Page 83 of Salto

"This is painful."

"What's painful?" he asked, obviously unbothered.

"The silence. Can you please give me something?"

His confusion morphed into an amused smile.

"Can't handle the silence?"

“It gives me too much space to overthink."

"That's dangerous before a meet."

"Exactly."

He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel and pursed his lips, thinking for a second. "Okay. Tell me something about your family."

I was a little surprised by the topic choice.

"What do you want to know?"

"You have siblings?"

"A little sister. Jamie. She's seventeen and quite the salty teenager right now. What about you?”

“No siblings,” he said quickly, then he was onto the next question. "What about your parents? Are they still together? What are they like?"

My chest warmed immediately at the thought of my parents. "They’ve been happily married for almost thirty years. And honestly? They're amazing people."

"Yeah?"

"Like suspiciously amazing. The kind of parents you see in a Hallmark movie."

He chuckled at that.

"They support everything I do. They never pressure me. They just...show up."

His expression softened. "They sound incredible."

"They are."

I hesitated, unsure how far I could push this conversation. But I felt like if I was telling him a bunch of things about my personal life, it would only be fair if he told me some things about his.

"What about your parents?"

There was a long pause.

"My parents are a little different."

His tone was suddenly void of any teasing or humor.

"Different good or different bad?" I dared to ask.

He stared out at the highway.

"Different enough that I haven't seen them in about five years."

My smile faded. "Seriously?"