The Hallelujah Chorus broke out, angels sang, and the Red Sea parted. Brogan was finally opening up, even if it was just a little. To think of him as an awkward, gawky teen was completely charming. It went to show that the nice guys in high school really did turn out okay. And Brogan was more than okay. Maybe that should be a PSA in high schools: Awkward, gawky teenager? Don’t worry, you’ll end up being a billionaire CEO by the time you hit thirty. Keep doing your thing, nerds.
I cocked my head. “I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s all true. Even when I started my company at twenty-two, I was painfully shy around women. Just ask Jackson.”
“I’d need to see it to believe it.” Brogan, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Tattooed, shy around women? I’d pay good money to see that. Even though he remained somewhat reserved in our interactions, he still managed to make me swoon without even trying.
“Cross my heart.” He made the motion with his fingers. “I was a late bloomer, much to my father’s dismay.” He grumbled the last statement, and his expression darkened.
A boarding school boy with daddy issues? Oh, the plot thickens. “You don’t get along with your dad?” I already knew the answer to this one after the shouty phone call during my first few weeks at the company. Even still, I couldn’t help but want to know more, especially when he was finally opening up to me.
His frown deepened, and a crease formed on the bridge of his nose. “I don’t really like to talk about him.”
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. I bet my daddy issues can trump whatever your dad did.” I joked, keeping my voice light, when in reality, talking about my dad was the equivalent of dunking my eyeballs in bleach.
“I doubt that,” he muttered.
“Did your dad live a secret life for fifteen years and have another family he visited every other week?”
His eyes widened at this, and he bristled. “That’s horrible. I’m sorry.”
“It’s in the past. I haven’t talked to him in a long time. It’s better this way.”
“Sometimes it is.” He nodded solemnly. “Still, no one should have to go through that.” He pushed a few noodles around on his plate, staring into space. Still not sharing anything about his family.
“I don’t mean to pry.” Let’s be real here, I totally did. “I just want to hear more about you. I feel like I’m the only one that ever shares anything personal, and I don’t want this to be one-sided.” Future conversations would be pretty boring if it continued this way.
Awful flashbacks of family dinners washed over me with this déjà vu moment. Mom would ask Dad about his day, and he would shrug noncommittally. To think, he kept a whole other family hidden from us for years.
By no means did I believe I was the other girl in Brogan’s life—because, come on, the guy barely had time for work and his dog—but I didn’t want to fall into the same holding pattern that my mom had been in for twenty-seven years.
I pressed on. “Is that why you have so many rules? Because of him?” I couldn’t help it. Brogan was like a damn bag of Doritos. Once opened I wanted to devour the whole thing. Even if it meant prying a little hard for information.
“Lainey.” This time his voice was much harsher. “Stop pushing.”
The pressure in my head continued to press against my skull. I’d tried hard to be patient, but it was clear I wasn’t going to get through to him. His secrets, his desires, they all remained locked behind a door, and he wasn’t ever going to give me the key. “Unbelievable. All I want is to know a little more about you. I’m not even asking for much. Shit, I ask about school lunches, and you treat me like I’m interrogating you.”
He threw up his hands. “That’s what it feels like.”
Oh hell no. He would not pin this on me. Heat sizzled on the back of my neck, and I put my fork down. “I might be nosy, but like hell am I shining a police light on you.” Everything from five years ago came pouring back. The call from my mom, listening to her cry over the phone while I sat helpless in my dorm room. Googling my half-siblings and spending the rest of the day in the bathroom, sick from the news.
I cut my gaze to Brogan, this man who wouldn’t share a damn thing with me, who’d already made it clear he didn’t have time for commitment. “This is what people in relationships do, Brogan. They get to know each other. You know what they don’t do? Pretend everything’s great on the surface while keeping their whole life a secret.”