Page 70 of Hard Lessons

“So…”

“So?” he repeated, taking a bite of potato.

I smiled as I set down my fork and reached for my glass of wine.

“I thought that maybe we could talk a little? Get to know some personal details about one another?”

“Sure. What did you want to know?”

I hadn’t made a list or anything. I shrugged as I sipped. “How many serious relationships have you been in?”

“One.”

“One?” I questioned, surprised at that. Elliot was gorgeous. Always had been. I knew he had a rather serious girlfriend when he was in college, but I just assumed that he’d had a few since then. I’d never met her, but I honestly never cared to. When he tried to introduce her to me that one time, I had purposely gone to my friend’s house to stay the night, so I wouldn’t have to face a broken heart.

“Yep. Only one.”

I was nervous to ask, but I forced myself to continue. “The girl you brought home when you were in college?”

He nodded as he kept eating.

“Why haven’t there been any more?”

He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Once you have your heart broken once, it’s not something you’re dying to try again.”

I cut off another bite of chicken.

“What about you?”

I looked up at him. “How many serious relationships have I been in?” I thought it was apparent, given he was the one who had taken my virginity.

He rolled his eyes and smirked. “How many guys have you dated?”

I shrugged. “Not many. A couple in high school, I guess, but none worth mentioning.”

“If they got your time, it’s worth mentioning.”

“They’re really not.” I bit down on my lip as I thought about what I was going to say next. “If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?”

His eyes met mine, the smile slowly falling from his lips as he saw how serious I was. “I’ll always be honest with you.”

I took a deep breath as I worked up the courage to ask the question I’d always wanted the answer to. “What happened with you and my brother?”

The question was like a bomb going off. It changed the feeling of the room. The air felt colder, heavier. The warmth in his eyes vanished, and the cold steel returned. His jaw flexed, and his hand that was resting on the table twitched. He put his fork down and leaned forward. “You never asked him about that?”

“I-I did. A couple of times. He wouldn’t ever talk about it,” I said softly.

He scoffed as he picked up his glass, taking a drink. He lowered it to the table and diverted his eyes.

“So… will you tell me?”

After a moment, his eyes found mine. “It was the only time I’d ever been in a serious relationship. She was it for me. We were planning on getting married.”

“Really?” I frowned, my guts twisting painfully at what he wasn’t saying.

He nodded. “Everything changed once your parents died.”

It felt like the air had been sucked from my lungs with those words. My parents dying changed me forever, but I had no idea how much that event changed others as well.