said, pointing his spoon at me as though I were on to something.
I sipped my milkshake and snagged one of the marshmallows from the top and popped it into my mouth. “You have family here?”
“My sister and my niece live in Austin. And my mother and stepfather live in Round Rock.”
The way he said stepfather told me there was a story there. “Not a fan of the stepfather?”
“Haven’t been a fan of any of them, really.” He seemed to relax, leaning back and resting his arm across the back of the booth. The move made the thin, navy-blue sweater stretch across his chest, accentuating the muscles there.
“More than one? Tell me more.”
“Alan is number nine.” He smiled while shaking his head slightly. “He’s only three and a half years older than me.”
Nine? Holy fuck. Opting not to zero in on that particular detail, I asked, “Which makes him how old?” I didn’t care that I was fishing, although I already knew his age, and the lopsided grin he offered said he knew I was.
“Alan’s thirty-nine. Forty in July.”
“And your mother?”
“Fifty-five.”
“Good for her. Snagging a younger man.”
“Oh, he’s not the youngest one she’s snagged,” Jake said with a rough chuckle.
“I guess I can see how that could be creepy.” Really creepy.
“And what about you? I read somewhere you started tattooing at eighteen.”
That got my attention and pulled another smile. “I did. Gavin actually taught me, though it isn’t something he does often. I played around with the idea of doing something else with my life for a while, but realized tattooing is all I ever wanted to do. So, I apprenticed under this really cool chick Gavin introduced me to and the rest is history.”
Jake watched me and I couldn’t help but laugh. I knew he’d been trying to find out my age, which I had purposely held back.
“Fine,” I said with a chuckle. “I’m twenty-eight.”
Jake laughed, a dark, reverberating sound that I felt deep in my core.
“Good to know. You have other family here? You mentioned your father died.”
I nodded, trying not to let the sadness consume me. I still had a really hard time talking about my father. “And no, no other family. My grandparents all passed away. My mother did the honorable thing by having me, but when I was born, she took off, leaving my father to raise me.”
“Do you see her?”
“Nope. Never met her. My dad always told me he’d find her for me if I wanted.” I waved it off.
“You never wanted to meet her?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Sure, I’ve been tempted more than once, but for some reason, I always assumed I’d only be disappointed, so I haven’t bothered.”
Jake nodded, as though understanding. “My father moved on to greener pastures when I was two,” he explained. “He lives in Circle C. Has a wife and three kids.”
“You see him?”
Jake shook his head, leaned forward, and sipped his milkshake. I couldn’t help but look at the way his lips wrapped around the straw. I was once again transfixed by his mouth. He had nice lips.
When our eyes met, I realized he’d noticed I was staring at him. A warmth settled in my belly when his eyes heated, practically glowing as he stared back at me. The same way he’d been looking at me last night when he’d told me he wanted to kiss me.
Suddenly, I wished I had my sketch pad so I could draw his eyes.
“Any siblings?” he asked, pushing up the sleeves on his sweater, revealing…
Momentarily mesmerized, I glanced at the sleeve tattoo on his left arm. It wasn’t until he cleared his throat that I realized I’d been staring. I secretly wondered if there was more ink on his body, because obviously I’d been way off.
“Nice,” I said, pointing toward his arm with my spoon, which earned me a knowing grin from him. Okay, so I hadn’t pegged him for the tattoo type. Sue me. “And no. It was just me and my dad.”
“What did he do for a living?”
It was still hard to talk about my father. I missed him so much. He’d always been such a strong presence in my world. I’d lived with him until about a year before he died, not because I had to but because I’d wanted to. If I’d known I hadn’t had much more time with him, I never would’ve left. He’d suffered a heart attack, which had stolen him from me. However, I kept all of that information to myself.