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“Who says I like socializing?” I asked.
“I think it’s implied.”
“You started a dating app and you don’t like socializing,” I pointed out.
He chuckled. “Fair. But you seem to enjoy it far more than I do.”
I chewed on my lip, thinking about how to answer. While I did like socializing, I wouldn’t say it was my favorite thing in the world. Why had I built my life around it?
“I guess I didn’t have many friends growing up.”
He looked surprised at that. “You and I have that in common.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I was constantly surrounded by people. I just never really got that close with anyone.” I took a deep breath, trying to decide how much of me to show him. “My parents had me pretty young, and they didn’t have a lot of help. We didn’t have much, so there was always a lot of pressure on me to do better than they had. They signed me up for every extracurricular available. On top of that, I had to get perfectgrades so I could get into college—live the life they hadn’t been able to because they had me instead.”
He chuckled.
I looked up, shocked. “What’s so funny.”
“Just that you and I in high school sound pretty damn similar. I was the pinnacle example of an overachiever. My mom always begged me to slow down and have some fun—make some friends. But I didn’t see the point. They wouldn’t help me get ahead.”
“Well, I wish I had time for friends. While the rest of the girls on the volleyball team were having the end-of-season party, I had to prepare for a big debate club match. And when the debate club had its annual mixer, I was busy working on a science fair presentation. So on and so forth. Anyway, after I graduated college, I only looked at jobs far away. I love my parents, but I needed a break from them. Once I came to Colorado, I never looked back.”
“And you’re happier now?”
“Sure, I mean I have Lila. She’s the best friend I could have ever asked for.”
“But between work and your business, do you have much time for anything else? Seems like you’re repeating your old life a little bit—running from one obligation to the next.”
“It’s different…” But my words trailed off. Was it that different? “I mean, I love working on ConnectHer. And I’m meeting and making friendships with women every week.”Friendships I would actually have time to develop and nurture if I didn’t have two jobs.Maybe this life I created was a lot closer to what I had tried to escape than I realized.
“I guess I am pretty busy,” I admitted.
“I’m not trying to give you a hard time,” he added. “I’m the same way. Before Oliver forced me to get out and do things, I hardly ever did anything outside work.”
“And you like it that way?” I asked.
“I thought so.” He had a far-off look in his eyes that told me he might be doubting that now.
“Aren’t you a bit lonely? All this success and no one to share it with.”
He narrowed his eyes.
Shit.Had I gone too far?
“Charlie?” The new voice sent shivers down my spine.
I looked up to find familiar brown eyes staring down at me. My ex-boyfriend of all people, Brian, hovered over us. A petite blonde crossed her arms and hid behind him. I knew from my social media stalking that this was his new girlfriend.
“B-Brian,” I stuttered. “What are you doing here?”
I glanced at Nathan to find him watching me intently.
“We did a couples class here last week.” He held up two mugs. “We’re just picking up our finished products.”
“Cool,” I said, wishing I could shrink away.
Although Brian looked good, and I should probably feel some type of way that he had moved on so quickly, all I felt was emptiness as I looked at him.
