Page 31 of Valentine's Daddy To Go
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” he smirks.
Nash takes a piece of chalk and rubs it on the tip of his cue, walking around to the other side of the table. I bite my lip, watching his muscled arms move. He has such a hard body, it’s almost like he’s made of stone.
The amount of crunches he must to do to stay in shape is probably in the thousands. Lord have mercy.
He looks around the table picking out the next billiard to hit. It looks like the perfect opportunity to ask him a couple of questions.
“So, why did you lie to me the first night we met?”
It’s not a smooth opening, but Nash looks unfazed.
“Lie to you about what?”
“You pretended that this was your boss’s house. But it’s actually yours.” I don’t think he even has a boss. If he owns Jaybird with his friend Colt, then they’re their own bosses.
Nash shrugs.
“Some women only care about money. Once they learn I have it, things change. I just didn’t want you to know.”
I squint at him.
“Were you worried I’d use my womanly wiles to try and get your banking information?” I joke. Nash lets out a deep chuckle.
“I don’t know. I wanted you to see me for me, even if it was only for a couple of hours.” He looks me dead in the eye when he says that, but I can’t maintain the contact. I shift my gaze to the table and wait for him to make his shot, which he does.
I remember the night he brought me here. Ididthink the house was amazing, but I wasn’t scheming about his money. I was more concerned with what a guy like him wanted with a nobody like me.
Now I know.
“Are you worried things are going to change now that I know?” I ask.
Nash shrugs again.
“I mean, the blinders are off, and there is nothing I can do about it. There’s no use worrying about things you can’t change.”
He’s right. It’s my turn to go, so I cue up using the tips Nash showed me.
“What about you?” I ask. “How do you have such alaissez-faireattitude about everything?” I don’t want to be the over-sharer between the two of us. Nash already knows a whole lot of stuff about me, but I know next to nothing about him.
“It’s a long story.”
“I have three months,” I say with a half-smile before hitting the white billiard. He smiles in return and shakes his head.
“Okay, then. I’ll answer your question.” He moves around the pool table to my side, so I scoot out of the way. “When I first came to Fresno, I didn’t have much. In fact, you could say I had nothing. No money, no home. I guess there was Colt and this rinky dink motorcycle I’d been dragging around for years. It was my grandfather’s, and it ended up with me, but it didn’t work, so I never rode it. I basically held onto it for sentimental value, but that’s irrelevant information.”
He shoots two balls into a corner pocket without even blinking an eye. I’d voice my excitement, but I don’t want to ruin the flow of his story.
“Anyway, I got a job as a mechanic in another guy’s garage. I knew a few things about cars, so I thought why not? My partner, Colt, also worked there. The owner showed me some things about fixing motorcycles, so I asked Colt if he wanted to work on this antique that I’d been holding onto for years. That’s when we discovered we actually loved these things.”
He stops talking and looks at me. I nod and wonder I’m supposed to say anything.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“It’s your turn,” he motions to the table.
“Oh,” I mouth. He wants to keep the game going even though we’re having a deep conversation. I can do that. I get myself lined up, and take a shot. It doesn’t go in, but Nash continues with his story.
