Page 16 of Teach Me to Laugh

“What? No, of course not.”

“Good.” He smiled, but this one didn’t reach those warm eyes. “I thought maybe the idea of cuddling a frightened boy made you uncomfortable.”

I snorted. “I wouldn’t call you a boy.”

“What would you call me?”

“A man.” My eyes roamed the length of his long body in the drivers seat. “A very large man who shouldn’t be afraid of fog.”

“You think I’m a large man who fears nothing?”

“I don’t know.” When he said it like that it sounded a little silly. “Do you fear?”

“Course I do. Anyone ever tells you they fear nothing, don’t trust em and run fast and far.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Anyone who loves anything fears. Even if all they love is themselves they’ll still fear.”

“That makes enough sense.” I admitted, even more curious about the big man Kaiden met while backpacking in Europe. “Why did you decide to take a year off to travel?”

He raises a brow, “Do I get to ask you a question if I answer?”

“You can ask.”

“Will you answer?”

“Maybe.”

“Suppose I’ll take my chances,” he sighed. “I’ve always wanted to see the world, but I also want to be a Doctor. I’ve always admired my parents and I like helping people. Doctors are what I know.”

“I spent so much time in the hospital with my Mom or Dad when they were called in on an emergency that they just started feeling like home. When I was a kid, I’d spend a lot of my time in the hospital daycare so Mom or Dad could visit easily enough while on shift, then my nanny would usually take me home from there. I liked it. It was like a second home and as I grew olderI knew it was where I was supposed to be. But being a Doctor is demanding, and I’d like to be a surgeon like my Dad. I’m thinking cardiology, but I won’t know until I get in there, you know what I mean?”

“Sure,” the man amazed me more and more every day.

“Anyway, getting back to your question,” he signaled into the parking lot and twisted to face me. “I want a demanding career, but I also wanted to make some memories in my younger years. I didn’t want all of my twenties to be filled with school and work, so I took the year to do what I wanted. One year. And I’ll never regret it.”

“Why Europe though?”

“I think it’s my turn to question.” He laughed when I blinked. Then he answered. “It’s old. I wanted to be somewhere with a history and Budapest seemed a little too dangerous to go at alone.”

“Budapest?” I straightened. “I’ve always wanted to go. Always. I’ve never known anyone else who actually wanted that!”

His eyes softened. “Maybe this summer we’ll take a week or two?”

“I don’t know about that,” I fell against my seat again. “It’s expensive and as you pointed out, dangerous.”

“We’ll keep it in mind.”

The way he was looking at me made me feel that melty feeling again, so I unbuckled and opened my door. “I should go in. It’s probably ready.”

I didn’t give him a chance to say anything, but before I made it to the door, Beckett was beside me. “Tell me something about you. Anything you want to share.”

“What?”

“I have a feeling I won’t get far if I ask a question, so I’m asking you to choose something you want to share.”

“My favorite color is purple.”

---