Page 17 of Home With You

"I make you nervous?"

"Not in a bad way. I was nervous because I want to see you again and I know if I screw this up, you'll say no. But you already told me no so..."

"I might—" I stop before I agree to it. For a moment, I almost forgot I was homeless. I got caught up in the fantasy of being a normal girl sitting with a guy she's attracted to and feeling for a brief second like I could actually have this. Like I could have a friendship, or maybe even a relationship, with a really nice guy who's also really hot and who I really, really like.

"You might what?" he asks cautiously.

"I need to go." I grab the fritter bag and stand up. "I just remembered I have something to do and it really needs to be done tonight."

"Wait, you're leaving?" He quickly stands. "We just got here."

"Yeah, but like I said, I forgot I had something to do."

"What?" he says in a challenging tone. "What do you have to do?"

"None of your business," I say, not looking at him. "Lawyer or not, you're right. You ask too many questions. You should really work on that." I pick up my latte.

"Please," he says, his voice softening. "Please just give me a few more minutes. I'll stop asking you questions. We can talk about anything you want. Trees. Birds. The meaning of life. Why there's no eggs in eggplant. The ongoing debate over bathroom selfies. Or why—"

"Okay, stop." I laugh. "I'll stay a few more minutes if you'll take a breath."

He was talking so fast he didn't give himself time to breathe. He's desperate to get me to stay, but I don't know why. Is he just lonely being in a new town?

We sit back down.

"You gonna eat that?" he asks, pointing to the paper sack.

"Um, you can have it." I push it toward him. I was planning to save it and eat it tomorrow to hold me until I could find more food but if he really wants it, he can have it.

"It's yours," he says. "I just thought you might want it now before it gets stale. You want a plate?"

"I don't need one." I decide to just eat it now because I AM really hungry. I'm used to being hungry but it's a feeling I don't like, especially at night. It's hard to sleep when you're hungry.

Taking the fritter out, I set it on the bag and slide it over to him. "Want some?"

"No thanks." He eyes the golden brown pastry drizzled with icing. "Although it does look really good."

"Have some." I tear it in half, take mine, and slide the other half toward him.

"You sure?"

"Totally. You have to try it. They're the best I've ever had. They get them from this bakery in Aurora."

"That's a suburb, right?"

"Yeah. You really need to drive around. Check out the city. You have a car, right?"

"I do. I just haven't taken the time to go explore anywhere yet." He rips off a piece of fritter but doesn't eat it. "Would you be willing to show me around sometime? Like maybe this weekend? I could drive. I'd just need you to tell me where to go."

"I can't. And in case you didn't realize it, that was a question."

"More of a request." He half smiles.

"Same thing."

"Not really."

I stare at him and he laughs.

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