Chapter 21: The First Date

He was early.

I watched from the kitchen window as his truck rolled into Hazel's yard at twenty to seven.

It sat there with the engine off.

At ten to seven he got out, shut the door and stood beside the hood with a bunch of grocery-store tulips.

At five to seven he got back in.

"He's going to wear out your gravel," Hazel said, from behind her newspaper.

"He's sitting in the truck like a normal person."

"Like a normal person who's been told what to do."

At seven exactly he knocked on the door.

Hazel looked at him over her glasses.

"Hurt her and I'll bury you in my garden," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

The Italian place on Main had a red awning and nine tables.

The owner was human and had no idea what we were.

She put us at the corner table with a candle.

She said Ronan had never in thirty years come in with a woman.

"That's not true," Ronan said.

"Last time it was your brother."

The table went quiet for a moment.

"Joel liked the lasagna," Ronan said.

"I'll bring the lasagna," the owner said, and fled.

I laughed first, and then he did, and it was easier after that.

He took an index card out of his jacket and put it on the tablecloth between the bread and the candle.

There were ten lines on it in his blunt, squared writing.

"What's this?" I said.

"Questions. I've never asked you any. I thought I should start with a plan."

"You wrote them down."

"I'm not good at this."

I picked up the card.

What is your favorite thing to eat. Did you ever want a dog. What did you want to be at eleven.

I looked up at him.

"You are ridiculous," I said.

"Answer them anyway."

I answered them.

I said soup, always.

I said yes to the dog, a brown one named Biscuit, but my mother was allergic.

At eleven I had wanted to be a vet, and then a pilot, and then both on the same day.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Unbonding the Ruthless Alpha from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.