That evening and all the following day I had to cover both Ward’s and my shifts at the bar, but I invited Cole over for dinner the next night. I even cooked a meal for us. He arrived right on time, with bottle of wine in one hand and more flowers in the other. Roses this time. They were lovely.

“This looks great,” he told me when we sat down. I smiled nervously.

“I’m not exactly the world’s greatest cook,” I told him. “If you hate it, we can order pizza or something.”

I’d made one of the few dishes that I knew how to prepare, could use a crock pot with, and thought was date-worthy: pot roast. It wasn’t exactly fancy, but it was wholesome and good. As a bonus, it made the whole house smell good.

“I’m sure it’s going to be great,” Cole told me, happily digging into his food. He was such a big guy, I was glad I’d bought almost three times as much meat as I would if I was cooking just for myself. Feeding Ward had always been a challenge for my mom—he was always hungry—so I’d learned to simply take what I thought was a reasonable portion and triple it. It seemed to work well.

“How do you like the dealership world so far?” I asked between bites. I’d nailed this pot roast. It was really tasty. I’d never been so relieved.

Cole smiled but his eyes looked somewhat panicked. “I like it, but I’m overwhelmed,” he told me. “I’m glad I’ve got good general managers in place, but there’s a lot for me to learn.” He smirked. “In hindsight, I should have tried a bit harder in my business classes.”

“You didn’t have time,” I replied, and he nodded. Ward and Cole were on the road almost constantly during football season, and then any remaining time was just as busy when they were training.

“That’s true. I’m just going to be playing catch-up for the next year or so as I figure out what I’m supposed to be doing.”

“You’ll get the hang of it.” I didn’t have any doubt about Cole’s abilities. He was loads smarter than Ward, and even he had caught on to business ownership eventually. It couldn’t be that hard.

“I hope so,” Cole said, smiling at me with a vague look that I interpreted as a mixture of exhaustion and excitement. “At least it’s keeping me busy.”

“Well if that changes, you’re always welcome to pull a shift or two at the bar,” I offered with a wink. “I know the manager. I can hook you up.”

“If I go bankrupt, I’ll be taking you up on that offer.” His tone was wry.

“Did you get my roadster yet?” I teased.

“You mean my coupe?”

I rolled my eyes. He grinned back at me.

We’d fallen into this relationship so quickly, and so perfectly, I could barely believe it. It was almost like we had been made for another. His easy humor seemed to be a perfect match for my teasing sarcasm. His open optimism balanced my natural negativity. And maybe I offered him some perspective and honesty about the world that he never developed in his otherwise privileged life.

“I sent my testing kit back,” Cole told me as we were washing the dishes together.

“That’s great!” I was glad to see that he’d decided to figure out where he was from.

“Where in the world do you think your family is from?” I asked.

Cole shrugged. “Apparently I was born in the US,” he told me. “In Michigan. My mom said she had a closed adoption through a private charity so there’s no real way to find out any information. I’m hoping that I’m part Samoan.”

I smirked. “Samoan?” I’d never thought of that.

“Yeah, you know, like The Rock.”

“Do you just want to be related to The Rock?” I teased.

He grinned. “He’s a talented guy. And he has superior genetics.” I couldn’t disagree with that.

I squinted and turned my head to the side, searching Cole’s features for similarities. “I guess I could see it, a little bit.” It seemed like a bit of a stretch, but I didn’t want to disappoint him. “Maybe?”

“What do you think I’ll find out?” he asked.

I shrugged. I honestly had no idea. The amount of time I’d spent thinking about Cole’s beautiful, symmetrical features was possibly unhealthy, but I truly had no idea where he was from. I didn’t really care, either, except that I wouldn’t mind going there and admiring the people.

“I hope you find out that you have a decreased risk of all the bad diseases,” I finally told him. “That’s the most important thing.”

He nodded. “I’m nervous about that,” he admitted. “I don’t need to find out I have any genetic predisposition to Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s diseases or anything like that. I’ve already had enough damage to my brain to spike my chances of having issues later in life.”

“At least you retired before it could get any worse,” I told him. I touched his arm in an attempt to comfort him. “Just think, ten years ago, no one really understood the risks.”

“You’re right.” He shook his head in disbelief. “You know,” he added, “if I had a kid in high school today, I’m not sure I would even let them play football.”

“Really?” Even though there were real dangers associated with the sport, I couldn’t imagine not letting a kid play. “Even if it was their dream?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. It’s a hard question. When I was sixteen there was nothing on earth that I wanted more than to play football in the NFL. I’m not sure I would have let anything stop me.”

When I was sixteen, there was nothing on earth that I wanted more than you. I didn’t say it. It would have probably just made him think that I was a crazy person. But here he was, in my condo, washing out my wine glasses. Patience had never been a virtue that I possessed, but somehow it seemed to have paid off in this case.

“Nothing did stop you.” My voice sounded proud, even to my own ears. Cole smiled at me, but then his smile faltered. Something was going on in his mind, but he wasn’t sharing it.

“What?” I asked, taking a step closer and pulling his hands around my waist. “What are you thinking about?”

He blinked. “You.”

“What about me?” I didn’t understand why he was frowning all of a sudden. But then he was kissing me, and I forgot my question entirely. There was only Cole and me, in my kitchen. The rest of the world could be burning to the ground, foreign armies could be invading, or it could be raining frogs, and I wouldn’t care. As long as he kept on kissing me, everything was perfect in here.