A wave of shyness found me as I shifted myself and crossed my legs like a pretzel. “You don’t even know me.”
“As I said, I’m good at reading people.”
“You aren’t the only one gifted at that. I grew up a solid introvert who prided herself on being a people watcher. I learned to read people at a young age.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. That paired with the knowledge I’ve picked up from watching Criminal Minds, and well, I’m pretty much a professional people reader.”
“Okay, Red.” He turned to face me directly and crossed his legs in front of him. Our knees brushed against one another as he raised a brow in intrigue. “Read me.”
I rubbed my hands together. “Game on. Okay.” My eyes moved across his body, taking in his entire being. His shoulders were relaxed. He was fit, as made clear by the bicep muscles showing through his costume. He had a nice-sized—
Don’t look at his package, Aaliyah. Stop staring at Captain’s America.
I quickly redirected my eyes from his lower region back up to his face, the face that had a smug smirk and eyes filled with mirth. He’d definitely caught me looking at what he was packing, and the embarrassment building inside me was enough to make me want to crawl into a cave and die.
But still, I couldn’t turn down the challenge of reading him.
“You work out a lot. Not to stay built, but as a form of escapism. Your day-to-day life is hectic, which you don’t mind. You like being busy because it keeps you from overthinking. But then, when you get alone time, you get lonely, so you hit the gym to focus on something else. You’re a workaholic, and your mother probably tells you to take breaks. You’re driven and passionate, though sometimes you fear you might not achieve everything you dream of. You will, though. That’s not me reading you. It’s just me knowing.”
He smiled.
I liked it.
I continued. “You’re a people person. People like you instantly due to your charm and charisma. When you engage with someone, you really focus on them. You listen not to respond, but to really hear what is being said to you. You’re a student of life, and you do your homework on the regular. And you miss your mother. I can tell that because when you speak about her, there’s a momentary break where your smile falls when she comes to your mind. Sometimes, you consider moving back home to care for her and be close again. Then you realize you can’t change the world by sitting in the same pond of life.” I clapped my hands together. “Oh! And you’re a Leo.”
He narrowed his eyes at me for a second before pointing a stern finger at me. “Turns out, I don’t like being read.”
“Don’t worry—most people probably won’t read you. I’m just gifted.”
“How did you know I was a Leo?”
“Oh, that was the easiest—from your driven personality and easy-to-approach persona. Plus, your good hair was a dead giveaway.”
He raked his fingers through his sandy brown locks and smirked. “You think I’m Captain with the good hair?”
“Don’t let it go to your head, sir.”
“Too late—ego already inflated. Do I get to read you now?”
“Like a book.”
He rubbed his hands together and nodded in enjoyment. “All right. You didn’t fully want to come out tonight, but the idea of being alone was a sadder thought. You recently went through something heavy—a breakup maybe. The way your mouth just twitched in the corner makes me think I’m right. You struggle with abandonment issues, which is why you try to hold on so tight to those in your life. Though, the people in your life are few and far between. It takes a lot of trust for you to allow someone into your world, let alone into your heart. But when you let them in, you pray they’ll never leave.”
The discomfort began to buzz throughout my system at how spot-on he was, but I didn’t want to make it obvious because I wanted him to continue. I didn’t know why it was important to know what he saw when he looked at me, but I needed to know.
He continued. “When you decide to love, you consider it a forever thing. Even people from your past that left your side still hold a place in your heart, no matter how hard you’ve tried to get rid of them. You’re afraid of letting people down, but you also undersell your own talents. You think you don’t deserve the success you dream of because someone else might be more worthy. You love animals. I don’t know if that’s actually true, but I definitely get that vibe from you. You hate seeing people struggle or hurt and want to make the world better, but you’re not exactly sure how to go about doing that. You like scary movies, but you hide under a blanket.” That one made me smile. “You’re too hard on yourself. You keep your deepest hurting to yourself. You worry about your friends worrying about you, so you don’t let them deep into your pain because you don’t want to be a burden. Oh”—he placed his hands against my kneecaps and leaned in toward me—“and you’re a Gemini. I just say that because it’s the only other zodiac sign I know. I don’t know anything about astrology.”
I laughed. “Pisces over here.”
“Ah, they must be known for beautiful eyes.”
“Stop dropping compliments in.”
“Stop deserving them.” His hands were still on my knees, and he had no clue the sparks he was igniting with the seemingly gentle touch. “How did I do?”
“You did good, but you were wrong about one thing.”
“Oh?”
“I hide under a pillow and a blanket when watching a scary movie, not just a blanket.”
“Close enough.” His playful look shifted a bit as he looked my way and nibbled on his bottom lip. “So there was a recent breakup.”
“He broke up with me about five weeks ago.”
“What an ass.”
“Yeah, but I love him. I wish I could say past tense, but here we are. My roommate Sofia said the best way to get over a man is to get under another one, but I can’t even consider that right now. The last thing I want to do is sleep with someone else.”
“Plus, sex wouldn’t fix a broken heart and—holy shit!” He clapped his hands together and hopped up from the ground to a standing position. The grin on his face was so big, but I didn’t understand what caused his sudden shift. “I got it, Red! I know what we can do to help you.”
I arched an eyebrow and stood. “I’m confused.”
“I know, I know, and you’re going to think I’m crazy—which, maybe I am—but here’s the deal: You can’t bang your way out of a heartbreak. That’s not how love works. Love isn’t a physical connection; it’s an emotional one. Plus, after breakups, people replay the good memories over the bad in their minds and start thinking they somehow failed, when, in reality, the bad probably always outweighed the good. You simply held the good tight in your grip because it was few and far between in the end. Otherwise, the good would’ve been enough to keep you together.”
I hated that he was speaking facts. Over the past weeks, all I’d done was replay all the good times Mario and I had together. My mind was stuck on a loop of moments that meant the world to me in my past relationship.