Page 11 of The Bleeding Hearts Club

“What?” My tone is sharp. I know it. He knows it. I know he knows I know it. He really has terrible timing.

“We should get to know each other. That’s what we’re here to do right? Mingle.” He wiggles his fingers as he says it.

Sighing, I put my Kindle down. “Actually, I was kind of blackmailed into this. My best friend, Lou, filled out the application and questions for me. She didn’t even tell me about it until Saturday. I didn’t sign up for anything but beach and time off work.”

Theo’s face falls, and I feel a little bad about it. A little.

“Oh, so, you aren’t really looking for anyone?”

“Well, no, it’s not that. I just don’t really see the point in trying to look for someone. I feel like that plan usually ends badly. Someone compromises themselves too much to fit with another person, or you get a false idea of who they are just because it was based on first impressions, which typically means looks. And I won’t lie, the dating department hasn’t been very kind to me.” I look away, straightening the blanket on my chair.

“After things that have happened before, I feel like if something was meant to be, it will happen, regardless of if I have any say. Why not let fate throw somebody at my feet?”

He snorts. “Kind of like how you did. Twice now, might I add.”

I swear if I’m around this dude any more, my eyes are gonna roll out of my damn head.

“Sure, Theo. If fate threw me at your feet, I guess I can handle a few questions,” I begin as he opens his mouth, words already on the tip of his tongue. “A few means like three. You get three questions.”

“Okay. What’s your middle name?” He asks, turning to face me, his elbows propped on his knees.

I looked at him confused for a moment before answering, “Grace.”

“Grace?” He sounds incredulous.

“Yes.” I raise my brow at him. “What about it?”

“The irony,” he murmurs, “Moving on. Next question, what are your favorite snacks?”

The problem with all of this isn’t that he’s asking. No, I couldn’t care less about asking meaningless questions like were in middle school at a pool party. No. The problem is the fact that he looks like he cares, like he’s genuinely interested in whatever the answer may be. I can see him physically grasping onto every single word out of my mouth, and that…scares me. A lot.

Theo is every red flag imaginable. Tall, blonde, funny, athletic, and yet, I feel like a bull being taunted with it right in front of my face. This is the kind of guy that breaks your heart so bad that you still think about it when you’re seventy. I don’t want that. I don’t need that.

I clear my throat before I answer. “I’m a big fan of spicy foods and I really like candy. Airheads, Skittles, Nerds, that sort of thing. And I only like chocolate with peanut butter.”

“Seriously? Only with peanut butter? That’s scandalous!”

I grin at him.

Maybe the pain could be worth it. Fate did throw me his way. I can worry about it in fifty years.

“Yeah, only peanut butter.”

Chapter 6

Theo

“Do you have any pets?”

Mina had started reading again. It was so much easier to hear the story with her reading the words instead of listening to them. From what I could tell, she must have finished the vampire story from the plane. This one, though, is way darker. The vampire one gave me 50 Shades of Gray vibes. I don’t know the title of what she’s reading now, but I could guess it’s something creepy because this book is just a horror movie. Instead of a masked dude chasing you with a chainsaw, it’s a cover model of one of those cheesy novels your mom would yell at you for finding in her nightstand.

She huffs, peering over the screen at me. I moved from my chair to sit at the foot of hers, criss-cross-applesauce. “Why?”

“Just curious to get to know you.”

“Well, there’s your problem. Curiosity killed the cat. Besides, weren’t you taught ‘stranger danger’. I could be an ax murderer.”

If you keep interrupting me I will be.