For the second time in as many days, Bre and Collin quickly cleaned themselves up and made a hasty retreat after just having sex somewhere inappropriate. Bre kept her eyes down as they glided through the lobby as fast as possible. She desperately hoped no one would recognize her as they tried to make their escape. She willed herself to be invisible.

If they kept this kind of stuff up, they were going to get caught. It was just a matter of time, but Bre wasn’t sure she really cared. It was exciting as hell and she loved the fuck out of it.

As soon as they were out of the coffee shop and around the corner they burst into laughter.

“You’re quite a bit of fun,” Collin said, taking her hand in his as they walked down the street.

“So I’ve been told,” Bre teased.

“Do I want to know how you knew we could lock ourselves away in the restroom?”

“I have my ways,” she said, giving him a coy smile.

If her suggestion that she’d done the same with another man bothered him he didn’t let it show. Of course, she’d never done that with anyone else but she liked keeping him off balance.

“Interested in an early dinner? I know the perfect place.”

Bre scowled before responding.

“I’m on to you, Collin Hayes,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. She quickly glanced down at herself. “You just fucked me in the restroom of a coffee shop… There’s no way I’m going to the kind of place you like while looking like this.”

A nervous smile spread across his face as he glanced around to see if anyone had heard her.

“Don’t worry,” he said, returning to her. “This place is very casual. None of the local hipsters will even notice that freshly-fucked look on your face.”

Bre let out a laugh. She wasn’t sure which was funnier: how she might look having been freshly-fucked or Collin eating at a place filled with hipsters.

“Hipsters?” she said, giving him look. “I can’t imagine you eating at a place frequented by everyday commoners.”

“Hey now. I’ll have you know I’m one of those commoners you’re referring to.”

“Is that the line those Ivy schools tell you to use when you’re interacting with the peasants?”

Collin gave her a sideways glance but didn’t rise to the bait. She had to give him credit: he was learning.

“Does that mean you’re interested?”

“When it comes to food I’m always interested.”

Bre spent the next fifteen minutes giving him shit about his hoity-toity education while completely ignoring everyone around them. It was nice to lose herself and knew it was only possible because Collin made her feel so comfortable. Before long they were making their way down 3rd Street, next to Washington Park. The huge trees shaded the sidewalk and gave Bre a chance to hug herself just a little closer to him.

The Stone Park Cafe was everything Collin had led her to believe. Bre had actually been there a few times and had to admit he’d been right when he said they wouldn’t stand out from the crowd of hipsters enjoying the lazy Saturday afternoon. Some people were dressed nice while others looked like they had just rolled out of bed. Maybe a few of them were freshly-fucked just like her.

The restaurant wasn’t very big and the interior space was mostly dominated by a tiny bar. But the day was far too beautiful to spend inside a cramped little place, so they waited a few extra minutes for a table on the sidewalk patio where Bre could continue to enjoy the view of the park across the street.

They both ordered from the lunch menu even though it wouldn’t be long before the sun disappeared completely. Bre’s Cobb salad was simple while still impressive—it was one of the most colorful salads she’d had in a while. Collin ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and Bre teased him for trying too hard to fit in. He took the jabs without missing a beat.

Teasing him and giving him shit like that was feeling more and more easy. She’d never really been able to do any ball-busting with her girlfriends because they always got so butt-hurt. She was raised by a grease monkey, how did they expect her to show affection?

“Tell me about your father,” Collin said, basically out of nowhere.

“You like to get right into it don’t you?”

Collin shrugged and gave her an amused look.

“You said some things this morning… I didn’t want to push the issue but I’m curious.”

Hadn’t they done enough soul-searching for one day?

“Whatever happened to some good, old-fashioned small talk?”

He leaned forward, still holding her locked in his eyes.

“You’re a complicated person, it’s one of the things I find most attractive about you.”

She leaned forward, batting her eyes at him.

“You know, I’ve got a really nice ass, too.”

“I can’t deny that.” He nibbled his bottom lip just enough to send a wave of fantasies through her head. She let out a sigh and kept her eyes locked on his lips as she responded.

“If you keep that up you’re going to end up getting fucked in another public restroom.”

Collin wrapped his hands around hers while keeping the grin on his face. His tone was serious again.

“I don’t want to make small talk with you. I want to dive in deep.”

Bre blew out a frustrated sigh as the moment of sexual tension passed.

“There really isn’t much to tell…“

“I don’t believe you,” he countered. “You said your dad didn’t want anything to do with you… what was that all about?”

“I said it because he doesn’t,” she said, simply. “We talk like twice a year when I call him on holidays, and we see each other even less than that.” She shrugged. “I’m not sure what there is to tell.”

Collin’s lips pursed. All of his attention was focused completely on her, and it was starting to get a bit unsettling.

“How long has he been drinking?”

The question wasn’t harsh but it still made Bre tense. She’d spent most of her life making excuses and covering for Ray. That was a part of her she didn’t think she’d ever be able to let go.

“Since Kacie left… Maybe before that, but it didn’t get bad until she was gone.”

“Was that why she left? The drinking?”

He was starting to rub up against the stuff she didn’t really talk about; stuff she didn’t like to even think about.

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“You said I don’t know anything about you. I want to change that.”

“Sharing isn’t exactly something I do.”

Collin chuckled and bobbed his head in agreement.

“I’ve noticed… Let’s take it slow then.”

Normally she wouldn’t even dare talk about these things with a guy she was only just getting to know, but Collin never made her feel like he was just feeding her lines. It was like he actually cared about her. Ugh.

“Slow is good,” she agreed. “Where should I start?”

“The beginning,” he said with a smile. “What happened when your mom left? It seems like that was a pretty big moment.”

