draw with Ira sometime. Kids never forget promises. He’ll hold it against you if you don’t come over with your brushes and colors soon,” he said with a smug grin.
“I always keep my promises,” I told him with a smile.
“Good. Because I think I’d like to have you around more often as well.”
I felt my cheeks heat up.
Shit.
And I thought he wasn’t interested in me that way?
Not that I would deny my attraction toward him, but I wasn’t really looking for a guy to date.
Much less one who was as kind and attractive as Wells.
I also had to consider our age difference.
It excited me to spend time with a man twice my age, who happened to be a dad, but the second I thought it was okay, I remembered Evie’s reaction concerning the age difference.
So many people had something to say about that topic, and although I didn’t look at it as a bad thing, he had much more experience in so many fields than I did.
The biggest being the sex part.
I was taking it too far already.
We were just having dinner.
There was never a mention of this being a date, and I didn’t want to overthink it, because that would only disappoint me or ruin things.
He was just being nice, and me being only twenty and never really having talked to actual grown-ups other than my parents and professors, I had never engaged into adult conversations.
“So…you said your mom lives close by?”
“Yes. Just a few streets away,” Wells replied.
“Does she live on her own?”
“Occasionally. She met a guy at a bar a few months ago. Nice man, and Ira likes him too. My dad moved to Vegas a few years ago. He loves to gamble, and his growing addiction was what made my mom get a divorce. We don’t see him very often, but we keep in touch via phone. What about your parents?”
I puckered my lips and wondered if I should tell the actual story, or just find a way to skip over the awkward parts.
But since he was being honest with me, I decided to go down that route as well.
“My parents both grew up riding horses and bulls, so right after I went off to college, they moved back to the country side. They bought a ranch and since they’re still so passionate about bull riding, they decided to make a business out of it.”
“Sounds great to me! Why are you using that hesitant tone of voice?”
He definitely was a good listener.
“Because they don’t do traditional bull riding. Well, the riding is the same, but instead of wearing normal outfits other bull riders wear, they dress up as clowns to give the crowds, especially the kids, some entertainment before the actual competitions start.”
Not something a college girl was proudly going to flaunt.
It was weird, but I still loved my mom and dad.
Wells chuckled. “I need to meet your parents.”
“Moving a little too quickly there, cowboy,” I said with a laugh.
He grinned and winked at me, then our conversation kept going until we were all full and satisfied.
One thing I knew for sure: I wanted to spend more time with him tonight.
Chapter Six
Wells
Her laugh lit up the whole room, and I wondered how no guy has ever noticed that.
She was single, that much I knew.
But has any guy ever tried to make her his?
Rooney was an interesting girl who loved to have honest and deep conversations.
She was great with Ira, which started to worry me because I knew Ira was already starting to get attached to her.
He knew a good person when he met one, and Rooney was definitely one of them.
But worse than that was the fact that I was starting to like her a little too much as well, seeing the sweet and caring woman she was.
I never had much time to date, and after everything that went down with Ira and his mother, he was the only one I wanted to give my love to.
“Can you play with me now?” Ira asked Rooney after I helped him down from the chair which he pushed up to the sink to wash his hands.
“That’s a great idea, buddy. Show her your room. I’ll start cleaning up here,” I told him, looking over at Rooney.
“Sure you don’t want me to help?” she asked.
“I’ll manage. You can keep me company once he’s in bed,” I told her.
You could say that I was definitely flirting, but I didn’t do it on purpose.