“If you’re the nut and I’m the bolt, then we’re meant to fit together, and no one’s prying us apart.”
“I’m bad with words, but every time I see you, it’s like I’m an air conditioner plugged into full power—suddenly, all my energy flows straight to you.”
“They call me a block of wood, but honestly, I never understood much until you showed up. There’s a bonfire inside me, and just a smile from you makes it roar to life.”
“Can you bake? Because every time you cross my mind, my heart swells up like dough in the oven—soft, puffy, about to burst its pan.”
These ridiculous confessions flooded Cole’s thoughts, leaving him drowning in embarrassment. When he reached the end, a deep frown carved its way across his forehead. What kind of trash was all this? He’d sooner eat glass than write anything like that.
One line in particular made him want to crawl out of his skin. “Do you know why I’ve been constipated lately? Because missing you ruins my appetite and my sleep. I’m so stuffed with thoughts of you that there’s just no space left for anything else to move!”
Reading that, Cole had to fight the urge to find the writer and knock some sense into him. How could an actual person come up with this nonsense? If Elliana ever expected that sort of drivel from him, he’d rather chop off his own fingers.
As Cole’s mood grew darker with every passing second, Myles felt his nerves fraying.
Paulina glared daggers at Myles, silently blaming him for subjecting Cole to such trash.
When the tension seemed thick enough to cut, Cole finally glanced up at Myles and asked, “Does this sort of sweet talk really work on women? Do women seriously like this?”
Cole looked completely sincere, genuinely hoping for guidance. Whatever battle had been raging inside him, he had made up his mind—if it would make Elliana happy, he’d try anything.
Myles offered an awkward grin. “Every single one of those lines was written by some guys in my university for the girls they liked. Believe it or not, every confession got a yes—the girls were thrilled.”
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Cole looked as though he’d just heard a grave insult to his very soul. He started by rolling his eyes, muttering a quiet curse. Turning back to Myles, he masked his impatience with a thin layer of politeness. “Go on.”
Adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses higher, Myles continued, “You know, researchers have actually tested this stuff. Inside their labs, when women heard these corny lines, 99% of them had their heart rates shoot up past one-thirty. The monitors picked up dopamine spikes like fireworks.”
Cole kept his gaze fixed on Myles, barely keeping a sarcastic smirk at bay. What kind of scientist would waste time studying pickup lines, anyway?
Still, determined to do whatever it took to make Elliana happy, Cole bit back every sarcastic remark teetering on the edge of his tongue.
The study filled with a heavy silence.
Breaking the hush, Cole finally spoke. “You both can go.”
Paulina and Myles froze, taken aback. They had expected a barrage of questions, but instead, Cole sent them away. His thoughts about those cheesy lines remained a mystery. Though curiosity gnawed at them, neither dared to ask. With a silent exchange of glances, they slipped out the door.
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