“You want to take me shopping?”
“I want to take you to have some fun. There’s a mall near the city. It’s a couple of hours. What do you say?” he asked. “We’re not on my bike either, so it’s all comfort.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll be happy with that,” she said.
He opened up the trunk of the car, and she placed the books in carefully, and then climbed into the passenger side.
Once he was seated in the driver’s seat, he started the car and pulled away. Opening the window, she basked in the feel of the fresh air on her face. It was nice to get out into the sunshine.
“Those pancakes this morning were so good,” he said.
“I’m pleased you enjoyed them. They’re what I make whenever Teri is feeling poorly, and as you saw this morning, she looked like death warmed up.”
“She does not handle her liquor well.”
“All that partying will catch up to her, but I’m not going to judge. We like to live our lives differently.”
“Yeah, have you had anyone in your life then? Someone that we can expect to come back and claim you?” Leo asked.
Skylar laughed. “No, of course not. There’s no one waiting for me either. I’m all good and alone.” She ran her hands down her thighs. “I mean, I’ve had boyfriends before, so don’t think I’ve not.”
Leo looked over at her.
“What about you? Any girls?” she asked.
“Nope. No one. I am a free agent. Neither has Paul, just so you know. What happened to your last relationship?”
“You’re a little nosy.”
“I’m curious, not nosy. Besides, friends should know these kinds of things about each other.”
“That’s what we are? Friends?”
“Don’t you want to be my friend?”
He pouted, and she felt guilty. “Of course I do. I’m sorry. I’m just not used to this kind of talk.”
“What talk?”
“Friends.” It was mortifying actually. She had never had a friend before. Kind of silly really. “I’ve never had anyone to talk to. Teri has been my best friend.”
“She’s your sister.”
“I don’t make friends easily.” Understatement of the decade for her.
“Well, good for you, I happen to be awesome at making friends, and I can guide you into all the awesome things.”
“I bet you could.” She laughed.
Leo was a fun, loving, amazing guy. He was sweet, charming, and everything that she had hoped to be with one day. Of course that would never happen.
“So tell me about your previous guy. We’re friends here, remember. Don’t leave out the gory details.”
“I met someone. He wasn’t … very nice. It ended, and I came here.”
“That is so not giving the juicy details. Okay, I’ll tell you about mine. So one day, two women walk into a club. They live in town, and two men spot one woman, and she’s cute, nice even. One thing leads to another, and the two men share her. She tells them all night how she would love the opportunity to be loved by two men, and how much she could love two men. So these two men decide to give it a shot. At the end of the day, these two men are not getting any younger, and with old age being a factor, they figure it’s worth a shot.”
Skylar stared at Leo as he told his story.