Page 35 of Falling for the Forward

“Do you ever second-guess your decision?”

“No. I talked to Rachel about it a lot. She thought Kaia was too controlling and in too much of a hurry to have a husband with money.”

He touches the screen in his car, glancing at me. “What kind of music do you like?”

“Mostly jazz.”

He lowers his brows. “Really?”

“Hell no. I like Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Ed Sheeran, Gracie Abrams. How about you?”

“I listen to a lot of Eminem, Post Malone, old rock. Got lots of Metallica on my pregame playlist right now.”

“Hmm.” I smile. “I’m not sure we have much overlap.”

“The girls made me become a Swiftie. It’s all we listen to in the car.”

“Same.” I take off my seat belt and lean forward to slide out of my coat. “There are mornings where we just sing the entire drive to school instead of talking.”

He selects a Taylor Swift playlist from his screen and turns the volume down so we can hear it but still talk.

“I spilled my guts about my ex, so what’s the story with yours? Other than him being a massive douchebag?”

Discomfort stabs me in the gut, but I swallow it. “I was an idiot who trusted a man I’d only been with for ten months. He meant more to me than I meant to him and I got burned. That’s about it.”

“Did he have a job when you met him?”

“He worked for a venture capital firm. He made good money but lost it all by going all in on his business idea.”

“It sucks that he took you down with him.”

I shrug and look away. “It was my own fault. There’s a reason why I didn’t tell my family and friends about cosigning those loans. I knew it was dumb, but I thought we were in love.”

“Do you still love him?”

I’m caught so off guard by the question that my laugh comes out as a little snort. “Absolutely not. I’d punch him in the dick if I saw him on the street.”

“If we see him in Ann Arbor, I’ll give you an assist. I’ll hold on to him so you can wind up hard for that punch. Maybe follow up with a nice kick.”

“I appreciate it.”

It’s the first time anything related to Tyler has amused me. Usually I just feel bitter and angry.

I take out my list of stuff about me and read it, Carter learning that I love standing outside when it’s snowing and reading sci-fi romance novels and I hate peas.

When he passes me his list, it’s full of little details about him that make me smile.

“Your top three favorite foods are Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs and Honeycomb? I thought those were for the girls.”

“I mean, they eat some, too. But I can take down about half a box of cereal on a cheat day.”

“Okay, so cereal is just a treat for you?”

“Unfortunately. It’s not that I love grilled chicken that much; it’s just that it’s good for me and I make a living with my body.”

“That sounds dirty.”

He grins. “Yeah, it does.”

---