Nate Owens

Your favorite thing about Nate is also the singular reason you've never been together. Because Nate bless his heart is all about substance and that jerk has the misunderstanding that you're all about flash and appearance. And... okay, maybe you do like to look good, it's not like he doesn't, you see him at the gym at least once a week and you're pretty sure he keeps a comb in his back pocket. Hypocrite. But no, even though you're about to get your Ph.D in archaeology, even though you've both been in academia for years... He still looks at you and sees a Freshman he met at a Halloween party where you were wearing a Lara Croft costume and he's sort of written you off as a vapid hot girl ever since. Even as you've developed a friendship and managed to grudgingly earn his respect, the line always stops short of going out. The man is irritatingly good at keeping his eyes from checking you out. Which is fine, you like that he's not superficial, it makes him a better man than your exes, but damn it when you put in the effort it would be nice if he'd notice it in a good way. The last time you brought it up, he smiled and said you wouldn't be a good match, that you'd be better with someone more fun. It took all of your self-control not to yell at the jerk, that you don't want fun, you want intelligence, you want someone with a mind that can keep up with yours, someone that would happily be your partner and know that love has no hierarchy. Is that so much to ask? The jerk even invented a rule that he was only interested in dating women with Doctorates, a pointed critique of the fact that he's obtained his doctorate a year ahead of you, which isn't even your fault, you couldn't control the fact that Professor Jackson's dig lost its funding at the last minute keeping you from completing the fieldwork requirement last summer. Ugh, the jerk is insufferable... and you just know that if he could see you for who you are you'd be so good together. Well, you're no quitter.