His head turned toward me in surprise. “Really?”
My brows raised in question at his interest. “Yeah.”
“Me, Ryan, and Mike started a marketing company.”
This time, my head turned to him in surprise. “You did?”
“Yeah.”
“In your garage?”
“Yeah. It’s probably not going to work out. I don’t have the greatest track record for new business ideas. How long are you going to be at your grandma’s?”
I wasn’t sure how much to say. Telling someone about a terminal illness seemed like a mood killer on a date.
“I’m not sure. She’s got dementia and is starting to slip more and more and doesn’t really have anybody else to help her.” I was going to stop there, but for some reason, the mood hadn’t been killed, and he waited patiently for me to finish my explanation. “I’ll be there as long as I need to be. Could be six months or five years.”
“Could your parents go instead?”
I shook my head. “My mom still has my little sister at home, but this is my dad’s mom. My parents divorced when I was a baby, so…” I trailed off.
He nodded thoughtfully. “Are you and your grandma close?”
“Sometimes.” Memories of her visiting at brief intervals throughout my life had always been pleasant. A nice diversion.
“So this is probably the only date I’ll get with you. Is that what you’re saying?”
“I guess so,” I said, trying to keep things light even as the tiniest hint of disappointment laced my body at his words.
There was a pause in the conversation, and when I finally looked up, he had his arms folded and a glint in his eyes. “The way I see it, Jason would have probably taken you to dinner after the game, so that would have been, what…another seven hours?”
I smiled, feeling my stomach tingle but shaking my head. “I would have turned down Dinner Jason.”
“What about Bucket List Duke?”
“What?”
“All your talk about bucket lists got me thinking,” he said. “What’s on your list? Besides making out with a stranger on the kiss cam.”
“Don’t pull me into your dreams, buddy.” I broke off another piece of cookie and popped it in my mouth.
One side of his lips curved into a grin even as he shook his head, probably graciously resisting the urge to respond to the opening I left wide open for him. Which was impressive.
I didn’t have a list. Of course I had places I’d love to go, but on what planet would that happen? Currently, North Dakota was as exciting as it was going to get, and I was secretly ecstatic about the change of scenery. But one look at Duke and I knew that the answer of Fargo would not satisfy.
“If I were to have a list, most things would be like…getting my picture taken in a red phone booth and seeing the Eiffel Tower. You know, really original stuff like that.”
His eyebrows raised. “You saidmostthings?” There was a challenge in his statement, bubbling just below the surface.
And not for the first time all night, I wondered again how I had gotten here. After MUCH protesting to Mira, I had penciled the Jazz game—I mean, Jason—into my schedule for a generous four hours. Neat and tidy. I had pushed back studying for my make-up test to accommodate and to get Mira off my back. Fun was a luxury I rarely could afford.
He tilted his head back and considered me. “I’m thinking…what if we use tonight to check a few things off the bucket list?”
When he saw I was about to protest, he held up his hand. “You’re moving in…how many days?”
“Three,” I said, feeling my body begin to stiffen.
“One night to write home about? To send you off in style.”
