Page 18 of Broken Dream (Steel Legends #3)

Chapter Fifteen

Angie

I nearly choke on my bite of sandwich.

Surely he didn’t mean that the way it sounded.

He probably just meant that, you know, my aunt is a renowned psychiatrist, my family is full of billionaire ranchers with their hands in all kinds of other businesses, my uncle and my cousin make award-winning wine, and another cousin bakes delicious bread.

We’re a multifaceted bunch.

I have a big family.

But just the way he said it…

Is there anything your family doesn’t do?

Why am I hearing innuendos that aren’t there?

And I know exactly why.

Because I’m horny for teacher.

God, sometimes I disgust myself.

Plus, what if Ralph did see something? What if he’s already reported it to administration?

Jason could lose his job.

On the other hand, if this surgery he’s talking about works, he won’t need to teach anymore.

I wonder how old he is.

Do I dare ask?

I take a sip of water to avoid choking on the piece of sandwich.

“I have a large family,” I say. “They do a lot.”

“What else does your family do?” he asks.

I rack my brain before answering. It’s a lot to keep track of.

“Well, my cousin Gina is an artist. Her sister is the one who’s the baker.

My brother Dave works with my uncle Talon in our apple and peach orchards.

My other brother Henry helps run our nonprofit foundation.

My cousin Donny is a lawyer, and my cousin Diana’s an architect.

Oh, and three of my cousins are married to bona fide rock stars. ”

He nods, taking another sip of wine. “You do have a big family.”

I’m not sure what to say to that, so I take another bite of my sandwich and chew slowly.

I’m still not completely sure why he’s here.

He says he wanted to celebrate.

Why with me?

“How old are you?” I blurt out before I have a chance to stop myself.

“Almost thirty-six,” he says. “In fact, my birthday is next month.”

Thirty-six. I do the math in my head. He’s got more than a decade on me. Thirteen years.

When I was born, he was already a teenager. Probably learning how to shave. I bet his jawline was just as magnificent then as it is now.

It’s not a small difference. But…it’s the same as my parents. And it worked for them.

What am I thinking? I can’t be with this man. He’s my professor. There have got to be rules forbidding anything from happening between us. We may have shared a quick kiss, but that was just us getting caught in the moment.

Wasn’t it?

I blink a few times. “Oh. Well, happy birthday, then.”

“Yeah. It’s weird.” He gazes wistfully out the window. “I don’t think about birthdays much anymore.”

“Why not?”

He doesn’t answer right away.

Just when I’m convinced that he’s going to change the subject?—

He puts his glass down on the table. “I just haven’t felt like acknowledging birthdays, I guess.”

“Oh.”

I’m tempted to ask why, but if he wanted to tell me, he would’ve put it in the answer to that last question.

“Birthdays are huge in my family,” I say. “My mom’s cakes are legendary. And then of course Ava—she’s the baker—is also great with cakes and breads of any kind. There’s always a great big celebration, and everyone in the family comes. Even those who live out of town try to make it in.”

“How is that possible?” he asks. “If your family is as big as it seems, you must be celebrating a birthday every month.”

I nod. “Sometimes twice a month. And I have the same birthday as my twin, of course, so?—”

He raises his eyebrows. “Wait, your twin?”

“Yeah. We’re not identical twins, though we do look a lot alike.

Sage—that’s her name—works for the family business.

My dad is the chief financial officer for the umbrella company that oversees all our subsidiaries.

He was grooming my brother to take over, but Dave had an epiphany a while back.

He didn’t want to be cooped up in an office, so he started doing more of the work outdoors.

Sage took his place, and she’s loving it.

Like I said, we look a lot alike even though we’re not identical, but we couldn’t be more different in our personalities. ”

“How so?”

“She’s really outgoing. The life of the party. And I…” I let out a forced chuckle. “I’m…not.”

He lets out a breath, his gaze vacant. “Being the life of the party isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

I tilt my head and look at him. At his gorgeous green eyes that seem to have a speck of sadness in them.

Was he the life of the party once?

And now he’s not?

I suppose losing the ability to do your life’s work has that effect on someone.

“What do you mean by that?” I decide to ask.

He runs his hands through his hair. “I was a partier back in the day, but not every weekend or anything. I think it was because I had to work so hard, you know, to get through med school and then through my internship and residency. When I had the chance to let loose, I took it.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah. It took its toll on—” He stops abruptly.

“Took its toll on what?”

He takes another bite of sandwich, chews, swallows. “On…everything,” he finally says. “Working and studying twenty-four seven doesn’t leave much time for anything else. So my partying days were few and far between.”

“I’m sorry.”

He smiles. “No reason to be sorry. I had to work my way through college and med school, and I still had student debt.”

“Is it all paid off now?”

“It is.” He looks down. “But I wish it weren’t.”

“Why would you wish that?”

He takes another sip of wine.

And he doesn’t answer.