“Marie and Walter are great people.”
“Yeah. Between you and me, I think I fell in love with Jason’s parents before him. Some days, I swear I love his mother more than I love him,” she joked. “But that’s only when he drinks.”
I didn’t comment on her statement because anything I said would’ve been negative. I had no positive thoughts about her future husband, so I bit my tongue to avoid making her feel bad.
“How long have you two been together?”
“A year and a half.”
I blew out a heavy breath. “That’s a quick turnaround.”
“Yeah. I understand people thinking that, but honestly, life is short. I don’t want to spend however much time I have left waiting for things to happen. I want to embrace every single second.”
I placed my hands against my chest and laughed. “As someone who is invested heavily in the stock market for the long-term, the idea of a quick turnaround is terrifying to me.”
“I guess that’s something different about us, Cap. You’re living for tomorrow while I’m living for today.”
“I hope today’s good for you, Red.”
She smiled. “I hope tomorrow’s even better for you.” She looked down at the statement gold band watch and groaned. “Speaking of living for today, I should probably get back inside.”
She was frowning, and that made me sad for her. “You don’t want to interact with those people down there, do you?”
“How did you know?”
“Don’t forget, you weren’t the only one who knew how to read people. Rich people can be a lot sometimes, especially some of the ones in there. Rude, invasive—”
“Total dicks,” she added in.
I laughed. “Exactly.”
“Between you and me, I really don’t want to go back in there. It feels like I’m being tossed into the shark tank and I don’t know how to swim. They are just so…so…ugh! Mean. For no reason.”
“Oh, there’s definitely a reason.”
“And what’s that?”
“You intimidate them.”
She laughed. “What? No way. What’s there to be intimidated by? I’m nothing special. Those people in there have it all.”
“It’s all fake in there. Between you and me, a majority of those individuals likely hate their lives, hate their spouses, or hate themselves. It’s probably driving them crazy to see someone like you coming in and showing them something they haven’t experienced in a long time.”
“And what exactly am I showing them?”
“Your authentic self. They are envious of how real you are, so don’t let them get in your head too much.”
She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “I just wish I had more time to breathe out here to build up the courage not to let them get to me.”
“Take more time to breathe up here. I’ll cover for you if anyone asks where you are.”
“You’ll do that for me?”
“Of course. Without question. I’ll say you were talking to some big, impressive person.”
She reached forward, took my hand in hers, and squeezed it. “Thank you, Connor.” She paused. “Connor…I really like your name.”
I smirked. “I think I love yours more.”
She didn’t pull her hand back right away, and I wondered if she felt it, too—the heat that began to race throughout my veins. When she did let go, the chills returned to me.
I gave her a half-smile then nodded in her direction before turning to walk away.
“Connor! Wait!” she called out. I looked back to see her hurrying in my direction. She slid out of my jacket and held it out toward me. “Thank you for keeping me warm.”
10
Connor
“Have you seen Aaliyah?” Jason asked, walking over and patting me on the back.
It was clear that since the last time I saw him, he’d had a few more drinks. If there was anything you could count on with Jason, it was taking everything a step too far.
“Did you see her?” he slurred. He was drunk. When Jason was drunk, he repeated himself and frequently brushed his finger against the side of his nose. I hated that I was learning his small habits because whenever he did them, they irked me.
“I haven’t,” I replied, lying on Aaliyah’s behalf. Jason grimaced, and I couldn’t help but notice. “What is it?”
“Nothing. I was talking to Trevor Jacobs and he mentioned how crazy it is that I’m getting married, which got me thinking…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Aaliyah is pretty young.”
“She’s mature, though.” Everyone Jason had dated was younger than him. He had that way about him. I had food older than some of his exes in my pantry. If anything, Aaliyah seemed too old for him, because she was around our age. He wasn’t really robbing the cradle with Aaliyah.
“Do you think she’s too young, though?”
“No, I don’t. Even if she were, it’s a bit late to be asking that, don’t you think?”
He grimaced.
“You’re thinking too much, Jason. You’re drunk. Stop thinking so much.”
“Yeah…it will be fine.” He nodded somberly to himself. “Have you seen Aaliyah lately? She’s so damn unsocial.” He asked me about her location as if he had already forgotten he’d asked me that question twice.