“What does it bring up?”
He’s quiet, like he’s not sure he should say anything. “My dad cheated on my mom when we were younger,” he blurts out. “Didn’t just cheat. He left her for another woman. And we were on our own for six months before he came crawling back, and Mom, even after what he did to her… what he did to us… took him back. I can’t say I remember my parents ever being really in love, but after that, it was even worse. The coldness. The clear disdain for each other. It’s like they’d both given up on everything and were clinging to each other because that was all they had. And so we grew up around the nagging and the bickering, and I know a lot of people have it worse than that. Dad wasn’t violent. Didn’t ever raise a hand. His crime was in the total disregard and passive aggressive rage he had toward my mother. And hers was doing the same and having us live in a house of contempt until we were old enough to get out.”
“That sounds miserable.”
“Kate doesn’t need to be around that, especially right now. And that’s not the place for a kid to be, either.”
He takes another gulp from his drink before setting it back on the bar.
“But it won’t be for long, right?”
“That’s what I keep telling myself. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that’s really the case. Kate’s not the kind to ask for money, but I was thinking, if she can find a place, I’m willing to pitch in whatever I need to get her in there. Rental or whatever. I don’t care. Not in my parents’ house is all.”
“Well, now I feel like my issues with my dad are kind of trivial compared to all that.”
“No, sorry. That wasn’t my intention.”
“I know it wasn’t, but I mean, my dad gets on my nerves and is always trying to get into my business, and it’s frustrating. He and my siblings have always given me a hard time. I’m kind of the runt of the family.”
“What do you mean?”
“Youngest. And they were always the star students. AP everything in school. Amazing at standardized tests. Sister and one of my brothers went into finance and my oldest brother went into real estate. They’re all making six-figure salaries these days. And meanwhile, I’m making a low five.”
“But you’re doing something you love. Isn’t that what matters?”
“You tell me, Mr. Engineer. Must help when what you love happens to be incredibly lucrative.”
He smirks.
I’m not sure if it’s because the drinking we did back at the apartment is hitting me or if it’s because he’s that hot, but I’m getting hard again.
Dammit, Mikey, how do you do this to me?
“I’ve had a lot of lucky breaks that got me where I am,” he says.
“I don’t imagine luck has much to do with it. From what Jordan’s told me, you’re kind of a genius. Although, the leather jacket and ripped jeans kind of downplay that, don’t they? Not to mention mooching off your brother’s place when you could just as easily get a hotel.”
“Eh. Just didn’t want to book a hotel room. I would have rather bummed at my bro’s place, you know? Meet his super-cool and friendly roommate.”
He winks. I can tell he’s making light of our less-than-friendly introduction, which I appreciate since I still feel like an asshole for how I reacted to him initially.
“But no, I was being serious about being lucky. I was a geeky science kid. I got into robotics in my Tech Ed class in middle school. Learned how to make one. And honestly, all the work distracted me from what was going on at home. And because Mom and Dad were impressed, they sort of left me alone, which was nice. I got some attention at a couple of robotics competitions in high school, and that led to an acceptance at Georgia Tech with a professor who wanted to mentor me. Worked my way through college doing gigs with a construction company while I got my bachelor’s. And my professor and I were so active in robotic engineering that I got a lot of attention. So there wasn’t really much of a job hunt after school. Got set up with a pretty sweet, stable job with a company I love.”
“What exactly is your job there?”
“My company basically designs equipment for major corporations, so let’s say… Coca Cola needed a new machine to produce coke bottles. I’d be looking at the designs, making sure they’re reasonable and within budget. Of course, obviously we’re not talking about Coca Cola here, because if we were, I’d be making a shit ton more money.”
“Sounds like you’re kind of a genius, though, to do that. So you’ve got it all? The brains? The body? The life?”
“The body?”
I blush, but I feel confident that the bar is dimly lit enough that he can’t tell.
“Whatever. You obviously spend a lot of time at the gym is all I’m saying. Obviously you don’t have any issue getting laid.”
“Do you?”
“Shut up. I have plenty of issues getting laid. You don’t even want to go there.”
