Page 108 of Mistaken Intention

“Yes, I did.”

“But how do you know that? Is this another memory you haven’t told me about? Because I’m still your nurse, you know, even if it doesn’t feel like it most of the time.”

“I know. And it’s not a memory. It’s something Hunter told me.”

Is he serious? “When was this?”

“The other day, when we were driving into the city to find you. I asked him to tell me what I was like before.”

“In what way?”

He sighs, pursing his lips. “With women. You’d left me. I couldn’t work out why. I guess I was looking for clues.”

“In your past?”

“Yes. I don’t have anything to go on.”

“What did he tell you?” I ask.

“Not very much. He refused to answer me. So I told him I’m in love with you and asked if that was something I did all the time.”

“I—I see. And he told you it wasn’t?”

“Yeah, he did.”

A thought suddenly occurs to me, and I lean back slightly in his arms. “How do you know he’s right? I mean… I know he said the other day that you hadn’t slept with anyone for over a yearbefore the accident, but how would he have known? Did you used to talk to him about things like that?”

I might have had a sister until a short while ago, but we rarely talked about relationships. That evening when she told me about Manuel was a first for us.

Drew chuckles, and I frown at him. “I asked him the same question,” he says.

“And how did he reply?”

“He said we used to talk… a lot.”

“About relationships? Because talking a lot could have meant you discussed cars, or sport, or food… or anything.”

“No. I specifically asked him if I’d discussed my relationships with him.”

“And he said you had?”

“No. He said I hadn’t.”

“Then why…”

“Let me finish. He said I hadn’t, because there hadn’t been any relationships to discuss. Evidently, I hadn’t had any.”

“None at all?”

“Well… I’m guessing he meant serious ones, worthy of discussion, but that was what he said.”

I lick my bottom lip, only aware of the action when the breeze chills against its surface. “So you’ve never had a serious relationship?”

He drags his eyes up from my mouth to my eyes. “Not until now, no. He said I’d had sex, though.” He winces slightly. “Sorry.”

“Why? I think it’s pretty obvious I wasn’t your first.”

“Was it obvious?” He frowns, and I realize how close I’ve come to making a mistake… to letting it slip that the evidence of his sexual history is sitting with his sister-in-law, beside the pool, behind me.

---