Page 62 of Last Fall

“And I enjoy JasonMomoa.”

Erik laughed at that. “He was good.Ialmost fell in lovewithhim.”

“What aboutBattlestar?”

He sat up a little straighter. “Battlestar Gallacticawas awesome. I watched it in the off-season thankfully. I couldn’t stop once I started. I think I lost an entire week in there somewhere. I blame Marieforthat.”

“MarielikesBattlestar?” She was so girly. And feisty. And busy. When did she have time to watch science fictionshows?

“It’s herfavoriteshow. You can stop by her house. It’s probably onrightnow.”

“Really...well I’ll have to talk to her about it at the next dinnerparty.”

Which was going to be very different, now that I thought about it. The last one was already a huge change, but after tonight, no matter what happened, everything would bedifferent.

I really didn’t know how to process that. Dinner at Jake and Eve’s was a centerpiece of my life. It was actually what struck me hardest while Erik and I ate dessert. As I recounted the most basic parts of my twisted relationship with Tony I realized that Jake and Eve were my game changer because it was a friendship that Erik and I shared. We had a lot that we didn’t share—his teammates, my writing group—but in the middle we had this commonground.

Tony slowly cut everyone out of my life while he had me distracted. Erik wouldn’t do that. And even if he tried—which I knew was not a possibility—my new family wouldn’tlethim.

“You’re close with Marie.” I stole anotherglance.

“Yeah. She’s been my agent for a long time. Moving here we just naturally met up more often. She reminds me a lot ofmymom.”

“How so?” I found a parking spot and swung in, killing theengine.

“Single badass mom.” Heshrugged.

I’d forgotten that Marie mostly raised Natalie on her own. Greg was such a part of her that I had trouble imagining the two of them separately. “When did yourfatherdie?”

“I wassixteen.”

That was a tough age to lose a parent. “I’msorry.”

“I appreciate that.Shallwe?”

He was out the door in a flash, leaving me more than a littlesurprised.

The man who wanted all the details of my past didn’t want to talk about his own. To be fair it wasn’t the same thing. Losing a parent was painful but it wasn’t stopping him from livinghislife.

While myissues...

My car door opened. As I stared at his hand I made a deal with myself. For the rest of the night, the past didn’t exist. Not his and not mine. I was going to live in the moment, trust that my instincts about Erik were correct, and make the mostofthis.

I took his hand feeling a lot more like myself than I had in weeks. I was a woman going dancing with a gorgeous man. It put a bounce in my step that Erik quicklymatched.

The club was a quick three-minute walk. The street was alive with people out for a good time. This section of Tampa had once been home to the Cuban cigar factories but was now known for its shopping and nightlife, the buildings a mix of historicandnew.

The bouncer checked our IDs. Inside was packed. The DJ was housed slightly above the crowd on the far wall. A bar ran around the back right corner. Tables had been shoved to the sides to make as much room as possible fordancing.

“Do you dance?” I probably should have asked that first but I had a feeling he wouldn’t have agreed so readily if hedidn’t.

“Do I dance?” he scoffed, puffing his chest up a little, then spinning me into his arms as we fell perfectly into sync with the other dancers. “My mama isCuban.”

So of course he danced. It was impossible to live in Tampa without learning things like this. Where I was from some men line danced or two-stepped, but many didn’t want to be caught dead doing something as girly asdancing.

But not here. Music, dance, art, food, it was all infused into the mix of Hispanic cultures that blended into the community ofTampaBay.

It was one of the things I’d fallen so in love with sincemovinghere.

With Erik’s heavy gaze on me as his body moved with mine, with his arms holding me so confidently, I had to wonder if I was falling in love with a wholelotmore.

---