“I’m not drunk or anything,” he tells me and now I understand. “But I do question whether we left too early.”
“I get it.”
“So, we’re going to go get some coffee.”
“Sounds like the perfect ending to a perfect night.”
My words take him by surprise. “This was a perfect night for you?”
“Yes.”
“Was it the food?”
I shake my head slightly and wet my lips, in hopes he’ll kiss me. “The company.”
A small smile spreads across his face. Alex tilts his head and leans forward. Kissing while your AI drives you someplace feels odd, and out of the norm, but I go with it. Unfortunately, Rizzo picks that moment to announce our arrival and now Alex has to focus on parking or whatever needs to be done.
The moment is over. Lost in the abyss of stupid technology and late-night coffee shops. Still, he holds my hand as we make our way into the shop. It’s self-seating and he leads us to a booth by the window. The street is quiet, and the view is spectacular.
“I can’t believe how beautiful the city looks from up here.”
“It’s gorgeous until you get downtown,” he says.
“Can I be honest about something?”
“Always.” Alex reaches for my hand. His thumb moves back and forth over the top of my hand. My fingertips are cold—well they were, until he warmed them with his soft grip.
“I’m shocked at the way downtown is. I expected better,” I tell him. “I know NYC isn’t the best, but Portland just seems worse. I tried to explore the downtown area and felt unsafe.”
“It’s all politics, and the mayor is unwilling or unable to do anything about crime, drugs, and homelessness. It’s sad because I, too, expect more. I know the owner of the Pioneers donates a ton of money to revitalization efforts, but every year, the funds are commingled or there’s some emergency that has to be dealt with first. It’s infuriating.”
“I want to love it here, but I don’t know.”
“Are you from New York?”
Nodding, I add, “Upstate. A very small town with absolutely nothing around it.”
“Did you always want to work in publishing?”
“I did. Growing up in a small town, you either played sports or you were the ‘nerd’ of the school. I was the nerd. My hand-eye coordination isn’t great, so I studied a lot, and when I wasn’t studying, I read.” I shrug. “The progression into publishing seemed like the right path for me.”
“Where did you go to college?”
“Rochester Institute of Technology. I have a BS in English, with a minor in creative writing and immersions in digital literature, and comparative English.”
“So, you enjoy writing?” he laughs.
“Not at all. I can’t string two coherent sentences together, but I can help an author make their sentences stronger.”
The waitress comes over with two mugs and a carafe of coffee. “Can I get you guys anything?”
“May we see your dessert menu?” Alex asks her. She nods and turns away. “This is coffee,” he continues. “It’s okay. Not great. It might put hairs on your chest, but the pie here is decent. I come here a lot because no one ever seems to find me here.”
“And they find you at Starbucks?”
“Without a doubt.”
“I’m sorry, that must get annoying.”
Alex shrugs. “It’s not as bad as some of the guys. Like Noah, our quarterback. I don’t remember if I told you or not, but his dad is famous. He’s the lead singer for 4225 West, and to make matters worse, Noah’s married to Peyton, who’s dad is the drummer of the band. Plus, her brother has a band. They can’t go anywhere without the paparazzi following them or fans hounding them. I feel sorry for them, sometimes.”
“Only sometimes?”
Alex laughs and shrugs. He pours us each a cup of coffee and then pulls the ceramic box of sugars over, along with the cream.
“Okay, you know about me. Tell me about you. Where are you from and where did you go to school?”
He takes a sip of the coffee and shakes his head with a grimace. “That’s strong,” he says before taking another sip. “Okay, about me. I’m from Detroit. I was a rough and tumble kid, always in trouble. When I was twelve, my parents moved us to the ‘burbs because they thought I was going to join a gang.
“A gang? That seems extreme.”
Alex nods. “Sometimes my mom can be over the top, ya know. Like takes everything to the extreme. Once we moved, I started playing football then, thanks to my neighbor, and found out I was actually pretty good at it. In high school, I shot up in height, and started lifting weights. Ended up with a full scholarship to Iowa State, and then after four years there the Pioneers drafted me.”
“Do you like playing?”
“I love it.” Alex takes the ceramic box of sugars between his hands and turns it around absentmindedly. “The team is my family. Some of us are tighter than others, but at the end of the day, I have fifty-one brothers who have my back.”
“Do you have any other siblings?” I ask, needing to know more about him as a person and not a player.
He nods. “I have a sister. She lives near my parents. She’s married and has two kids, one of each. I love my niece and nephew a lot and enjoy spoiling the crap out of them because it irks my sister. What about you?” Alex leans closer to me, which isn’t hard since the table is so small.
“Two brothers, Davy and Dalton. No nieces or nephews and no prospects of having any either. They’re both single, much to my mother’s dismay. I’m the baby of the family. Davy lives in Florida. Dalton travels for work a lot so he stays with our parents when he’s in the area for any extended amount of time.”
“Siblings are fun,” he says as his finger caresses my hand. I like that he’s flirtatious with me. “My sister is two years older than me and when I got to high school, I had all these hotties coming up to me. She put a kibosh on them right off. It wasn’t until she graduated that I finally went on a date. All the girls in school were afraid of her.”
I snort and cover my mouth. “Let me tell you, having older brothers isn’t much different. My high school boyfriend was deathly afraid of Dalton. Still, Tanner was brave enough to ask me out. I think it helped that he was somewhat friends with Davy.”
The waitress comes back with our menus. I look over the offerings and choose apple pie, while Alex goes for the chocolate mousse.
Alex clears his throat and then meets my gaze. “Is this Tanner back home, pining for you? Or anyone else I should know about?” he asks softly.
I shake my head slowly. “Nope. There’s no one waiting and no one coming here.”
Alex nods and leans forward. “I like you a lot, Kelsey. But I want to be honest here. I’m coming off a break-up. It wasn’t something I wanted or even saw coming. I thought we were a solid couple and played with the idea of proposing, but she wanted other things. Things I can’t or won’t provide for her.” Alex leans back and sighs. “I’m telling you this because if you’re going to be with me, in any capacity, you’ll hear about my ex, and I don’t want you to be surprised by any of it.”