“We were a small family of two, but Grandma filled the house with love and laughter.”
“Do you want a family, Alyssa?”
“Someday, I suppose,” I say. “I’m just not sure it’s in the cards for me.”
“Why?” he asks. “If you don’t mind me prying.”
“I mean, I guess I always pictured myself with a family.”
“Number six on your bucket list,” he reminds me.
“I’m just busy with my business and my grandmother. There’s not a lot of time for anything else.”
“I’m glad you made the time for me.”
“Like you gave me a choice,” I say, finishing it with an unladylike snort that brings a smile to his face. “You practically kidnapped me, and I think there was some bribery in there too.”
“I’m like a barnacle when I set my mind to something,” he teases, but the smile falls from his face when he adds, “But seriously, concussions are dangerous, and I really wanted to make sure you were okay.”
My heart squeezes. “I appreciate it,” I say, and as strange emotions swirl around inside my stomach, I don’t want him to get the wrong idea about what I want from this, from us. “Also, there’s not a lot of single guys my
age around here. So, don’t go flattering yourself thinking you’re special,” I tease, even though there is a part of me that totally believes there is something very extraordinary about this guy.
“Ah, I get it. I just happened to be the right age with the right parts.”
“You nailed it.”
“Yeah, I did,” he says with a cute grin, and my body flushes as my pulse skitters with a new kind of want. My God, how can I want him again so quickly? Sex with him was out of this world, and I’ve gone without a man’s touch so long, it should hold me over to the next century. But I don’t want that. No, what I want is the man across from me, his inquisitive gaze locked on mine.
“Your friends, where are they all now?” he asks.
I take a sip of water as things turn deeply personal. I have no secrets, and I believe in honesty, but dredging up the past is never easy. “They went off to college and moved on to bigger towns for their careers. I’m happy for them,” I say, injecting a bit of enthusiasm into my voice, but this man has proven to be astute, and I’m an easy read. Truthfully though, I am happy for my friends. I want the best for them, and it’s not their fault I couldn’t go. No, my abandonment issues go way back.
“You mentioned your ex was on the football team. What happened to him?”
I shake my head. “He left, like the rest of them, and he let me believe we were going to do long distance. Lying bastard,” I say.
“I called it. Total douchebag,” he agrees quickly, and I grin, loving that he’s quick to take my side, even though he doesn’t know the circumstances. I have the feeling Alek is a ride or die kind of friend. He slams his fist into the palm of his hand. “If you want payback, just say the word.”
I wave a dismissive hand. “I’m over him and he’s not worth it.”
“Good.” He takes a bite, chews and goes thoughtful for a while. A comfortable silence falls over us, and then he breaks it and asks, “So you never wanted to move?”
“I can’t leave Grandma.” I won’t leave her. Sure, she has friends here, plenty of them, but she’s my only relative and I’m hers. “She was always there for me, and now I’m here for her.”
“I get that. I really do. But you wrote on your bucket list that you wanted to travel, see the world and live in a big city, preferably somewhere warmer than Vermont in the winter.”
I roll my eyes to make light of it. “I also wrote that I wanted to have sex in a limo in New York, and I don’t see that ever happening. I was a kid, Alek. Full of idyllic ideas.”
“I don’t know.” He shrugs a broad shoulder. “I don’t think you should let go of your dreams.”
I stare at the man I barely know, and see the truth in what he’s saying. “Tell me more about your bucket list,” I say.
“I’d love to cage dive with sharks, and maybe drive a race car on a track.” His eyes go big. “Oh, and maybe bull riding.”
I laugh. “I’m sensing a theme here. I think you’re a bit of an adrenaline junkie.”
“So you’ve never seen the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean?” he says, glancing at my list.