makes you blush so handsomely,” she said, reaching out to pinch my cheek. I shrugged her off.
“The thing with Richelle was that I was only nineteen, and she was the first person I’d ever been with. If she’d only given me a chance to mature and learn, I might’ve gotten around to … doing that to her, but I was just so inexperienced. I had no clue what I was doing.”
“And did you figure out what you were doing by the time the next one came along?”
“Yes. Kirsty was my longest relationship. We were together for three years. I was older then, twenty-two, and had several one-night stands under my belt. I was more confident by the time I met her. I definitely thought she was the one, was even ready to propose to her, but then we had a conversation about children, and she knew for definite that she didn’t want them. I do want children, eventually, of course, so we ended up parting ways.”
“That’s tough. Some people want kids; some people don’t.”
I cast her a quick glance. “What about you?”
“Me? Oh, well, in a perfect world, yes, I’d love to have kids, but my failed past relationships suggest it’ll be hard to find someone who’ll put up with me long enough for that. I mean, I get it. My job is unusual. It can be annoying to be with someone who becomes so distracted by virtual worlds when you just want them to live in the real world with you. Maybe once I’m financially stable enough, I’ll adopt on my own or find a sperm donor.” She paused then, and her expression turned mischievous. “Hey! Perhaps you could donate some sperm to me? I bet your kids would be cute as buttons and so well-behaved.”
The suggestion of donating sperm placed several lewd images in my head, and none of them involved medical procedures. I was quick to push them away since I didn’t need to be getting an erection while driving. “I don’t think so.”
“Not even if I let you impregnate me the old-fashioned way?” she teased, and I was certain I’d gone bright red again.
“Are you trying to make me crash this car?”
“I don’t know. Does the idea of old-fashioned impregnation make you lose your concentration?” she purred.
“No,” I lied. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
She gave an amused cackle. “Sorry, I’m being mean, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are.”
I felt her studying me now. “So, were there any others after Kirsty?”
I shook my head. “It was soon after we broke up that I got the job with Running on Air and immediately fell head over heels for Leanne. She had no idea, of course, not until years later when I finally drummed up the courage to confess my feelings and she turned me down in favour of Callum.”
“That has to have been rough,” Afric said. “Do you still have any feelings for her?”
“No, not at all. Don’t get me wrong, I was heartbroken for a while, but I eventually pulled myself together and got over it. That’s when Annabelle came on the scene. And now you’re up-to-date with the history of my unsuccessful little love life.”
“Aren’t all love lives unsuccessful until people eventually find the right partner?”
“I guess so. And maybe all the failures are necessary to learn.”
An impish grin graced her lips. “Kind of like how your several one-night stands taught you how to pleasure women in the bedroom?” she teased.
I suppressed a smile. “I should’ve known you’d want to bring that back up.”
“I’m quite shocked, to be honest. You didn’t strike me as a one-night stand type.”
“I’m not. That period also taught me that I don’t enjoy meaningless sex.”
“You’re my opposite then. Nowadays, the only sex I have is meaningless,” she said, and something twisted in my gut.
“Right. I’d almost forgotten that you don’t do relationships.”
“Not anymore,” Afric sighed.
I swallowed tightly. “Hypothetically, though, if someone came along who didn’t care that your job was unusual and was prepared to stick around, would you enter into a relationship then?”
Something flickered in her expression. Something that looked a lot like self-consciousness. “Hypothetically, yes,” she replied quietly, not meeting my gaze. Her answer caused me a ridiculous amount of elation, but I kept my expression neutral.
“Well, you never know. Perhaps one day this hypothetical man will appear.”
“Perhaps he will,” Afric agreed, her gaze fixed out the window.
16.
Afric
It was late evening when we arrived in Cornwall, and I had to take my phone out to get directions to our camping location. The rural