Asking about kissing just seemed less awkward than a straightforward question like "are you sure this isn't just platonic which would be fine too I guess but that would be good for me to know before I embarrass myself."

"Would you like to go to dinner with me?" Eliot asked. "I mean, to be clear... like a date. I wasn't sure if this was or not, so I really feel like I can be more on my A game, you know?"

He set aside the fact that he knew there was someone out there who wanted to marry Fawn. Because that wasn't Eliot's business, right? That was for Fawn to deal with."