The Secrets of Attraction Read Online Free Page A

three-point shot with the mop cloth to the sink and missing by a foot. I crouched down to pick it up. Homework Girls giggled.
    â€œHow do you do it?”
    â€œDo what?” I popped up to face him but Tanner was standing in front of Leif. When he realized Tanner was talking to him, Leif placed his tea down.
    â€œHow do I do what?” he asked. Leif seemed like a pretty stand-up guy who could talk about Buddhism or the latest Joss Whedon flick with equal enthusiasm, but this was the first time Tanner had ever posed what sounded like a personal question. I tossed the mop cloth into the sink for real and leaned across the pickup counter to listen.
    â€œYou know . . . not get distracted when you teach?”
    Leif looked at me. I shrugged.
    â€œI’m not sure I’m getting you,” he said to Tanner.
    Tanner gestured with the broom handle to punctuate his words. “All those yoga pants . . . I’d be walking around with a constant—”
    â€œWhoa,” Leif said, laughing and putting up his hand.
    I shook my head. Tanner Smith was a great bass player and a passable barista, but a puerile cretin when it came to the opposite sex. He had a point about the yoga pants, though. They’d been banned at school.
    â€œDo you have some yogi voodoo shit that gives you special powers? C’mon, you’ve never wanted to . . . you know, get with someone?”
    â€œIt doesn’t work that way, Tanner.” Leif picked up his book again.
    â€œNever been tempted?” I asked, fiddling with my infinity bracelet. The thin leather band had conformed to my wrist. I wasn’t sure why I still wore it, a reminder of what might have been—even if . . . Jess, just break ties already .
    Something always stopped me.
    â€œTemptation is part of life, isn’t it?”
    â€œSo you have wanted to bone a student,” Tanner said, pointing the broom handle at Leif.
    Hipster MacBook’s gaze broke away from his screen for this answer.
    Leif chuckled and turned a page. “No. When I’m in class, I’m a teacher, not looking to score. You do realize there is more to life than boning someone.”
    Tanner looked at me, shook his head, and resumed sweeping.
    â€œGuess I can strike ‘yoga dude’ off my career short list.”
    The entrance bell chimed to announce customers. I glanced at the clock. A little early for the after-class rush, but I turned to man the register anyway.
    And walked straight into a brick wall.
    At least that’s what it felt like.
    Hadn’t we set limits with this place?
    Hannah. My Hannah.
    Arm in arm.
    With Duncan. My friend. My drummer.
    Ex-drummer.
    Ex-friend.
    Together.
    Still.
    My feet moved in slo-mo, slogging through mud. Every step was calculated, as if the moment I stopped thinking about getting to the counter, I’d snap and go ape-shit instead. I knew odds were that I’d run into them as a couple at some point. I just never thought they’d come to me . My hands found the register. Numbers.
    You can do this, Jess .
    Avoiding Hannah had been impossible, since we lived on the same block, but I was able to get away with a nod or wave and then duck into my house or car. Duncan had been easier to lose, a limb I’d simply cut off and ignored in the hallways at school. All those nights in my room, imagining what I would do when confronted with the reality of HannahDunk, never included the scenario where I was mute behind the coffee counter, ready to take their order. If they were waiting for me to ask them, “How may I help you?” we’d be waiting for a very long time. What could they possibly want?
    â€œHi, Jess,” Hannah said, looking up at me with wide, unblinking eyes that still made my stomach feel like a chipmunk was clawing its way out. Duncan’s hand was planted on the curve of Hannah’s hip, the corner of his mouth upturned. She noticed me notice and shifted, putting a