Page 43 of Perfect Pitch

“Sorry. My uncles Jesse and Ethan. My mother’s brothers.” Uncapping my water, I take a long pull. Swallowing, I reason out, “It must have been Jesse. E’s the one who taught me electronics.”

“You’re close with them,” he remarks.

“Very. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for them.”

He takes a step forward. “I’d like to hear more about them.”

“Would you? So you can hear more about me and my life but I can’t ask you questions about yours? That hardly seems fair now, does it?” I let out a titter of a laugh as I slip into my polite social mask. Inside, I think, If only Fallon could see me now. Who knew I’d have a chance to utilize the years of being groomed to be a Kensington here in New York City? Certainly not me.

He winces. “Actually, I came to see if you had free time to start over.”

I lift my bare wrist and tsk. “Sorry. I only make plans for egotistical schmucks on the third Thursday of the month. Maybe you’d like to try again next month?”

He rolls his lips inward. Still, I notice how his green eyes sparkle with mirth. And I snap. “It wasn’t meant to be funny, Mitch.”

“It really was.” His smile is wide and appealing.

“You hurt me and you did it deliberately. Why? Did you get your kicks out of it?” The words are almost strangled as they’re pulled from me.

There’s a long pause before he answers, “No.”

“Oh, that’s so clear.”

“But they didn’t have to do specifically with you.”

My head whips back around. “That’s as muddled as farmland after a rainstorm. You didn’t give me a chance. Did you just lump me in with a bunch of nameless bimbos you take out when they first come to Manhattan?”

By this point, Mitch is doubled over with laughter. My fury almost has my face as pink as the color in my hair. I shout, “Stop laughing at me!”

“I’m not laughing at you.”

“Yes, you are.” My voice is wounded.

“No, I’m laughing because you’re adorable and funny.” He steps forward and I immediately take one back. Frustrated, he turns his back on me and faces the view of the Hudson River. “Austyn, I’m sorry for what happened on our first date. More sorry than I can say.”

I give him a few moments to enumerate on his past behavior before I interject into the silence that lays like a sword between us. “There’s something I learned about myself early on.”

“What’s that?” He turns his head in my direction.

I feel pinned by the force of his gaze. Still, I give him insight into the person I am and how wary I am around him after one night out with him. “I’m a sensory person.”

He nods, not comprehending.

I lay it out for him. “As a result, there’s a breaking point where saying I’m sorry won’t cut it. You don’t have the right to hurt me. None, whatsoever. I’ve done nothing to provoke it.”

His breath is indrawn quickly. “Austyn.”

“That’s not negotiable. Whatever’s driving you to do so, figure it out before you take me on because the more you do, the more I’ll build a wall to keep you from me. That means the more it’s going to hurt when they all come crashing down.”

“You assume they will.” I skewer him with a look that has his face start before his eyes narrow intently. “Okay. I hear you.”

“Do you?”

He opens his mouth and closes it. “How about I make you a deal?”

I cock my hip out, toe tapping. “I’m listening.”

“Let’s spend the day together doing something I’m going to hazard a guess you’ve never done. Then you can ask me any question about my job.”

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