“With your bitter personality, I decided you needed something a little sweeter.”
It was impossible not to surrender to his humor and enjoy a good laugh. Ty must’ve noticed because he said, “I seem to have a talent for making you smile.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I’d say I prefer it to your serious expression, but not sure it’d be true. They both are pretty damn sexy.”
“Are you going to sit here flirting or let me enjoy my sausage?”
“Since I made it, it’s reallymysausage. So by all means, I would love for you to devour my sausage.”
“I’m not giving you that one,” I said, keeping a straight face.
“Come on. You liked it a little bit.”
“It was too easy.”
“But still funny. I can see the corners of your lips shifting.”
“No, they’re not.” I was far better at controlling my body than that.
“I don’t know…seems like they’re fighting you pretty hard.”
If I’d wanted to win this competition, I would have because I could control my expressions nearly effortlessly, but in that instance, I was eager to lose to him and offered up that smile.
“There it is,” he said victoriously, and it warmed my heart to hear the excitement and pleasure in his tone.
I grabbed one of the links off the plate and popped the end into my mouth, taking a bite.
“Mmm…yeah, take my sausage, Liam,” he joked, and my grin expanded as I enjoyed the taste and the satisfaction of getting a bit of food in my stomach. “So you and Eric will meet up later and just shoot some hoops, catch up? That’s cool. What are you planning to do after that?”
“We’ll probably have dinner, and then I’ll go back to the hotel. Head to the airport in the morning. Probably spend a little time in the Sky Lounge before my flight back home.”
“Such a short trip,” he said like that was the most disappointing news I could have shared with him.
It was unreasonable how torn up that sound made me feel.
He picked at his scrambled eggs on his plate. “Did you need a ride to the airport?”
“I’ll take MARTA.”
He was quiet for another moment. “You know, maybe in a week or two I could come up to Chicago. I haven’t spent a lot of time there.”
“It’s chilly right now.”
“I guess I’ll have to find a way to stay warm.” Even as he said the joke, I could still hear his disappointment from when he’d referred to my short stay.
Of course, what kind of trip was I supposed to make to Atlanta? What reason would I have to be there other than to see Eric?
“I’ll let you know the date,” Ty said. “And you can show me around the town. I’d love to see Boystown, now that I’m all out and about. You could show me some of the local bars. Tell me which apps I need to get on to hook up with guys.”
The faintest bit of jealousy rose within me, but I immediately smashed it back down, reminding myself there was no reason for me to be jealous of Eric’s kid messing around with other men. That was his business, same as me going off and hooking up with guys was my business.
“I’d be down for seeing a band play, or we could go indoor rock climbing at a gym, if you know of one. We could see a movie…”
“This is the part where I’m supposed to interrupt you because you’ll just keep on talking if I don’t?”
“See, you’re getting the hang of it.”
“Well, maybe I’m enjoying you talking,” I confessed.
“Then I’ll keep on. I’m good at it, after all.” He couldn’t have made that sound any sexier if he’d tried, and my gaze fixed on his lips, still wet with some of his mimosa, as he went on about what he’d be curious about seeing in Boystown.
We ate our breakfast together, Ty eagerly and most effortlessly transitioning between various subjects, each one capturing my interest as much as the last, because I wanted to know so much more about Ty.
I wanted to know everything, and as much as I wouldn’t have admitted it at the time, I was glad to know Pretty Thing was already making plans to see me again.
