“Pass.”
“Come on!”
“Move it along, Hosko.”
“One day, I’m giving you a nickname.”
“Next card.”
After I poke out my tongue—and enjoy the warm rumble of his laughter filling the car again—I read the next question. “Oh, um…” I grimace. “These cards must be for couples. This question is a little more, um…personal.”
“What do you mean?” His gaze shifts off the road. “What’s the question?”
“Never mind. We can do something else.”
I scramble to slip the card back into the pile, but Sawyer’s palm curves over my hand. The heat of that touch is so perfect I want to melt into the black leather seats and luxuriate in how good it feels when his skin is pressed against mine.
“No.” His voice is hoarse. “Ask me that question.”
“O-oh…”
Come on, Elsie. You can deal with having a hot friend.Touching you like that means nothing.
I take a deep breath. “Why did your last relationship end?”
“Tough question.”
“You don’t have to answer.”
“The answer’s the easy part, though.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there.”
“I s’pose. You know how I ended up here. I’ve had a couple of relationships since all that shit went down. Nothin’ serious… Except the last one, I guess. There were some signs we wouldn’t work out. I ignored them.”
“Because you loved her?”
He tilts his head as he contemplates the question. “No. I didn’t. Not when I look back on it. I was just worn out, and…” He lifts his shoulder.
“Lonely?”
He sighs. “Maybe. I thought we were goin’ okay, but then my brother came up to visit with his three boys a couple of summers ago and she… Fuck.” He shakes his head. “She was horrible to them.”
“I’m sorry.”
“There you go, apologizin’ for someone else again. I didn’t mind if she didn’t want to have kids with me, but that’s my family. They’re good boys. My brother’s right to be proud of them. Breakin’ up with her was the right decision.”
“Are you two still friends?” Or can I give this woman the stink eye when I see her at the cafe?
“No. She moved away a year ago. Don’t know where. Don’t care to know, really.” He smiles at me. “What about you?”
“I love kids.”
“Figured you might, but I meant… Why did your last relationship end?”
My face falls. Oh. I guess it’s fair that I have to answer, too. “Um…”
His hand reaches over the console to touch my knee. “Forget it. What’s the next—”
