Page 14 of When the Smoke Clears

Will’s eyes widened a fraction.

“She said she was thirteen when her obsession with painting the human body in its truest form became her whole life.” I shrugged. “I’m not embarrassed by it. She’s very talented. Anyway, it was a one-night stand. That’s it. Two parents on two different continents. No siblings. Neither one has ever married. They’re married to their jobs.”

Will gave my words time to settle. I liked his patience. He never cut me off, which meant he was a good listener. And I felt like he found my story fascinating in the best way.

“What about you?” I asked. “Do you have the all-American dream? Great parents? Siblings? A hundred cousins?”

He picked off a piece of his bread bowl and dipped it into the chowder. “I have a younger sister. My parents are happily married. Yes, I have a few cousins. So I suppose in comparison, my family is the all-American dream. Whatever that means anymore.”

“That’s nice.” I tried to smile past my jealousy. “I think at least one brother or sister would have been fun. Even just parents who tried to make a marriage work.”

“Well, maybe you’ll have what they didn’t.”

“Slow down, William. We just met.”

Will’s grin engulfed his face. “No marriage proposals tonight?”

As hard as I tried to act cool, I wasn’t. I giggled and fidgeted. Did I look like a seventeen-year-old virgin with a crush on a sexy firefighter? Probably.

“So, you and Tyler were childhood friends?” I asked as the server refilled our waters.

“Yes.” He rested the napkin on his leg. “His family moved from Kalispell to Oakland just before his sixteenth birthday. There were four of us who hung out. He broke the pack.”

“Like a pack of wolves?”

He chuckled. “Sort of. What about you? How did you go to school if you were living three months in the US and three in India?”

“Oh.” I cleared my throat, skimming my spoon along the surface of the hot chowder. “I had private tutors.”

“You were privately tutored for twelve years?”

It took me only six years. But that wasn’t important. Will didn’t need to do any math that night.

“It wasn’t so bad.” I blew on the spoonful of soup before taking a cautious sip.

“That must have been lonely.”

He had no idea. Starting college at twelve made it hard to find friends. Not that I had no friends. Most of them were adults.

“I made friends online,” I said, picking at the top of my bread bowl.

“Social media?” Will asked.

“Gaming.”

“You’re a gamer?” He perked up.

“Yeah, why?” I sipped my lemonade through the straw.

“I’m a gamer too.”

His confession shook my composure. I had a million questions, per usual. What did he like to play? What system did he have, and what were his favorite platforms? Did he enjoy single or multiplayer games?

“Would you like to play with me?” I asked.

After swallowing his soup, he licked his lips. “Are we still talking about gaming?”

“Of course, what else would we be talking about?” I bowed my head for the next slurp of soup. As soon as it touched my lips, I got the innuendo.