Page 53 of Handle with Care
I shrug. “I guess? I don’t know any other way. Plus, I didn’t want to be a burden on my grandma. I still stopped by lots to help her after I moved out, between school and work and dance classes. Till she passed too.”
Will’s eyebrows lift, his attention rapt as if he’s committing every word I say to memory. As if it matters to him as much as it does to me. “I’m so sorry. Do you have other family?”
“No. Probably on my dad’s side, but I never knew them.” I don’t tell him I’m essentially an orphan, something I don’t like to think about too often. Something in my chest twists. “Friends are my family.”
“What do you do on holidays? Or… Sundays?” he asks, considering me.
I chuckle, shrugging a shoulder. “Well, it depends. Sometimes I would hang out with my friend Stephen back home. I go on lots of dates. And sometimes, like at Christmas, I go traveling if I don’t want to be with them. Not too far, because I’mnot rich, but I can get to Seattle or Vancouver Island or up to the Sunshine Coast. I’ve always wanted to go further, like Europe.” I give him a half smile. “So, here I am. Which really is some kind of dream for a guy with very limited means.”
Will’s quiet as he digests all this. “You’re welcome to come to dinner, if you want.”
I smile and shake my head. “I don’t want to intrude. Especially since we… don’t really know where things sit between us, exactly.”
He reddens. “Okay. Well. I wouldn’t say no to doing this again. I had fun with you, Dylan.”
I give him an affectionate grin, warming me from the inside out. Because last night was special, no matter where we go from here. “I feel I should tell you something.”
“You regret last night? Or you’re secretly married?”
“Ha. No to both. It’s… well, I don’t believe in boyfriends.”
“Is that like not believing in Santa?” Will peers curiously at me, smiling.
“Now you’ve ruined Christmas for me.”
“Dylan!”
I laugh, holding my hands up for a moment. “Okay, okay. But seriously, I need to explain. I’m… not looking for a boyfriend.”
“The oldit’s not you, it’s me?”
I shake my head. “No, but yes.”
“I mean, I know it would be bold of me to presume something on the basis of a one-night stand,” Will admits. “I presume nothing, for the record.”
“I feel I should explain. Sometimes, though, I’m not sure I quite understand myself either. As much as I love people, and having fun, and being around them, there’s a part of me that’s private. Maybe because I’ve lost my family. That it’s hard to get close to anyone else. I don’t know.”
“Maybe…” he says quietly over his tea, “you don’t want to risk being hurt again. And I understand.”
Shifting uncomfortably in my chair, I nod. “Yeah. And… and I’m only here for the summer, right? Like I’m not looking for anything serious. In fact, I’m on an ambitious dating schedule. And then I’m gone to Canada again, most likely.”
Will’s quiet. “Unless you get the permanent job at the museum at the end.”
“I think that’s going to you.” I give him a half smile. “They love you.”
“I don’t think so.” Will shakes his head with certainty.
“Lily does.”
“Everyone else calls me Mr. McLaren,” he reminds me. His mouth twists.
I redden. “I’m really sorry about that. It was a silly thing for me to start.”
Will shrugs, looking heavy. “People can say what they want, I guess.” But the way he says it, I can tell the nickname stings, and I totally regret doing that to him.
“What happened to the McLaren?” I ask at last, again, glancing up from my coffee. This time, it feels different asking. He’s staring into his tea like it holds the secrets of the world, his fingers wrapped around his mug. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
“I sold it.”
