“Not really.” Maybe if the right woman came along, but I don’t come across those kinds of women every day. The kind I come across want the honor of sleeping with a professional hockey player. “I’m not really in one place very long either. Not many women would put up with that. What about you?”
“Well,” she says. “I’m single, and that’s by choice.”
“Oh yeah?” My sweats hang on her body as we circle back to the kitchen. “Not my business, but I get the sense there was a douchebag in your past.”
She laughs at that, like really laughs, and I can’t help but grin at her animation.
“I don’t know if he was so much a douchebag, but we just wanted different things.” She looks out the window for a second. “Wait, no. You’re right. He was a douche.”
Laughing, I open the fridge to see what’s inside and that’s when I remember I was out on a grocery run when I literally ran into Alyssa. “Your folks still here?”
“No, actually. They’re gone.”
I lift my head from the fridge at the hitch in her voice. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
Her comment about alley cats makes me want to ask if gone means they died, or if they up and left her, but I don’t know her well enough to ask, plus I don’t want to dredge up painful memories.
“That doesn’t make it any easier, Aly.” I sort of feel like an ass now. I’ve been going on about how much my family gets on my nerves and she has no parents.
“Everyone leaves,” she says quietly, and crosses her arms across her chest in a defensive move. I’d be lying if I said I know a lot about the opposite sex. I grew up with a brother, and have no idea how women think, and I can’t even begin to understand how they deal with deep emotions, but everything in that gesture makes me think she’s trying to protect her heart. Who the hell hurt her?
“My grandmother raised me,” she says. “That’s where I have to be later. I visit her every night in the nursing home.”
I nod. “Nice. I can’t wait to meet her.”
She shakes her head, like she’s unable to process what I just said. “What are you talking about? Why would you meet her?”
“I’m kind of driving you around, remember? I’m responsible for you for twenty-four hours remember.”
I expect a fight, but instead she rolls one shoulder and says, “If being responsible means you’re going to feed me, then I’m agreeing. I’m starving.”
“We might have a problem. I sort of don’t have any groceries. That’s what I was doing when I hit you.” I pull my cell phone from my pocket. “But I’m a problem solver, so tell me, what’s your favorite take out in this one-horse town.”
“It’s funny you put it like that. I was thinking the same thing earlier today.”
“It’s a nice town, though. I can see why you like living here.”
She nods, but I get the sense there is more going on with her.
I run through a list of food choices. “Pizza, Chinese, Thai, seafood?”
“What do you like?” she asks.
I rub my stomach. “I like food, Alyssa. All food.”
“Well, Benny’s is known for their ribs, and mac and cheese.”
“You had me at ribs.” I do a fast Google search and pull up their menu.
“I’ll go splits on it with you.”
I gesture toward the fridge as I punch in our order. “Grab me a beer and we’ll call it even. There’s red and white wine too. Like I said, Tyler keeps this place stocked for his family.”
“Beer is good for me. Oh, and they don’t do delivery. We’ll have to go pick it up.”
“I’ll go.” I double check the order. “Okay, any other requests?”