At that point, my phone buzzed. I took a seat and pulled the phone out.
“Sorry, I have to get this,” I said.
I couldn’t help the relief I felt when I saw the message was from Elite, canceling my meeting and offering me another date with many apologies.
“Your dads checking in on you?” Troy asked.
“Um…yes,” I lied. “They’re…you know how they are. They think someone’s going to kidnap and torture me or something.”
Troy laughed. “Well, youarea prince, and your parents are known to be a little overprotective.”
“Shhh…don’t say it out loud. I’m not really…that. I’m just their adopted son.”
I blew on my steaming tea before taking a sip.
“Alexi, I hope you’re joking. You know Charlie and Kris love you.”
“I know. I love them too. They’re my dads, and I am very lucky they found me. But it’s hard to see myself as royalty, you know? I still remember the foster homes I lived in, keeping food from breakfast to have for lunch at school because my foster parents didn’t pay for my school meals…”
“It’s like you’re two different people who’s lived two different lives,” he said.
I let out a breath. How did he know?
Because he’s Troy.He was the guy who everyone saw as the computer whiz kid, but in reality, he was so much more. He’d helped me navigate meeting my new extended family. He helped me escape and talked to me like we were equals.
Was it possible to fall in love at fifteen all those years ago? One hundred percent yes.
Was it possible to be so inexperienced and out of your depth that you had to resort to methods like hiring a secret matchmaking company to help? Also, yes. Although I’d beentold by my roommate, whose cousin’s girlfriend’s best friend had used the company, that Elite was like a concierge service for the wealthy. They could get me tickets to Taylor Swift, a date to a charity ball, or, in my case, a tutor to help me…with my dating needs.
“How are you settling in?” Troy asked, and I was thankful he didn’t press the other subject.
“It’s fine. I like my roommate, and I love the classes.”
“Have you made friends?”
I straightened a little in my chair. “Yes, loads of friends. I may have been sheltered over the last few years, but I’m not a total hermit.” Which was a complete lie because apart from my roommate and a few class friends, I hadn’t made a connection with anyone.
Most of the time, I was afraid someone would recognize me, so I made myself invisible. If they didn’t see me, I wasn’t there.
“That’s great. College can be hard to get used to, especially when you come from another country.”
“And how about you? Looking forward to graduating this summer?”
“Absolutely. I’m so done with all the assignments.”
I smiled. “I bet you want to get out there and do some real work. Build some kickass programs and rule the tech world.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
His eyes met mine, taking me back to the long night we’d spent talking at his brother’s wedding. He’d told me all about his dreams for after college, and I’d hung on every word, lost in his blue eyes that came to life whenever he spoke about something he loved.
Of course, that was before we grew apart. And that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
He finished his coffee and put down the cup. I wanted to say something to make him stay, but I didn’t know what.
I couldn’t pinpoint when our time together went from exciting, interesting, and like there wasn’t enough of it to these forced conversations like we were mere acquaintances.
He’d grown up. That’s what it was. He didn’t have time to babysit the kid his brother-in-law’s friends adopted practically from the streets of Lydovia.
