He stands next to me with his hands in his pockets, looking out at the street while I try to process everything. The art. The night. The way it all settled into me.
I turn to him. “That was amazing. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome,” he says with a smile, not asking for anything else. “You hungry?”
“Starving,” I tell him, laughing.
“I don’t know how you worked up an appetite, but it seems like you did.”
“It was a lot to take in. Beautiful.”
He looks at me and nods, and something about his expression makes me think he isn’t only talking about the art.
We walk to his car, and I take his hand again before I can talk myself out of it. He takes it without making a thing of it, but this time, he gives my fingers a gentle squeeze.
I smile to myself.
This feels easier than I expected. Better than I planned to let it feel.
In the car, I turn to him. “What piece was your favorite?”
He glances at me and laughs. “I wasn’t looking at the art.”
Heat rises into my cheeks, and I look toward the window because there is no reason for him to be looking that good while saying things like that.
“What was your favorite?” he asks.
I let out a breath. “You can’t have a favorite in an exhibit like that. It was all perfect.”
“Why?”
I look over at him, and he’s actually waiting for the answer. Not just being polite. Not trying to move the conversation along. Waiting.
“Because every piece said something new. They all spoke to me in their own way, and I needed all of it.” I shake my head a little. “I can’t explain it better than that. I just needed it.”
He nods slowly. “That’s why you were so quiet in there.”
“Yeah.”
“You were taking it in.”
My chest warms.
He gets it.
There’s a quiet stretch after that, but it doesn’t feel awkward. I watch the city move past the window, still thinking about the paintings, still feeling his hand close to mine on the console.
About ten minutes later, he pulls into the parking lot at Mama’s Kitchen.
I sit up a little. “This is where we’re eating?”
He turns off the car. “You ever been?”
“No, but I heard it’s the best in town.”
“That’s what I heard too.”
Part of me expected somewhere expensive. Somewhere impressive in the obvious way. Instead, he brought me somewhere that feels like a real answer to who I am and what I like.
