“I’ve sent it as well as everything I owed you.” He sets his phone down and I feel mine vibrate seconds later.
“You really didn’t need to do that, but thanks.”
“I wanted to, and why not?” He takes a swig of his beer, staring intently at me.
“I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but it’s not like I’ll wear this dress again.”
“You could for me.” He smirks.
“And then what would we do?” I lean forward, moving away from his touch. It’s making me dizzy, or that could be the beer with how little I’ve eaten today.
“Stuff,” he replies.
I grin. “You have no idea, do you?”
He chuckles. “Not a clue. Can you tell?”
“It’s okay. I don’t either. I’m not a dater, so I wouldn’t know.” It’s the truth. While I’ve messed around, I’ve never had a boyfriend. There was that one time in high school, but it wasn’t long enough to be considered serious. “I promise, I’m not judging.”
Sylas leans forward, resting his elbow on the table. It grazes mine, and I’m tempted to move because my brain feels foggy from his touch, but I remain in place.
“Really?” He sounds invested in that tidbit. “You don’t do boyfriends?”
I scrunch my nose and shake my head. “No. Mainly because I came here on scholarship, so my goal was to get good grades, get into law school, and get out. I also wanted the full college experience, and having a boyfriend would prevent that.”
I’m not embarrassed to admit that. I like having sex and I know Sylas does too.
There’s no judgment, but interest piques his face. “The goalwas?” I take a large swig of my beer and then another. “Did I hit a nerve? That wasn’t my intention.”
“It’s nothing.”
“We have all night.” He flashes me a small smile, and my stare lingers on his cheeks, hoping his dimples will reappear. “And it’ll be a bit until they bring out the food. I also asked them to keep the drinks coming. Come on, share, then I’ll share something with you.”
I perk up. “You’re going to share something with me?”
“That’s what friends do, don’t they?” His leg brushes up against mine, and again my brain sends a signal to my lower half to move. I don’t.
“It’s nothing interesting. It’s actually really stupid.” I spin my bottle on the tabletop, scowling a little at the reminder.
“I’m all ears. You have me all night, for as long as you want.”
I’ve never smiled this big.What is he doing to me?
I sit back, finally adding space between us. “Don’t feel bad for me, okay?”
He raises his right hand. “No pity. Got it.”
Huffing a breath, I rehash my family drama. “My parents have always wanted me to be a lawyer, and for a while I wanted that too. But I’ve also always liked cooking and baking, but I never really thought anything of it. Mainly because my parents said it was a stupid dream. That it would lead to an ‘unreliable job.’” I hold my hands up to make air quotes, using the break to consider my next words. “I listened because they immigrated to this country for a better life and wanted my sister and me to have that, too. Who was I to argue with that? But…I don’t know…somewhere along the way, I found a bigger love for food and started coming up with my own recipes. Anyway, after a lot of back-and-forth, I decided to scratch becoming a lawyer and attempt culinary school. I spoke to my parents, hoping they’d hear me out, but they didn’t. They said they weren’t going to watch me throw my life away. So, I had to pick between law or culinary. I picked the latter and now they’ve cut me off.”
I take a pull of my beer, relishing the bitter tang over the taste of the words that left my mouth.
A muscle on his jaw works, but he says nothing.
“Hey.” I wave my hand in front of his face. “No feeling bad for me. I knew what would happen. It is what it is.”
My stomach sinks at the thought that this will be my first Christmas without them. I could still go see my other familymembers, but it’d be weird, and I don’t want to ruin the holidays for everyone else.
Sylas looks like he wants to speak, but he just blinks and offers me a lopsided grin. A worker comes by and sets a large pitcher on the table with two cups.
