Page 24 of Out of Bounds

“I’ve always been interested in being a teacher, actually,” she answered, still not looking directly at him.

“So is that what you want to study?” he asked, still trying to get her to open up.

“I’d love to, but…” she trailed off.

“But…”

“My dad…Robert…”

“You can still call him your dad. He raised you—that makes him your dad. I’m just your sperm donor.”

“Ewww,” she said, scrunching up her nose.

“Sorry, continue,” Gunnar laughed. Add that to the list of things he’d heard used in movies that shouldn’t be said in real life. “He wasn’t supportive of the teacher idea?”

“Not really. He wanted me to be an accountant like him.”

“That sounds very boring.”

“I thought so too.”

“I think that if what you want is to study teaching, or whatever one studies to be a teacher, then you should do it.”

“Yeah?” she asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

“Yeah. Don’t become an accountant or whatever because you think that’s what someone else wants you to do,” he told her. His mind flashed back to Felicity and everything she said she’d done, trying to impress those around her. Had any of it been what she had really wanted?

“Did you go to college?”

“I didn’t.” Gunnar sucked in a breath. He hoped admitting this didn’t make him look like an idiot. Education was important, and he wanted her to pursue her degree. In whatever she wanted to study. “I was recruited to play football when I was seventeen. I was raised by my grandparents in Croatia, but my dad was English, so I held dual citizenship. One day these guys knocked on the door, and the next thing I knew I was over there playing football.”

“That’s wild.”

The waitress returned with their food, and they wasted no time digging in. The conversation continued to flow easily, covering every topic they could think of. When the discussion turned to movies, an area Gunnar felt that he was a bit of an expert in, they were both excited to find that they shared many of the same favorites. They agreed on a movie marathon the next time they both had a day off, which left Gunnar feeling like maybe he could do this whole dad thing after all.

“I have to get to work,” Talia said, glancing at her watch.

“Go, I’ll finish up here,” he told her.

“You should come by sometime, see the place. Felicity said she wanted to try to get the team to partner with the restaurant, so you should try it. That way you can tell her if it will be a good fit.”

“Maybe I’ll stop by for dinner,” he said, liking her suggestion. Maybe it would make Felicity feel like she was heard if he tried this place out. Help her realize that someone was actually listening to her in that meeting.

“Try the Busted Seat, it’s amazing!” she said, before turning to go.

Looks like he had plans for dinner.

* * *

"Flick!” Lulu screamed, as Felicity stuck her head into the library of her father’s house. “We’re TikToking! Join us!”

She let out a little laugh as the strawberry-blonde teen bounced her way, while Zara stood behind her with an exasperated look on her face. For as much as she hated that nickname, there was something about her younger sister saying it that tugged on her heart. Lulu was sweet and kind, in spite of the fact that she looked so much like her mother, and in so many ways reminded Felicity of herself at that age. Who she had been before everything had fallen apart.

“Oh, that’s okay, Lulu, I'm not feeling a hundred percent, so I don’t think doing all that flopping stuff, or whatever it’s called, is a good idea.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. While she was feeling fine now, at least physically, she had woken up in the wee hours of the morning with a raging headache and a borderline upset stomach. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had four martinis in one sitting, even if it had been over a couple of hours, and all that gin had done a number on her. At least she hadn’t puked. God, please don’t let me have puked…

The part that still had her more than a little tied in knots was how she had woken up in Gunnar Gracin’s arms. Again. And just like the day before, those arms had felt damn good wrapped around her, holding her close to his rock-hard body. She had enjoyed it way more than she wanted to admit, and the idea that he had taken care of her and gotten her into bed while she was that drunk was more than just a little disconcerting. She had no idea what she had said to him, but she knew herself and knew that it was probably not nice. Sneaking out in the dark was the only way to escape with even the smallest amount of her pride intact. Especially if she had puked and didn’t remember. Please, please, please, dear Lord, do not let me have puked…