Page 98 of Tangled Up In You

Her stomach flipped over. "It hasn't been all that long."

"Today felt like a month."

She smiled. "I'm happy you're here, but you are empty-handed."

He started. "Right. I left the food in the car. When I saw that man staring you down, I was more concerned with what was going on with you."

"I appreciate that, but now I want food. I'm starving."

"So am I," he said with a laugh. "And not just for food. I'll be right back."

ChapterTwenty-Three

Molly stoodin the doorway as Adam went to his car and retrieved a pizza box and a paper bag.

"I'm liking the look of dinner," she said, as he joined her. "It smells like onions."

"I got half veggie, half meat deluxe. Wasn't sure exactly what you like."

"I like everything," she said with a laugh, as they went upstairs to her apartment.

"I brought salad and chicken wings, too."

"And I got some nice wine from the liquor store down the street. Or would you rather have beer?"

"I'll take some wine."

She set the bottle on the table for him to open while she grabbed glasses, plates, and utensils. "What's Drew doing tonight?" she asked, as she sat down across from him. "Maybe we should have asked him to join us. I should have thought about that before he left."

"Cassie and her friends were playing volleyball at the beach and barbecuing hot dogs tonight. He had better options than you and me."

"They're spending a lot of time together."

"He's all in. I hope she feels the same. I'd hate to see him get dumped."

"I know. I want him to be happy for a while. He deserves some fun."

Adam gave her a dry smile. "When his father sent him here, he told me to make sure he didn't have too much fun. I'm not doing a very good job."

"He's nineteen, Adam. You can't stop him from doing whatever he wants to do. And you certainly can't stop him from falling in love."

"That's true." He gave her a thoughtful look as he poured her some wine. "Have you ever been in love, Molly? You know about my past. What about yours?"

She took a sip of her wine, contemplating her answer. "I've liked some men. I've dated a few for a couple of months. One went almost a year. But looking back, I can't say I've ever been in love. I'm not even sure exactly what that means. I had this one guy in college tell me that he wasn't in love with me, but he did love me. Then he said, 'Do you know what I mean?' I told him I knew exactly what he meant, because, you know, I was twenty, and I liked him. But I had no clue what the difference was."

"Maybe it wasn't really any kind of love, just caring."

"Isn't caring love?" she countered.

"I don't know. I'm not an expert. But it sounds like the guy was warning you that he wasn't that interested. He didn't want to get serious."

"Or even see me again. He basically ghosted me after that. So you were right; there was no love."

"Who was the guy who almost made it to a year?"

"Brandon. I was twenty-three and he was twenty-seven. I was in San Diego at the time. We were doing the SoCal beach scene—volleyball in the sand, body surfing, margaritas at night, rollerblading along the ocean. It was all very outdoorsy and almost felt like we were on vacation, which was probably why it lasted as long as it did. Neither one of us had a career job. I was waiting tables at a vegan restaurant. He was bartending." She shrugged. "I ended up moving to Austin, Texas for a year with my mom, so it ended."

"Did you like Texas?"

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