Page 52 of Somebody To Love

He shrugged. “My grandparents did. I figure why not.”

“Not me. My partner just retired. He lives somewhere in France now and he’s loving his new life. No obligations, no work. Just freedom.”

Ty took a bite and seemed to be in deep thought as he chewed. “I don’t know if I could live like that. I need structure. I need to be productive.”

I shook my head. “I’m the opposite. I hate structure and I feel like being productive is overrated.”

“Maybe you can teach me your ways, sensei.”

“You’re mocking me... that’s alright you’ll come around to my way of thinking when you’re eighty, wrinkled, and still trying to figure out some new version of QuickBooks.”

He laughed. “I’ll just ask you to figure it out for me.”

“What makes you think I’ll still be around you when you’re eighty?”

“Because I’m irresistible.”

“Try again.”

“Because I plan to spend the next weeks, months, years, of my life trying to convince you that the only person you want to be with is me?”

I swallowed hard. That wasn’t what I had been expecting to hear. I cleared my throat and said nonchalantly, “That type of convincing would take centuries.”

“Ouch, you’re so harsh.”

“Just realistic.”

He put down his fork and sat back in his chair. He studied me and said, “All I need is a month.”

“A month to do what?” I said, taking another bite.

“To convince you that the person you want to be with is me.”

I scoffed. “Good luck.”

“I don’t need luck. I’ve gotten this far without it.”

“So far the furthest you’ve gotten is my dining room.”

“And my kitchen... and my bedroom.”

He let his words linger between us and he held my eyes. I was the first to look away, feeling naked not only physically but emotionally under his knowing gaze.

We finished dinner but didn’t talk much. Or rather, I didn’t have much to say. I was deep in thought thinking of what he had proposed. I found his proposition interesting.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked me as he cleared our plates, catching me off-guard. I had been in deep thought until that moment. Thinking about him, actually. Clearly I couldn’t stop thinking about him. That was my problem. “Talk to me. Don’t leave me guessing or making assumptions.”

I wiped my mouth and put down my napkin. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Say that I still have a shot. I messed up, but it won’t happen again. And now I’m trying to make things right.” He turned towards me with a dishrag in his hands. He even made doing the dishes look sexy, I thought momentarily.

“So what do you say? Can you give me another shot? Give us another shot?”

I had glanced down to think, but I looked up and met his eyes. I instantly regretted it. His eyes held sincerity. He meant what he was saying. And I felt, deep down, that I could trust him. Or maybe it was just because I wanted to trust him more than anything else. I wanted things to work out between us because I felt that of all the men I’d dated, with Ty, at least I could see a future.

I was going to tell him yes. How could I not? I liked Ty and he was my match according to Infinity, so there must have been something in both of our evaluations that meant we were compatible on some level. We just needed to figure it out and lay down some ground rules.

“Ty, please join me on the couch,” I said formally, standing up from my chair and making my way to the couch.