“Yep, if you ever become a famous author one day, just remember Leo Harrison conducted your first interview.”
I cracked open the seltzer and held it out to her. She took it tentatively and I took her beer from her. She took a sip of the seltzer and didn’t wince. I made a mental note to file that under what counted as a suitable drink. I held on to my full beer since I had no intention of replacing it with anything, but I set hers on the ground.
She eyed me skeptically. “Why are you sitting here with me? You’re not going to change my mind about sleeping with you.”
I took a deep breath at the intensity of her blue eyes. This woman was still not seeing past what she’d heard about me. “I’m not trying to change your mind. I like talking to you. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“You said the other day that you value honesty. Are you always honest?”
“To a fault,” I said.
She took another slow sip of her seltzer and turned her body toward me. A little more progress. My pulse picked up. I didn’t understand what was happening to me when she was around, but I liked it.
“You’re really not trying to get me to sleep with you?” she asked, eyes boring into mine.
I smirked. “I mean, I’m notuninterestedin the idea. But no, my goal is not to sleep with you right now.”
“Okay.” She relaxed her hands in her lap and started playing with the top of the can. “What do you want to know about me?”
“What was it like growing up in Hawaii? I feel like everyone thinks it’s paradise, but I’ve always suspected the people who live there don’t see it that way.”
She smiled fondly, her love for her home visible on her face before she even opened her mouth. “I’m sorry to be the one to burst your bubble, but it really is paradise. It’s always warm and sunny, the flowers there are unique and beautiful—nothing like what you see here. We have waterfalls, beaches in every direction, hiking trails. There are no snakes on the island, which is a bonus. It truly can’t be beat.”
She talked about her home in a way that rivaled how I felt about hockey. I could feel her passion while she described it.
“Then what are you doing in Boston?” I asked, unsure why she’d ever leave Hawaii if she loved it that much.
“I wanted to go somewhere completely different from home for college. I knew it was just for four years. Honestly, I’d probably travel the world just to see it all if it weren’t for how much I’d miss my family. But I’ll always end up back home in Hawaii.”
“Are you close with your family?”
“Very.”
“Siblings?” I asked.
She smiled again and I was pretty sure I found the secret to breaking down Sophia’s defenses. She didn’t seem to have space to be skeptical when she was talking about what she loved: her family.
“Three,” she said. “My dad and stepmom have twin boys who are nine and my mom and stepdad have my sister, Elena, who is fifteen. She’s my best friend.”
“That’s a big family compared to my experience. I’m an only child. My aunts adopted my cousin, Jace, when he was fifteen though. I was nine, and they lived across the hall in our apartment building, so he feels like a big brother.”
Sophia chuckled. “My family is so close that it’s usually hard to explain. Especially since my parents were never together. My conception was the result of a bad combination of whiskey and grief, but I’ll spare you those details. My aunt and uncle, parents, and stepparents are all best friends. But at least we didn’t all move into the same building.” She took another sip of her seltzer, smiling broadly now.
I laughed. “Okay, there is a lot to unpack there, Hawaii. I hope you don’t have any other plans tonight.”
“Oh, there’s no way we’d get through it all in one night. I’ll just drop off a copy of my father’s books.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“My dad’s an author. And his books are about my family. It’s been mildly traumatic.”
Laughter bubbled out of my chest.
“Okay, I’ll bypass all my questions about that temporarily. I was also an accident—a bad combination of antibiotics and birth control.”
“Is that a real thing? I thought it was a myth.”
“It’s been a hot debate in my family for more than twenty-two years now. Pick a side at your own peril.”
