Page 31 of Come Take Me Now

“You’ll get there.”

Holy shit, I need to stop reminding her of our age gap.

She brushes a rogue lock of hair behind her ear. “Someday, I guess.”

“You’ve said a bit about your dad. What’s your mom like?” I ask.

Tilly smiles to herself. “Oh, she’s cool. I look like her, but I’m a little taller. I don’t know. She’s a mom. Supported my activities through school, remarried a better guy than my dad. What’s yours like?”

I should’ve expected her to flip the question on me to make conversation. I swallow a big sip of wine and set my cup on the edge of the truck bed.

“I have two—the biological one and the adopted one.”

Tilly’s face changes at the mention of two. “Oh, I didn’t know you were adopted.”

“Yep.” I pause and glance out at the water. If I want Tilly to be long-game, I need to open up. Give her something about me. I let out a sigh. “My biological one lives in Europe. My dad met her on a family vacation to Italy and got her pregnant. She came here, had me, didn’t like it, and went home.” I intentionally rush through the part about my biological mother, and I take in Tilly’s face where her eyebrows have furrowed. “Then my dad met Sophie and married her. She was a medical assistant at my pediatrician’s office, and she told me later Dad always hit on her at my checkups. I guess she eventually caved and went out with him. She later adopted me when I was about three, shortly after they got married.”

“Wait, what didn’t your mom like?”

“Being a mom. Being in California. I don’t know. She was younger than my dad, and I think she just wasn’t ready,” I answer plainly.

Tilly brings her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them. “Do you hate her?” she asks in a whisper.

“No. Maybe when I was younger, but now I’m just numb about it.”

“I wish my dad would have let my stepdad adopt me,” she says under her breath.

“I’m sure your dad loves you.”

She laughs under her breath and shakes her head. “I think he loved when I turned eighteen, and he didn’t have to pay child support anymore.” Ouch. She brings her gaze up to meet mine. “Did your dad love her? Your mom?”

I clear my throat. “Um, yeah, he did.” I shift my jaw. “Really wanted it to work out, but he loves Sophie more. That was meant to be.”

“Do you ever talk to her?”

I can’t be annoyed that Tilly has follow-up questions, but discussing my mother cuts deep in a way she’d never understand. I chose to open up, and I’ll change the topic soon enough.

“No. Never. My dad did when I was growing up, but not so much now,” I answer. Tilly’s lips shift, and she focuses on the lake. “Anyway, I’m glad I brought you up here,” I say to get her mind off the subject.

“Me, too. It’s nice being able to cuddle with you. I mean, we’ve had some fun dates, but this takes the cake,” she replies. “And as annoying as waiting has been, it’s refreshing not hitting the sheets first thing.”

“Is that how it was with your ex?” I ask.

“Yeah. On our first date, we had dinner, then went back to his apartment and had sex. Honestly, our relationship was sex the whole time. I think he ended it because he didn’t want to do the long-distance thing once we started at different grad schools,” she answers.

“Did you subconsciously apply to a school in San Diego for the distance from him?” I ask.

She stares me down. “How do you know so much?”

“If you were serious, you would have enrolled in the same grad school,” I reply, running my finger along the length of her hair.

“I can’t tell if you’re good at naturally picking up on small details, or if you know more about me than you lead on,” she says with a laugh to stay light-hearted, but I chew the inside of my cheek.

It’s truly a mix of both.

“I pay attention to you. Not just what you say, but how your body reacts, too. And I know you want it.”

“Do you?” she asks.