Ash didn't like dating for more than just the pretending. He didn't like it because it was a lot of formality wrapped into an evening. He'd had the girls try to play the game with him. Not responding to an owl for a while because they didn't want to appear too eager. Granted he tended to exploit such behavior to his advantage, but still, it was tiresome. There were ways to be coy or tempting without coming off childish. Very few girls learned that art so well. Very few kept him so actively interested.
It was surprising that Lyra was one of them, though it was a question of whether or not she realized it. She kept her distance but enough that she wasn't outright insulting him. That meant interest on her part. Even then, a few well-placed and judgmental barbs often implied that a girl was attracted, but she was angry at herself for being so, and angry at the boy for being attractive in the first place. And then there were girls like Belle who were just fucking crazy.
"You don't?" Ash said, fixing his gaze on her and then said, "I'll answer your question, but you need to answer mine first. You already evaded one, which is fine, but this one isn't as intrusive, Lyra." He'd propped himself up to keep his eyes upon her, curious to hear how she actually felt about it. She'd dodged the question somewhat by commenting that she didn't think it should matter to her, but it wasn't really a response. All girls had opinions.