“So what you’re saying is that you expected us to be douchebags.”
Kyla shrugs one shoulder. “Guys that are blessed in the looks department tend not to be blessed in the personality department. It’s like they never learn the skills of being a decent person because they’ve never had to try. Life comes too easy to the beautiful people.”
I snort, shaking my head. “I’ve never been called beautiful before.”
“Well, you should have been,” she says. “All of you guys are like straight tens.”
“If we’re tens, then you’re off the scale.”
“I’m just an ordinary girl.” Kyla pulls at the cuffs of her sweater as though the conversation is making her uncomfortable.
“There’s no such thing as ordinary, baby. We’re all unique. All exceptional. There’s not another person on this earth who’s like you. There’s not another person who’s like me. We’re all just here trying to find our place and make our contribution.”
In the distance, a bird calls and then sets into flight, its flapping wings disturbing the silence around us. Kyla chooses a mini sandwich and chews thoughtfully. “That’s such a beautiful way of looking at the world,” she says. “I don’t know if I’ve found my place or my contribution. Do you?”
“I don’t think we have one place or one contribution. Everyone we meet…every new situation gives us a chance to do more and be more. Like tonight for example. Being with you is giving me a chance to contribute a little to your life. After tonight, I’ll always be a part of your story. Like a link in a chain, everything that happens after today will be layered on top of what we experience together.”
“I’m happy you're going to be a link.” When Kyla smiles, it’s as though the sun has appeared from behind a cloud, casting a beam of warmth over and through me.
“I’m happy you’re going to be a link in my life too,” I say.
And I am. But it won’t be enough. I already know that before we’ve done anything all.
18
KYLA
Looks can be so deceiving. The man sitting in front of me could be a cover model for one of the romance novels I love reading so much or even a model for a designer clothing brand. With his honey-colored eyes and strong nose and jaw, he’s every woman’s dream, but you’d never know from talking to him that he has any idea how sexy he is.
Niall is deep and emotionally intelligent. He’s a man who’s made me rethink my own preconceptions and tendency to jump to conclusions about people before I’ve given them a chance to show who they are.
He might be sexy, but that doesn’t mean that his looks have any impact on his personality or the core of what makes him who he is.
He might look the same as his triplet brothers, but that doesn’t mean they’re all going to be alike. From what I can make out, they’re all different, with varied interests and characters.
The picnic Niall ordered for us is diverse and interesting. The falafels melt in my mouth and the salad is crunchy with a hint of mint. Every bite is delicious and shows me that he’s as adventurous about food as he is about locations for sex. The lake is spectacular, and not a place that I’ve ever even heard of before today. It’s romantic in a way that isn’t contrived or pretentious.
In just a little while, Niall has made me feel comfortable in his presence and more comfortable in my own skin.
Dex might have started this thing, but his friends are running with the baton. Dex saw how I needed more than what I was getting out of my life. He saw how much I was squashing myself into a neat little box, and now his friends are helping to prize the lid away.
As the sun goes down, the air cools a little. I’m glad for the sweater I’m wearing, and also happy to see that Niall brought an extra blanket for us.
As we finish our food, he packs it all carefully away and then moves the basket onto the grass. This should be the moment that I begin to experience butterflies in my stomach or a racing heart, but Niall doesn’t leave any time for that. He takes a pillow and tosses it behind him before lying with his hands behind his head, staring up into the sky. “Do you like looking at the stars?” he asks.
“Living in the city, we don’t get to see, may do we?”
“Exactly. Too much light pollution, but out here, when the sky is clear, you can see a lot. And look at this.” Niall swipes his phone screen and selects a small blue icon on the screen. An app begins to open, playing some ethereal music before loading a skyscape that blows my mind. “See?”