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He got up and went to her, laying one hand on her shoulder. “I believe you.”
It wasn’t an apology, but he wasn’t great at those. Would it be enough?
She turned to face him, her grey eyes swirling with things he couldn’t decipher and some that he could. Desire. Pain. Loneliness.
“Your family has no clue, do theywas that t he asked her before he could stop himself.
She didn’t ask what about; she just shook her head.
“They think they did the best for you, sending you off to university at thirteen.”
“I was mature for my age. It came from having a really facile brain and siblings that were so much older than me. I told them I didn’t need my mom to come with me. It wouldn’t have been fair to take her away from my dad. Baba would have come, but she didn’t move over from the old country until I’d been at university for two years already.”
And her parents had believed Danusia when she told them she didn’t need them. She’d let them off the hook and they’d swum on happily in their local pond while she tried to find a place for herself in unfamiliar waters.
Unable to keep himself from touching her, he brushed her hair behind her ear. “You deserve so much more than I can give you.”
“I’ll take what I can get.” Again the words could have been desperate, but she said them with a calm certainty that blew him away.
He let his hands drop to her waist, his long fingers almost touching behind her back. “You’re so tiny.”
“Please tell me that’s not one of the five excuses.”
“Reasons. And no, it’s not.” Though maybe it should be.
“Good.”
“I joined the Marines right out of high school.”
She tilted her head back so their gazes were locked. “If that’s one of your five, you’re going to have to explain why.”
“I didn’t go to college.”
“Right. So, no fancy degrees for you, huh?”
“Not a one.”
“At the risk of sounding like a CD with a skip in it, does that really matter if you’re not looking for a long-term relationship ?”
“I guess not.” It felt like it did with her though.
“But it bothers you.”
“Some.”
“Not everyone gets their education at a university.”
“True.”
“You’ve got life experience I can’t begin to match. Does that make you think less of me?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“It’s not the same.”
“Oh, I think it is. You read a lot too, don’t you?”
