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Her head tilted to the side. “Really? How so?”
“You both like to have fun with life. You like to learn more about the world around you and meet new people. The only difference is that you’ve done it. She’s on her way, though. She’s opening a new floral store in Oregon right now.”
“She sounds wonderful, and you’ve made what I said earlier about traveling sound like a positive thing.”
I squeezed her hand. “Don’t ever be ashamed of who you are, Millie. You’re the only one who can advocate for yourself. Well, there’s also me as well.”
She laughed. “We’ve only just met, Bruno.” She tilted her head and studied me. “But I do feel like I’ve known you for a long time. It’s weird; I don’t know how to explain it.”
“I understand very well. I feel the same.”
This brought out her wonderful smile, and I reveled in seeing it. When she started looking down at her hand and I saw a soft flush appearing on her cheeks, I decided to give her a break.
“Tell me about your family,” I said.
“My family? Well, my parents are not like your parents. When I was younger, we had many years where all four of us would hang out for game night once a week, or go visit the zoo or museum once a month, or just hang out as a family. But then my dad became super successful, and they started to leave us at home when they traveled to show his art. That led to my parents traveling just for fun, and now M—” She startled, cutting herself off, but then quickly recovered with, “And now my sister and I never really know where they are. We find out when we call them.”
“You got your travel bug from them.” It wasn’t a question, but she took it as such.
“I did,” she said, nodding. “But I wish they would settle a bit more. We needed our parents in high school, even though we were in boarding school. It was hard to keep track of where they were bouncing to next.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. I couldn’t imagine my parents doing that. The whole pack would be adrift. “What’s your sister like?”
“My sister . . . she’s wonderful. Thoughtful, a hard worker—maybe a little too much—and my best friend.”
“That’s how Jacob and I are. He’s my best friend too.”
She smiled. “I love that we have that in common.”
“I agree.” I smiled too now. Maybe we didn’t have to have everything in common to be mates. Even so, this revelation made me happy.
Lira
We walked around Crystal Lake a little bit more before he walked me home and kissed me lightly on the lips. I still felt my lips tingling as I lay on the sofa, reimagining every little detail of the night.
It had felt like the kiss he had placed on my head had more weight to it than the one he planted on my lips. It was the first kiss he ever gave me, and it felt so right. If any other guy I had just met did that, I would have run as far away as possible. But not with Bruno; he belonged next to me. And I couldn’t explain why.
It was like a dream. A wonderful dream that I was scared would suddenly pop like a balloon. And it could if my magic got out of hand. What if my hands shot out fire on our next date? What person would want me then? I could feel my heart breaking at the thought of never seeing Bruno again.
“This guy likes quiet-and-not-crazy Lira?”
I turned to look at Millie, who I’d forgotten was sitting at the coffee table and trying to talk to me. All my brain wanted to do was go back to Bruno. Maybe tonight that vision would return, and I’d be able to see him in my dream again.
Millie nudged me with her foot. I turned to her again and realized I should have this conversation with her or both of us wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.
“I’m not crazy,” I said. “I just like to have fun. And yes, he did. I might start being more like you more often because he was the perfect gentleman. It was the tamest date I’ve ever had. Normally, I would have run away within the first five minutes.”
“That’s kind of what I expected.”
That Millie thought that of me irked me, but I couldn’t blame her. She was right. “I honestly thoroughly enjoyed every second I was in his company, Millie.”
“That’s fantastic! Who is he?”
“Oh, I can’t tell you yet. He’s my little secret.”
Her eyes went wide. “What? You never keep secrets from me about the boys you date.”
She looked so crestfallen I almost gave in. Almost. “This one is special.” He’s super important to me. There’s something about him, and I can’t tell you why yet. “I don’t want to mess it up, Millie.”
