“I think the reason I haven’t told anyone about my dream to be a programmer is because I’m scared that if I branch out, I won’t succeed on my own. I’ve always had someone by me to compare myself to and a guaranteed path to follow. But I don’t know what this path looks like.”
I hold my breath, waiting for him to say more. It’s like he exploded, too.
“I get that. I still don’t know what I want to be.”
He raises a brow. “You don’t?”
“Nope. I graduated with a degree in hospitality management, but I currently work as a waitress. And I hate it. I think I want to work at an old folks’ home.”
Trent chuckles. “Are you going to offer them fake tattoos or rides in your creeper van?”
The mood shifts, so fully it’s like walking out of an igloo in the North Pole and finding yourself in Arizona.
I slap my forehead. “I didn’t even think to add those to the resume.”
“You probably shouldn’t.”
“Hey now, just because you’re a baby and couldn’t handle getting poked by a needle.” I arch a brow.
“It wasn’t the needle; it was the person wielding it,” he says.
“I’m offended. I thought I put on a good act.”
He nods. “You wereveryconvincing.”
It’s quiet again, but this time there’s a silence, a stillness, a peace. Now I can fall asleep.
“What’s your favorite movie?” he asks.
Or not. I twist in my seat to face him, curling my legs up to my chest. “I like all kinds. But I mostly watch scary movies around the holidays.”
Trent’s eyes dart from the road to me. “Because nothing says Christmas like a bunch of helpless people being chased by monsters and demons?”
I chuckle, my insides warming when his deep laugh joins mine. “Well, it’s better than sitting around moping about being alone.”
His smile turns sad and I face forward again, hating the pity.
He clears his throat. “So what do you watch when you’re happy?”
That’s a tricky question. It takes me two minutes to come up with a few options. “A Walk to Remember, Me Before You, Titanic…”
“Those aren’t happy movies.” He’s quiet for a moment. “So you like romance, but you don’t like a happy ending?”
My head swivels in his direction. “Um, one that was way too intuitive, and two, you’ve watched all those movies?”
He’s got one hand on the wheel, the other on the console between us. He looks completely at ease, and wow is it sexy.
“I’m well versed, alright?”
Oh, I know. I’ve been learning this and trying very hard not to fall for it for the last eighteen hours.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he says.
I peel my eyes away from him. My stomach pinches, feeling unsettled suddenly. “You’ve met my mother.”
“So because it never worked out for her, you don’t think it will work out for you?”
“No.” That’s not what I’m saying, not what I believe, right? “It feels, I don’t know, mystical? To believe that two people can really be happy together forever? Even my grandma was divorced and never had a good thing to say about my grandpa.”
