legs and fluffing one of the couch pillows behind her.

“Um. Okay. You want popcorn or something? Or let’s see... I have pretzels and some muffins.”

“Yes to all,” she said happily, picking up the remote and flipping through the channels. This was shaping up to be a really fun night.

He laughed. “You want all of it?”

She turned and put one arm along the back of the couch, eyeing him where he stood in the kitchen. “I’m starving. I haven’t had dinner yet.”

“Oh. Okay. Why don’t you choose something for us to watch? Anything is fine with me.”

A few minutes later Cat was blinking down at a tray of food being set on her lap. There was a heated-up bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, a little plate of salad and a slice of thick brown bread. A glass of icy lemonade sat in the corner, condensation dripping down the side.