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I give his hand another squeeze before pulling away. “I’m not going to use an apology as a way to pull information out of you. It’s your choice to share your past.”
He looks at me. As if his eyes are gauging my soul, assessing me for deception. “You mean that?”
“Of course. But will you tell me what made you want to start drawing again? If that’s okay.”
He nods. “Because your drawings were terrible, and I had this burning desire to help you.”
“You started drawing again because ofme?”
“Yes,” he mumbles under his breath.
I smile and nod. “Oh, wow. Why?”
“You almost cried during your first presentation.”
“And?” This is the same man who told me he had no fucks to give. His wanting to help me without even really knowing me…it makes no sense.
“In the beginning, I only wanted to help you because I thought it was beneficial for me. You have the kind of talent I was looking for to renovate the park and make sure—” He blinks twice, catching himself mid-sentence.
“Make sure what?”
“Make sure I make my grandfather happy.” He frowns again. Does he hate the idea of needing to lean on someone?
“I understand. You have a lot of pressure riding on this project.”
“You have no idea,” he grumbles under his breath.
“Why didn’t you hire someone else to help me?”
“I thought of it but didn’t want to.”
“Why?”
“Because my common sense escaped me.”
“Or you liked me.” I try my hardest not to smile but fail miserably.
“Definitely not. I found you oddly annoying and way too nice at the time.”
I lean over the coffee table and give his shoulder a shove. “Hey! There’s no such thing as being too nice.”
“There is where I come from.”
“And that is?”
His eyes reflect enough disgust to nauseate me. “A place where people smile too brightly or talk too sweetly because they have every intention of using it against me. It’s the whole damn reason I’m cynical in the first place.”
“That sounds awful.”
“I’m sure you would be horrified to know what kind of people are lurking beyond the park’s pearly gates. Dreamland really is some fantasy. It’s like this whole damn place is untouched by the real world.”
“Tell me about what you had to deal with then. Help me understand why you are the way you are.”
His fists clench against the coffee table. “You really want to know?”
I nod.
“Fine. But it’s not pretty.”
