“Red, I think.” I nod. “I can’t say that I’m a connoisseur.”
“If you hate it, you can always try something else.” He reaches for a corkscrew and opens the wine.
Lawson pours a glass of wine for me and fixes a whiskey for himself. I wouldn’t mind a glass of whiskey, but I’d like to take it slow considering how early I am. Normally, when I visit someone’s place for the first time, I wander around and look at their pictures. Lawson’s walls are bare. He doesn’t even have any of the weird paintings that seem to be hanging in everyone’s house with no real explanation why.
“This is really good.” I nod, sipping my wine. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad you like it.” He walks into the living room and sits. “How did things go with your friend?”
“She was asleep—she went to fucking bed.” I roll my eyes as I sit. “What a bitch.”
“Damn. Some friend.” He shakes his head.
“I sure know how to pick them.” I sigh. “It was her idea in the first place, and she abandoned me.”
Lawson and I continue talking. It’s as easy to talk to him today as it was last night. I’ve needed this for so long. Actual conversation. A meaningful discussion with someone who seems to hang on every word—like he cares, like it matters to him.
How can someone I just met care this much when everyone else in my life doesn’t? I know my mom loves me and wants the best for me, but I’ve set that bridge on fire so many times she’s almost given up. I keep waiting for the day she finally does while doing nothing to try to rebuild the bridge. Maybe I keep hoping it’ll break, and I’ll find out what the bottom truly feels like.
“So what are you planning to do with the rest of your life?” Lawson reaches for his drink.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “Right now, I’m waiting tables. Some days I think I should try to get back in school, but I want to make sure I’m fully committed to it. I wasted enough of my mom’s money the first time.”
“What happened?” He takes a sip of his drink and puts it back down.
“I blew off a lot of my classes. I barely did my assignments. I never missed Dr. Grant’s class, though; I had a crush on him.” I look down and try to hide my grin.
“Did you get good grades in that class at least?” He raises an eyebrow.
“God, no. I did worse in that class than I did in some of the ones I skipped.” I shake my head.
“Okay, so school might be a challenge.” He nods. “Unless you just weren’t applying yourself.”
“Hard to say.” I sigh. “I don’t think I’ve ever really tried.”
“You should. I bet you’d be amazing at it if you did.” He takes a sip of his drink and smiles.
I wish I could see myself like that. He may be right, but I have no litmus test to know one way or the other. All I have are a string of failures and a bad track record.
Lawson and I continue talking until we finish our drinks. The wine isn’t hitting me like the whiskey did, but it’s a nice, soothing feeling. I was so amped up after I left the hotel, and so rattled from my trip to the skeevy motel that my shopping trip didn’t do anything to relax me. The wine is finally doing the trick.
“Here you go.” Lawson returns to the living room and hands me my glass of wine.
“Thank you.” Our fingers brush as I take the wine, and I feel a surge of electricity, just like I did last night.
If a single touch can do this, I want so much more…
Chapter Ten
Lawson
I wasn’t prepared for Ainsley to show up so early. I hoped to have dinner on the table and a couple of candles lit when she arrived. That was a nice plan but getting to spend the time with her is better than agonizing over making everything perfect. I don’t think it would have mattered much to her; she seems to enjoy being here.
It’s been so long since I’ve tried to be romantic that it’s amazing I was able to put together a plan in my head. I would have probably screwed up the execution, so maybe it’s better this way.
“Do you want to talk about last night?” I sit down beside Ainsley, a little closer than I did the first time. “We didn’t get to discuss it much this morning.”
“Well, you already know that I liked it…” She bites down on her bottom lip and grins.