“Is that so? Because that has not been my experience.”
She laughed reluctantly. “No. Mine neither.”
“So?”
“No Tinder date.”
“Good.”
Good?
“Then what?”
She pressed her lips together, and this time it was she who remained silent.
“Anna?”
Oh, what a fucking chatterbox he was! “You know what’s absolutely ridiculous?” she asked loudly. “The thing I find most attractive about you is your voice. It’s always so calm. And you hardly use it. But whenever we’ve met up, I’ve always hoped you’d burst into a sudden monologue just so I could listen. Your speech in your living room was a dream! But, right now, I’m just hoping you’ll get a case of bronchitis so you’ll have to leave me alone.”
She could have sworn that she saw him smile out of the corner of her eye.
Finally, Lucas murmured, “I like that you talk so much because then I don’t have to. Now look at what I have to deal with: a blabbermouth who refuses to talk.”
“I’m not a blabbermouth.”
“That’s right. You’re a motormouth. The motor can’t keep up with all your talk.”
She bit her lip to keep from grinning, but decided not to say anything else—to challenge his motormouth theory.
For a few endless seconds, nothing but relaxed silence filled the interior of her rental car, and Anna was almost no longer surprised that it was Lucas who, uncharacteristically, broke it again.
“Why are calm voices attractive?”
“Not all of them. Yours is,” she murmured absently, stopping at a traffic light. Every time he spoke, she felt as if he were cupping his hands around her face and keeping her from running into a wall. She never flinched when he suddenly started talking because his tone was always gentle, even when he was angry. “I guess I don’t like it when people shout. But you never use your voice as a weapon. Although it would be excellent for that. You always come into an argument…completely unarmed. Not with the intention of hurting or shocking.”
“I may not intend to, but I still hurt people. And I’m not always calm. I yelled at you.”
“No. You were loud. But believe me, you weren’t screaming. I know when someone’s screaming.”
“That’s to be expected from Dax’s sister.”
She laughed again. “He’s not the worst.”
“Who is the worst?”
Hesitantly, she rubbed the soft leather of the steering wheel. Hadn’t she wanted to be more honest? And who could she be more honest with than her only secret? If her current objective wasn’t taken into consideration.
“My parents were the worst. I can’t even remember what my father’s voice sounded like at a normal volume. He was always angry. Angry at my mother, angry at Jack, angry at Dax.”
“Angry at you?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. If so, Jack and Dax protected me from him before I even found out. You know, when people reach a certain volume, where it’s just a roar and you can’t make out a single word through the wall. You merely hear this constant noise that vibrates in your ears long after they’ve stopped arguing. And no MP3 player in the world, no matter how selflessly Dax gave me his, could drown it out.” She sighed heavily. “Sometimes I wonder if they were doing me a favor by trying to protect me from any confrontation. If I knew better what a dysfunctional relationship looked like, maybe I wouldn’t be so afraid of ending up in one. And not realizing it until it’s too late.” She tapped the steering wheel uneasily, her chest tightening. “I mean, my parents must have thought their marriage was working, or else why would they have stayed together until the end? Even though they were both miserable, as were their children.” She cleared her throat, glad she had a reason not to look at Lucas. She felt his intense gaze on her face, and didn’t want to know if it reflected pity. “Well, to sum it up: I like your voice.”
“Hm,” Lucas uttered before murmuring after a while, “I don’t know if Tinder is the right choice if you’re looking for a functional relationship. The app isn’t exactly for finding love.”
“That’s not true. I know hundreds of couples who met on Tinder. And I don’t need true love. Someone who doesn’t make me panic would be enough.”
“Anna, you wouldn’t use Tinder to find love, but as a welcome distraction.”
