Unexpected Romance Read Free Page B

great
sex. She'd only be wearing his T-shirt, which would only cover enough
to tease him. And he'd pull her into him, dug his hands in her
silky-soft hair and kiss her, while finding out if she wore anything
under that shirt.
    He
held back his groan. Well, if all else failed, he knew what fantasy
he'd engage in tonight.
    Would
she be easy to seduce? She looked and acted tough, as if she'd had to
stand up for herself five too many times. She was probably romantic
and horny inside like most other girls, if you got past that shell.
    Since
he wasn't interested in the girlfriend experience, it usually wasn't
worth the effort. On the other hand, talking with her was better than
sitting in a twenty by twenty room and talking to his himself.
    Her
eyes presented a problem. When he looked in her eyes he saw her
vulnerability. She wanted to be noticed and needed. He avoided that
look. Those girls were the type to wake up the morning after great
sex and say, 'I love you.'
    For
those girls, they needed a nice guy. A guy who would take things
slowly, get to know them. Someone who could delve into why she had a
tough exterior protecting a very tender heart. Someone who could and
would deal with her issues.
    Back
to square one. And she asked him a question or said something. Either
way he’d missed it completely. "Sorry, my mind wandered
off. What did you say?"
    "Siblings.
You said something about a sister?"
    "I
am the youngest of four. Two sisters and one brother. I'm about ten
years younger than my oldest sister and five years younger than my
next closest."
    "Growing
up, I always wished I had a sibling. An older sibling who would
protect me."
    "They're
a pain in the ass, most of the time. So you had a rough time growing
up, hey?"
    "Some
months, some years were better than others. I had a roof over my head
and food to eat, so I can't complain much."
    "What
did your mom do for work?"
    "Waitress,
bar tender, cashier. Always jumping from job to job, mostly because
of some man. She'd screw her boss or her manager then she'd get fired
because of him. You never knew who she was bringing home. What kind
of guy he'd be."
    "You
were never like, y'know…?"
    "Abused.
No. Other than emotionally. The occasional boyfriend would knock her
around and I'd lock myself in my room so I didn't have to see it.
There was nothing I could do."
    "So
growing up your had the basics of life, but nothing nurturing?”
    "It
wasn't that harsh. My mom and I had good times too. She loved me."
    "What
about your dad?"
    "I
don't have any memories of him. I have a couple pictures in an album.
I never look at them."
    "Have
you ever thought about looking for him?"
    She
toyed with the handle of her mug. She looked up at him with a sad
smile. "No. He left because of me. He never loved or wanted me."
    Chris
felt a surge of anger on her behalf go through him. "You were a
kid. There was no way he left because of you. Did your mother tell
you that?”
    She
shook her head. "Of course not. I figured it out on my own when
he never tried to contact me. Not like I was hard to find. We never
left town." She leaned back and looked around the building.
    "Sorry,
I didn't mean it like that. My mom used to tell me it was my fault
when my dad split. They, uh, never planned on me. They were done
having kids with my brother. She was going back to work when my
brother went to school. At least, until I came along." He smiled
sadly this time. "Ruined all their plans."
    "She
actually told you that? In those words? My mom never blamed me. Well,
sometimes when she got drunk."
    He
put his hand over hers. "Yeah. I worked it out in therapy. I
know it wasn't my fault, but I still have that emotional wound. They
told me it would never fully go away."
    They
stared at each other for a moment. "I'm sorry,” Tonya
said.
    "Me,
too. My dad was around, he never split on me. I saw him lots, he came
to my games. I told him what Mom said to me, a couple years ago, when
I left to play juniors. He was totally pissed. We