Page 21 of Things I Read About

“Yes, fly-over country my sister would say. She lives in New York now.” I bobble my head and roll my eyes. Skye acts as if she’s chic and cultured but… Actually, sheischic and cultured. She belongs in New York.

He tilts his head slightly. “You don’t have a southern accent.”

“You don’t really have a Boston accent.”

He looks down at the table. “Haven’t been home in a long time.”

The server comes and sets down our drinks, keeping us frozen in the awkward pause. As soon as he leaves, I watch Nate take a drink. His lips are fantastic. Full but masculine, soft and surrounded by stubble. He looks down at my glass.

I brace myself and take a drink.

It’s strong.

Orangey.

Not good.

I don’t let myself grimace or cough, though. I think he’s buying that I’m a whiskey girl.Go me!

“Where do you live now?” I ask him after the sting subsides.

“I travel for work. I have apartments in the big cities that I sublet.”

“Big cities like Dallas?” I ask into my drink.

“Not at the moment.”

“Bummer.”

He shifts in his seat. “Tell me about these thrillers.”

Thrillers? Oh.Oh!

“My books?”Mafia smut, stalker romance, epic fairy porn, my sister’s 1000 RomComs.“Um, you know, mafia, suspense, spies… former military types.” That gets me the twitch at the corner of his mouth. “What about you? You don’t really scream bibliophile.”

He raises his eyebrows. “You don’t really scream whiskey girl.” He looks down at the drink I have yet to take a second sip of. “And I am an audiophile, I guess.”

I force myself to take a big gulp. “Audio books?”

“And podcasts. Most of my day I’m listening to something.”

I almost gasp. “But not music?”

“Only when I’m working out. Is that weird? I guess most people would have music on in the car.” His eyes scan all around me again. Then they come back to my face. “What do you listen to, classical?”

“A lot of the time, but I also like to do a little playlist roulette.”

“Oh?”

I lean in. “I will hear a short clip of a song that I like in a commercial, or on TikTok, or someplace random, then I’ll just start a station around it and see where it takes me. Have to listen to every song in full. I find so many great, obscure bands and songs that way.”

He hums in thought, as if it’s a great idea. Which it is.

“Bands like?”

“Jukebox the Ghost, JVKE, John Michael Howell, Cody Fry, Emily Bear, a lot of piano pop.” He’s clearly never heard of any of them so I lean in even more. “What’s your favorite podcast?”

Please, please don’t say that bald UFC guy. .