AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I tipped my head to the side and let a tired smile lazily stretch from ear to ear. “Probably, but you did insist I come with you. So considered yourself warned.”
With our two XL coffees in hand, we set off, leaving the Calgary airport behind in our dust. Using Google maps, we managed to escape the city and head out on the open road, but there wasn’t much to see in the dark. Too bad, as I would’ve enjoyed seeing more of the scenery, especially having never been in the Rocky Mountains before.
“Okay, since I apparently insisted you join me,” Holden released a light laugh, “then the pressure’s on you to help make this ride interesting. So, we can play twenty questions, or you can give me the 411 on you, and then I won’t have to guess.”
“Are those my two choices?” I let the sweetness from my coffee drink sit on the tip of my tongue.
“Yep. Or the third, less exciting option, is I can talk the whole way and regale you with my finer knowledge of all the interesting places we’re going to pass by and not see as we drive on through the mountains in the dark.”
“That option can work, then I won’t feel like I’m missing anything.” I let the cheery and hopeful tone fill the space.
“Not big on sharing, eh?”
I turned away from his gaze. “I may have a tiny bit of issues when it comes to trust, so yeah.”
“But you’re here with me now?”
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to spill all my secrets.”
“Not all, but some?” There was a sense of hope in his words.
“Doubtful.”
“That’s too bad, sometimes secrets can be quite entertaining.”
“Or destructive.” I deadpanned. Mine were all that way. None of them even remotely exciting.
He made sure the radio was off. “Why don’t I go first then? Make it easier.”
“You’re going to share a secret with me?” We were barely more than acquaintances.
“Sure am. Did you know that I’m typically painfully shy around women?”
I scoffed, holding back apfft, please, and took a drink, trying to hide the noise beneath a cough. “Really? You don’t make it a habit of talking to complete strangers everywhere you go?”
“Not at all.” He was dead serious. “There was just something about you my subconscious recognized before the rest of my brain clued in as to who you are. Most of the time, I’m happier to just be in my own little world, reading and studying and keeping to myself.”
“I can actually understand that.” I nodded to the thought. It was easier that way.
“Can you?”
“Why do you sound so surprised?”
He shrugged. “You just seemed like a popular girl back in high school, outgoing and quite vocal.”
“I guess I’ve changed.”
“Was it a guy?”
My gaze widened at his question. “What?”
He grimaced. “Sorry, that was out of line. It’s just I’ve heard that sometimes breakups can change a person, make them flip from being who they used to be at the start of things, into someone they never thought they’d be.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“Not really. My relationships have been limited, but I am a good listener.”
I tried to reign in my soft laugh, but it failed.
