Page 26 of Rebound With Me
“It’s on the door buzzer.”
“Right…What’s your last name?”
He pauses, before saying: “Devlin.”
“Vince Devlin.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a good name.”Hot. That’s a hot name.“Irish?”
“My Dad’s side, yeah. My mother’s side is French. Vincent was her father’s name.”
“Ah,oui?”
“You speak French?”
“Barely. Only when I’m nervous.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I count, to myself, in French to calm myself down.”
“Does that work?”
“Sometimes. Do you? Speak French?”
“Not really. I did when I was younger, but it just makes me sad now.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, my Mom died when I was fourteen.”
“Oh I’m so sorry.” He’s too far away for me to reach out and touch his knee, but I hold his gaze. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks.” He looks over at the drywall patch.
“Can I ask you something?”
He looks back at me. “Yeah.”
“Do you have a kid?”
He looks so startled that I’d ask that. “What? Oh. No. I had to leave last night because of my little brother. My half-brother, Charlie. He’s eight.”
“Ohhhh.”
“He goes to a private school.”
“Oh. I teach at a public school.”I would tell you which one if you’d ask, but this still isn’t a date, I guess.
“My Dad had a date last night and I forgot that the babysitter had to leave at ten.”
“Oh.”
“I just got too caught up in…you.” He rests his chin in his hand and smiles at me and I die a small death for so many reasons. The smile, the thought of him with his little brother, the unbuttoned shirt…
“I have an appointment, I should probably…”
