“I'll do my best!” I promise, flinging $10 at them and moving for the door before they can try to give it back to me.
“So sorry!” Toni huffs as she jogs up to me.
Sundresses should be illegal.
My caveman brain registers how fine this woman looks before I can form a coherent response. The black button-up dress flows over her curves, complementing rather than diminishing them. And that hemline…
I swallow hard.
“I—” She begins. Rather than let her explain unnecessarily, I cut her off by holding her coffee in front of her face. “If this is what I think it is, I might kiss you.”
“What it is, is a drink with enough caffeine to level a bear.”
“We all have our vices. At least mine makes me moderately functional.” She takes a sip, lashes fluttering with satisfaction. “How did you know my order?”
“Courtesy of Jac,” I confess.
“Remind me to kiss Jac next time I'm in there.”
“Will do.”
She looks at my drink. “What do you have?”
“Iced green tea with honey.” She screws up her face like I’d said something vile. As cute as it is, I still protest, “It's good!”
“Keep telling yourself that. So . . . where are you taking me?”
“Are you opposed to being surprised?” As someone whoisn't a big fan of surprises, I can understand preferring to know.
“Not necessarily. I'm just impatient.”
“I remember.” I relish the way she blushes. “Anyway, we are about to take the Red Line, so...” I let my words drag off.
“That means absolutely nothing to me.”
I lead us to the platform. “Our train system. It is functional, but she's an old girl. Your patience will be tested.”
She shrugs. “Somewhat functional is better than nonexistent. I've never lived somewhere with even half-decent public transit.”
“Seriously?” I ask.
“Yeah. The town I grew up in quite literally has one stoplight. And everywhere I’ve landed since has had mediocre options at best.”
“I'm sure you at least got into less trouble in your one-stoplight town than we did here.”
Toni scoffs. “In the sticks you've got very few choices for entertainment outside of illicit substances, fucking, and church.” I muffle a laugh. “And you'd be surprised how often those three things intersected. We got into plenty of trouble.”
To my absolute delight, Toni opens up. She tells me about her hometown, hitchhiking back roads with her friends, pasture parties, and the local boudin man. A different world from the one that made me.
Notably, she doesn't say much about her family. In fact, her parents or brother hardly make an appearance. Given what she'd said about her parents before, I assume they're off limits. But her brother had helped her move, so I’m a little surprised at his absence in her tales.
We're almost to our final stop when I ask, “Did your brother leave town after high school?” I knew he was significantly older than her, so it wouldmake sense.
“Oh, no. He grew up with his mom in Louisiana. When I was really little, he came out for some holidays and summer weekends, but that stopped when I was about six.”
“Why?”
She goes for a dismissive shrug, but I see the way her body tenses. “Nothing crazy. A painfully cliche white trash domestic unfolded, and he didn't have to come back.”