Bre let out a nervous laugh.

“You sure you want to go that deep?” He didn’t respond, letting her know he was waiting for her to open up. She blew out another breath. “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” She readied herself. “I was twelve. And stupid.” She shook her head. “They must have been having problems for a while but I was so wrapped up in my own stuff that I didn’t even notice. Kacie always said I was a selfish kid. I should have seen what was going on right in front of me…”

“I’m sure they were good at hiding it from you.”

“That’s what I try to keep telling myself.”

“But?”

“But I can’t help thinking that things might be different if I’d… I don’t know… cared more. Been more present, or attentive, or whatever new age bullshit word is used for this kind of thing. Maybe if I hadn’t been so absorbed in myself it would have made things easier on them and they’d still be together.”

Collin gave her a pained look; it didn’t even compare to how she really felt about the whole situation. Her parents might still be together if it wasn’t for her!

“Have you spent this whole time beating yourself up over it?”

She shrugged again, trying to mask the tightening in her chest.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense…”

“Sometimes relationships just don’t work out. Maybe your parents just grew apart.”

A familiar wave of anger welled up inside her.

“Ray wasn’t the only one she left…”

Bre was going to say more, but cut herself off as the anger solidified into a painful burn at the base of her throat. To his credit, Collin didn’t try to reason with her. He just bobbed his head in understanding and remained silent. She didn’t say anything until she trusted herself to not lose control.

“Anyway… Whatever happened between them, she was there one day and gone the next.”

“She just packed up and left?”

“I don’t think she even did that much.”

He frowned.

“Did she ever come back for her things?”

“She never came,” Bre said, her voice quieting. “For anything.”

Collin let out a soft breath. The pained expression on his face redoubled.

“You haven’t seen her since then?”

“Not since dinner the night before she left,” she said. She shook her head and let out a little laugh. “We had McDonald’s. I annoyed the shit out of her because I made her get me ice cream with my burger. She always said the sugar would make me fat and ugly.” Another laugh slipped out. “Well… joke’s on her!”

Collin tried to humor her, but it was obvious his heart wasn’t in it.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m sure it was incredibly hard.”

Bre fought off another surge of emotions with a dismissive flick of her hand.

“Good riddance to her. If she doesn’t want to be in my life then I don’t want her in it.”

Collin gave her a look that made it obvious he didn’t believe she truly felt that way, but he was smart and didn’t question it.

“And your dad didn’t take it well?”

“His name is Ray,” she corrected. “He had his moments; it wasn’t all bad. For every time I remember dragging him in from the car after he’d gotten drunk and passed out there are memories of us dropping engines or installing turbos. Once he even took me to the shop and showed me how to bend pipes and weld them together to make a custom exhaust.” She let out a soft breath. “Things could have been worse.”

Collin still didn’t look convinced. Or maybe he just wasn’t done with his millions of nosey questions.

“You said he blames you for her leaving?”

His tone was so soft and patient. For a moment, Bre felt like she was in the middle of a therapy session and not with a guy who had just fucked her brains out. The nervous flutters in her stomach swirled. She hated thinking about everything Ray would say when he was drunk.

“He said that things were easier before I was around. That they were happier.”

Collin didn’t respond for a long while. Maybe he didn’t know what to say. Or maybe he was trying to figure out how to fix a problem that he had absolutely nothing to do with. Guys were always trying to fix things where they weren’t wanted. It surprised her when he reached out, took her hand, and gave it a light squeeze.

“I can’t imagine what it was like to hear that.”

The tightness in her chest loosened. Not much, but a little. Tears welled up in her eyes as she smiled at him.

“Thanks,” she said, while quickly wiping at her face. “I think I’ve done about all the sharing I can handle for one night.”

Collin squeezed her hand again, his smile broadening just a bit.

“Yeah, of course.”

They finished dinner while making some small talk about something or other. Bre was too wrapped up in her head to really pay attention to the conversation and, for the first time, actually found herself wanting to get a little distance from the man sitting across from her. She needed some alone time to process everything she’d shared. She needed to return the memories of her parents and her childhood to the guarded vault where she kept them locked away so they wouldn’t bother her.

It had been a long time since she’d shared that much of her past with anyone; even her closest friends knew to stay away from the topic. Bre didn’t know what that said about Collin—that she’d actually been willing to open up to him. She needed to spend some time figuring out what that meant, too.

This whole dating thing was turning out to be way more complicated than she could have ever imagined. Wasn’t it supposed to be more fun than this?

They didn’t stop talking until after the sun was down. All told, it had been a pretty incredible day despite the shitty way it started. Bre clung to Collin as he walked her back to her place. She was ready to have some alone-time but she also didn’t want the night to end. A little time apart was only going to make her want to see him even more.

They stopped outside her place and Collin turned to face her. He held her hands with that boyish smile on his face.

“It’s still pretty early,” he said. “Want to invite me up and see what kind of trouble we can get into?”

The thought of some more sex with him sounded perfect, though her gut immediately tightened when she considered inviting him inside. She forced a smile to mask how uncomfortable she was.

“It’s been a long day and I did a lot of sharing. Can we raincheck for later?”

His eyes searched her face for a brief moment. He probably knew what she was really feeling but was too much of a gentleman to call her out on it.

“Of course,” he said nodding. “Slow and steady.”

“Slow and steady,” she agreed, instantly feeling better.

He kissed her and watched as she made her way inside. The moment she was alone her stomach burst with butterflies and her face spread into the biggest smile ever.

She was really doing this, wasn’t she? She never thought this day would come. She was officially off the market. It should terrify the fuck out of her but, surprisingly, it didn’t bother her at all. Not even a little.