Page 36 of River
“Yeah, like a date.”
She hesitated. “You can, but not until I’ve told you something that might make you change your mind.”
I frowned. “And what’s that?”
“I’ll tell you when we’re done with this massage.”
My head was exploding with what she could possibly want to tell me that would make me not want to date her.
“Psst…” I called to make her open her eyes again.
“What?”
“Were you born male?”
“No.”
“Hmm… do you have a criminal past?”
“No.”
I thought about it and came up with a logical answer.
“Are you pregnant with another man’s child?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, Noah. I’ll tell you when we’re done with the massage.”
The two women massaging us were babbling in their local tongue, so I didn’t feel a need to wait since they clearly weren’t listening to us anyway.
“I’m dying here, River. Just tell me. Do you have some kind of dangerous stalker that you feel I should know about?”
River looked over her shoulder to the women, who were massaging our feet and lower legs. “It’s just that…” She trailed off, and I could tell that what she wanted to say to me was hard for her to put into words.
“What?”
“If I agreed to date you while we’re still here in Bali, I’d need you to know that it wouldn’t involve sex.”
My blood pressure spiked from her implying that she would be open to dating me, and then the last portion of her words registered and made me lower my brow. “Why not?”
“I told you that I don’t trust people easily, and I’m funny when it comes to sex. It’s not something I have within the first few weeks or even months of knowing someone, and since I’m leaving in two and a half weeks, I think it’s only fair to warn you that if that’s your motivation to spend time with me, you’re better off hitting on some other woman in town.”
“You have to spend months with a guy to have sex with him?”
“Yes.”
“So, you’ve never had a one-night stand?”
“No.”
“Wow.” It was my turn to close my eyes and take in what she’d just told me. Living in Norway and traveling the world, I’d met my share of women willing to spend a night with a stranger for mutual satisfaction. I had never met a woman who insisted on waiting for several months. “So, let’s say we date and have fun together while we’re here, and then I came to visit you in London in a few months? Would that work?”
“I can tell sex is very important to you, which makes me think that we wouldn’t be a good match anyway.” I caught a ghost of sadness on River’s face before she turned her head away.
I propped myself on my elbows. “Hey, look at me.”
She did.
“I’m sorry for being such a jerk. Obviously, sex isn’t everything and I’d still like to get to know you better. I’ve just never met anyone who was so upfront about itnothappening.”
“I get that. My friends like to tell me about their encounters all the time, and I’m aware that for our generation, sex isn’t necessarily considered a big thing, but because of my trust issues, I’m more careful.”
“I get that,” I assured her. “But just so you know, I’m one of the good guys.”
For a long while, we lay with our heads turned to each other and looked into each other’s eyes. We weren’t smiling, joking, or even talking. Still, there seemed to be a conversation about a scared eleven-year-old girl being rescued, adopted, and sad that her mother had lost her mind. The first time I’d seen River, I’d seen the beautiful façade, but today she was showing me something much more fragile and real. As a single tear rolled from her eye, I reached out and took her hand.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “You can trust me.”
