“I get it, Shep. Really.” She reaches forward and I let her take my hand. Titus takes that as a sign that he should come over and lick both our knuckles. Claudia smiles and scratches his head. “Thank you for the kisses, T,” she coos. Then she sighs and looks back up at me. “They are just protective of you and my showing up here and staying with you this way looks shady as fuck.”
“It's not that. They think...everything that happened with my mom and my grandfather made me the way I am.”
“So what’s the truth? You tell me. What made you the way you are?”
“I don’t know if you’re born an introvert or not, but I’m an introvert and so was my grandfather. My grandma and Sarah brought us out of our shells.”
“And they think a love lost made you both crazy hermits instead of just sending you back to your introverted ways.”
“Pretty much. I know my grandfather could have tried to remarry, but he didn’t. He focused on me and I won’t lie and say I’m not grateful for that.”
“You’re grandfather sounds like he was a pretty great man. His name was Egil?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a bad ass fucking name.”
“He was pretty bad ass. He was a park ranger and being up here alone suited him just fine. People thought he was all mad and broken, but—”
“He was just minding his own business.”
“Yes.”
She nods and rubs her fingertips over my knuckles. I look at her dark nail polish. “That’s the nice thing about living in the city. Millions of people minding their own damn business. It’s lovely. So where does the other stuff come from? The kinky stuff.”
I sigh and just give her the dull truth. “The internet. Then college. Then people I met when I would go to the city for the weekends. Same way anyone figures out what they’re into.”
“Damn.”
“What?”
“I was hoping for something way crazier.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Ask me some more questions from your list?”
I look at her for a moment. She’s serious. I sit back and I pull out my phone. “What was your favorite movie growing up? What was your least favorite movie? Do you have any pets?”
“No pets. We had a dog named Coco when I was like six, but after she died my dad cried for like two weeks. My mom said no more pets. Favorite movie? I don’t know. Too many to name.” She cocks her head to the side and makes a clicking noise with her tongue. “Have you seenWeekend At Bernie’s?”
That makes me laugh. “Yes. It was one of the classics we checked out from the library.”
“Miles loved that stupid movie and Ihatedit. The man is decomposing. By the beach! He would have smelled so bad. Ugh. So gross.”
I laugh and turn her hand over in my mine. “It was a pretty stupid movie.”
“I don't think you're screwed up, Shep. Sarah sounds like a dick and if I’d known she was my day nurse I wouldn’t have brought her flowers, but it sounds like she just didn’t get you. Breakups are hard, but you obviously loved her and trusted her. She shouldn’t have told people about your sex life. Especially in a town this small. Did she really think she was in danger with you?”
“I don’t know. She wasn’t.”
“I don’t think she was either. You’re rough and cranky as fuck, you do snore, but you’re a sweet, gentle man, Shep.”
“I never hurt her. I think she was pissed at me for not being exactly what she wanted. She was pissed that I wasn’t the full package. She texted me after she left town and told me she was still in love with me. She said that she would come back if I would just change.”
“That’s kind of shitty.”
“It was. But it doesn’t matter now. And Jad needs to get the fuck over it. You hungry?” She nods. “Are you above burgers?”
