Page 47 of Love to Hate You

“Seems like you and Tanner have made amends,” I say.

“Our relationship was always the strongest,” he says. “But time and distance have a way of disintegrating things.”

“It must be nice to have him back in town.”

“It is,” he says and takes a sip of wine. “What about you? Any brothers or sisters?”

“No.”

“Are you close to your parents?”

I shake my head and drag my fork through my potatoes. “They died about ten years ago.” I don’t remember the last time I talked about my family. Or lack of one. “A car accident.”

“I’m sorry.”

I release a low breath. “It was hard at the time, and I think that’s when I threw myself into work and my goals.”

“That’s understandable.”

I meet his blue gaze, glowing in the dim candlelight. “No one has ever understood why I work so hard except me. You’re the first.”

“Takes one to know one, right?”

“I guess so,” I say with a little smile.

“Everyone needs to relax or hang out with friends at some point, though.”

I shrug a shoulder and don’t dare admit that I no longer have any friends because work has become my life.

“What do you do to unwind?” he asks.

“Unwind?” I ask with a chuckle. “What’s that?”

“Oh, c’mon. What do you like to do on the weekends?”

I know my truth is horribly pathetic, but I tell Nash, anyway. “I work.”

“You don’t ever take a day off?”

“I mean, occasionally. I guess.”

“What did you do on your last day off?”

The last time I really allowed myself not to think about work was last summer when Thomas forced me to take a day off. He claimed I’d been working too hard and told me I wasn’t welcome in the office one Friday.

“After bringing on a really big client last summer, your dad forced me to take a day off. I ended up leaving the city and rode the ferry around. I stumbled across this little island called East Bay and spent the day there. I’m not sure what it was, but the place was magical. Especially the lighthouse. I could sit there on the beach all day and look at it with the waves rolling in and out.”

“You haven’t been back since?”

I shake my head. “No, but I’d like to return. There was something really peaceful and calm about it. I don’t know how to describe it. It just felt soothing.”

“It sounds nice.”

“What about you? What do you do for fun?”

“Hang out with my best friend Alex. We usually catch up once a week at this neighborhood pub called Whiskey’s. Or we’ll go to a game if he or I have tickets.”

“It’s been a long time since I had a friend like that,” I admit, and I envy him.

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