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“What are you thinking so hard about over there?” he asks, pulling me out of my thoughts and I blink at him before leaning my head back against the seat and flashing him a smile.
“Just trying to figure out where we are going.”
He laughs. “You’re not good with surprises, are you?”
“I guess not,” I answer and his brows knit together as his gaze flicks between me and the road repeatedly.
“What do you mean, you guess not?”
I shrug. “I’ve never really had anyone do something like this for me.”
“Come on, you’ve had boyfriends before,” he replies. I arch a brow at the word boyfriend and he releases a nervous chuckle. “Not that we… I mean, I’m not…”
I scoff. “Don’t worry, Travis. I know what this is and even though I’ve had boyfriends before, none of them ever did anything like this. I’ve never even really been on a proper first date.”
“What’s a proper first date?” he asks and I have to laugh at how clueless and inexperienced we both are when it comes to relationships.
“You know, like when you meet someone and you like them so you ask them out. For me, it’s always just been I start hanging out with someone and we like each other so we become a couple before we ever even have a date.”
He shakes his head. “That’s a fucking shame. A gorgeous girl like you deserves shit like this.”
“Oh, how romantic.” I laugh, crinkling my nose at his statement as butterflies flutter around in my belly. When I’m with him, the rest of the damn world just fades away and here in this car, on our way to a date, nothing else exists but I wish I knew more about him. There is this glaring contradiction when I look into his eyes and I can tell he’s experienced real pain in his life. I want to hear about it and if possible, ease just a little bit of his suffering. Leaning on the arm rest between us, I flash him a smile. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because,” I say, batting my lashes at him as he fights back a grin. “I asked you very, very nicely.”
He arches a brow. “Did you? It sounded more like a demand to me.”
“Will you, Travis Broussard, pretty please tell me something about yourself?” I ask, laying it on thick as I stare up at him and wait for his answer. He laughs, shaking his head.
“Jesus… like I could say no to you. What do you want to know?”
For fucks sake.
I wanna know everything but I need to ease him into this or he will shut down on me in a second. I run through a list of questions in my mind before landing on one and peeking up at him. This is the most softball question I’ve ever fucking heard in my life so there is no way he won’t answer it.
“Are you from Baton Rouge?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“Where are you from?” I ask and he scowls as we pull to a stop at a light, searching my face. Jeez, I thought it was a softball question but I guess not. Or maybe he’s locked down so tightly that he finds any question at all probing.
“I thought it was just one question.”
I shrug. “I never said that. Come on, Travis. It’s an easy question.”
“Fine,” he sighs, his gaze locked on mine for a moment before he shakes his head and blows out a breath. “I’m from Texas.”
“What brought you here?”
He fidgets in his seat as he turns to look up at the stoplight. “My mom was from this area.”
“Was?” I ask, my heart sinking for him. Pain splashes across his face and he scrubs one hand down his thigh while the other grips mine tighter and he nods.
“She died.”
Looking up at the clear agony on his handsome face, my heart breaks for him but I don’t say the obligatory “I’m sorry” because it was one of the things I hated the most when my mom died. Instead, I raise his hand to my lips and press a kiss to it in a silent show of support. Something that tells him I know I can’t make it any better but I’m here for him and the look he shoots me almost makes me melt in my seat. It’s full of appreciation, relief, and something else I can’t quite name but it makes me feel all kind of gooey inside as I give him a soft smile.
“Thank you, Rowan,” he whispers, his voice cracking in a rare show of emotion and I nod because I know that more than anything, he just needs me to be here for him right now and that’s what I’m going to do for as long as he lets me.
