“We didn’t hear about that back here.”
“Shocking.”
“And I’m sorry he did that to you.”
Her apology makes me tense in a way that her questions didn’t. “Wasn’t your fault.”
“We used to excuse his behavior as part of hisbig personality. We shouldn’t have done that.”
“Did you learn something from it?”
She grimaces. “Just a little bit.”
“Good. Remember it.”
She sips the coffee again, a small smile coming to her lips as she licks the foam away again. “This is good. You should consider running a café.”
“I make an even better kombucha latte.”
Her entire expression twists in disgust and makes me laugh.
Laughing with her makes me want to kiss her again.
“I like you, and I don’t like people,” I hear myself say.
“I like you, and I don’t do relationships.”
“Why?”
“Because I come from a long line of women who didn’t sleep with the men everyone thought they did and it’s given me trust issues.”
My lips part. “You don’t trust your mom?”
“My grandmother was an amazing woman. My mom is an amazing woman. I trust them implicitly. But both got completely and totally screwed by the men who got them pregnant. I don’t trustmento do the right thing.”
Of all the things I expected her to say, this was not it.
“My grandfather isn’t my grandfather.” She’s watching me while she talks, like she’ll find out more about herself based on however I react. “Not biologically. I’m not actually a Sullivan. I’m not supposed to know that—very, very few people know it, actually—but I do, and it’s one of the reasons I will adore my grandfather until the end of time. He stepped up and married my grandma and took care of her and raised my mom as his own, making both of their lives more comfortable than they would’ve been otherwise, even if it wasn’t a grand love story. More like a mutual respect story. Everyone thinks my big genetic secret is who my father is. Not who my grandfather is.”
“Do you know your father?”
“I know who he is. That’s more than enough.”
“So…you’re not telling me we’re secretly related?”
Her eyes flare wide, and then she tips her head back and laughs. “If you’re this funny come next Monday, I might actually agree to go on a date with you.”
“If I’m this funny next Monday, I might have better options.”
She snorts so hard she has to wipe her nose. “Oh god. Tell me you didn’t see that.”
“You’re human. Horrors. Good thing I’ll have better options on Monday.”
Her peal of laughter lights up my entire soul.
I don’t justwantto kiss her.
Ihaveto kiss her.
