Page 31 of Better Late Than Never

“Yeah, I get it.” I pulled a piece off my pastry. “I’ve got a guy I hook up with sometimes who doesn’t speak much English. It’s a challenge.”

Something flickered across Connor’s expression, and I refused to consider that it might be jealousy.

“How does that work?” He brought up his coffee for a sip. “Just use a translator app for everything?”

“Pretty much.”

He almost spat out his coffee. “Wait, what? I was joking!”

“I’m not. Hey, you do what you gotta do.”

“Okay, sure, but like—whileyou’re hooking up with someone?”

Laughing, I popped the bite of pastry into my mouth. “I mean, we’re not passing a phone back and forth when we’re right in the middle of things. But it’s how we figured things out ahead of time, and how we talk after.”

I could not for the life of me figure out why he looked flustered. Or why he was blushing.

“That seems…” He cleared his throat before trying again. “That seems, I don’t know, awkward? I can’t imagine whipping out a phone in bed.”

“Eh, it’s not bad. Not what I’d call ideal—I wouldn’t do it if we both spoke the same language—but it gets the job done in a pinch.”

“Huh.” Connor stared into his coffee cup. “I didn’t think of doing that, but… maybe.” He still didn’t seem comfortable with the idea.

“You don’t have to go that route,” I said. “Hit up one of the clubs in Málaga; there’s always some British expats and tourists there. They’re safer than Americans.”

He lifted his gaze. “How so?” But then he answered his own question: “Because they’re definitely not military.”

I nodded. “Exactly.”

“Maybe I’ll give that a try. But, um…” He held my gaze, suddenly looking far too adorably shy. “Thanks. For, you know, bumping into me in the same club and showing me the ropes.”

I laughed softly. “Don’t mention it. It was fun for me, too.”

He… oh God, he really blushed. “Yeah, it… It looked like you were having a good time.”

Oh, hell. How much had he seen? Not that I’d exactly been hiding in the shadows or anything, but the thought of Connor seeing me—maybe evenwatchingme—getting handsy with those guys?

Why wasthatso hot?

Because I was stupid, that was why. Fucking stupid.

I shifted in my seat and drummed my fingers on the table. “It was a pretty fun night.”

“But nobody you wanted to take back to the hotel?” There was teasing in his voice, but genuine curiosity too.

I locked eyes with him. Oh, there’d been someone I wanted to take back to the hotel, but he didn’t need to know that.

I went for my coffee, and just before I took a sip, I rasped, “Just… didn’t connect with anyone.”

His eyebrow flicked up ever so slightly.

Before he could ask any further, though, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. I tilted my head to listen.

Connor straightened. “Is that us?”

I nodded, listened for another few seconds, then got up. “Platform nine.”

He pulled on his backpack as I did the same, and we collected our remaining coffee and pastries. We stepped into the flow of traffic, found the right escalator, and took it down to our platform. The train was idling beside it, and we stepped onto one of the cars.

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