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“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be a dick and pry,” I said quietly “And I’m sorry he’s struggling. It’s hard when family is sick and you can’t fix it.”
The amount of pain that crossed his face had my chest aching. At heart, I was also a fixer and I may not be able to cure the man, but I could help them find tea aimed for what he needed.
“Look, let me start by saying I’m not a doctor and this is in no way medical advice. But tea is one of my nerdy passions and if you tell anyone just how geeked-out I get, all bets are off,” I warned.
He held up his hands and a bit of humor sparked in his eyes, which was far better than the sadness that was lingering there.
“Your secret is safe with me,” he promised as he crossed his heart. It was adorable and made me like Dean just a little bit more. I was glad he didn’t just write this off after the first, terrible encounter.
“What are you doing right now?” I asked.
“Well, I was walking you home and now I’m looking like a creeper, talking about tea like it’s my lifeline,” he admitted with a nervous laugh.
“I’d say you just care about your dad,” I reassured him. My heart melted the moment he seemed worried about his dad. Not everyone had someone to care this much about them and it spoke of his character far more than the coffee encounter.
I was on my phone then, searching for the closest shop that would have loose leaf tea. Or at least the herbs I could add to it. There was sadly only one in the area and they didn’t have much information online.
But it couldn’t hurt to check out.
“Alright, back to my original question, what are you doing? Do you need to get to work or something like that?”
“No,” he said slowly. “I’m free. Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Nope, you wish,” I teased. “But do you know where Averton is?” I questioned.
He nodded. “Of course, I sell houses out there sometimes.” Interesting that the twins chose the same profession. That was likely messy in a town this small.
“Perfect. My pickup truck or your car or whatever you drive?”
The poor guy looked completely baffled but to his credit, he didn’t argue. Dean pointed to a nice red SUV parked at the curb.
“My ride’s right here.”
“Amazing. Because I don’t even like driving that much,” I said as I walked around the car and climbed in the passenger seat, buckling up and getting comfortable before saving the address of the store.
“Not that I’m complaining,” he said as he climbed in. “But why exactly are we heading to Averton?”
“I’ll explain on the way, start driving, buddy,” I ordered him. “They close at five.”
“I’m going to need you to not call me ‘buddy.’ I don’t want to start this off on the wrong foot, so full disclosure, I absolutely do not want to be just friends.”
In honor of full disclosure, I couldn’t keep the fact I saw Atlas last night from him. There was already a rift between the two, I sure as fuck wouldn’t be adding to it.
“If I told you I went on a date with your brother last night would you feel the same way?” I asked. “I’ve gathered you guys are not on good terms and I’m not about to start this off by lying to you.”
“I appreciate the honesty,” he said evenly. His jaw was clenched now but he kept his face neutral. He also dropped the subject so I did as well.
While he drove, I pulled open my notes app where I kept my recipes and rifled through them.
“So, what brought on the love of tea?” he asked. His voice was less tense now at least.
“I know tea is a really random thing to be passionate about but when I was in college I was fairly lonely. It’s not a shock, I’m sure, that I was a quiet girl who did her studies, didn’t really go to parties, you get the idea.”
“I am actually a bit shocked, you didn’t come across as shy to me,” he said. “Or maybe it was my charm that brought it out.”
“I’m a different person now,” I admitted. “After my ex treated me like a doormat, I promised myself to start taking up space and not get bulldozed. I lost a lot of friends when I started setting boundaries and speaking up more.”
“They were never friends then,” he said with disgust. “I’ve never understood fake friends. Like why actively treat someone like shit?”
