“I think you can know a person based on the first few minutes you meet them if you look closely enough.”
“Is that what you do? You read people?”
“Yeah. It comes in handy for the industry I’m in. I have to get a quick grip on who my clients are when it comes to real estate, so I know which persona I should present to them.”
“You put on a different mask with everyone? That sounds exhausting.”
He shrugged. “Not really. Everyone wears different masks on a regular basis. Some people simply aren’t aware of it. Also, I like to think of the masks as different versions of the same person. Humans are complex, complicated. We are so much more than just one mask.”
The more he spoke, the more I dreaded the fact I wouldn’t get any more of his words after tonight.
He brushed his thumb across the bridge of his nose. “What was the nice lie? To my question about how being in the foster system affected you?”
“Oh.” I sat up a bit straighter and gave him a big, fake smile. “My upbringing had no effect on my life. I believe we create our own life stories. The past doesn’t define us.”
“I see that it’s a lie in your eyes.”
I turned to look out into the night. “That probably means you’re looking too closely.”
“Can’t help it. Looking at you feels like the best choice I’ve made in a while.”
I laughed, trying to play off the butterflies he was sending through me. “Is that a line you use on all the girls?”
“Nah, but seeing how it made you blush, I might start,” he teased.
“Well, you’re going to have to try harder. I’m not blushing—my cheeks are just cold.”
He raised an alarmed brow. “We can go inside. It is a bit—”
“I’m not complaining. I’m just trying to find a lie to cover up the fact that I’m blushing.”
“You’re beautiful.”
I rolled my eyes and laughed at his abrupt statement. “Shut up. You already got me to blush. No need to dig deeper.”
“No, I mean it. You’re beautiful. I don’t even mean your looks, but those are spot-on, too. I mean your spirit. That’s beautiful.”
A wave of shyness found me as I shifted myself and crossed my legs like a pretzel. “You don’t even know me.”
“As I said, I’m good at reading people.”
“You aren’t the only one gifted at that. I grew up a solid introvert who prided herself on being a people watcher. I learned to read people at a young age.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. That paired with the knowledge I’ve picked up from watching Criminal Minds, and well, I’m pretty much a professional people reader.”
“Okay, Red.” He turned to face me directly and crossed his legs in front of him. Our knees brushed against one another as he raised a brow in intrigue. “Read me.”
I rubbed my hands together. “Game on. Okay.” My eyes moved across his body, taking in his entire being. His shoulders were relaxed. He was fit, as made clear by the bicep muscles showing through his costume. He had a nice-sized—
Don’t look at his package, Aaliyah. Stop staring at Captain’s America.
I quickly redirected my eyes from his lower region back up to his face, the face that had a smug smirk and eyes filled with mirth. He’d definitely caught me looking at what he was packing, and the embarrassment building inside me was enough to make me want to crawl into a cave and die.
But still, I couldn’t turn down the challenge of reading him.
“You work out a lot. Not to stay built, but as a form of escapism. Your day-to-day life is hectic, which you don’t mind. You like being busy because it keeps you from overthinking. But then, when you get alone time, you get lonely, so you hit the gym to focus on something else. You’re a workaholic, and your mother probably tells you to take breaks. You’re driven and passionate, though sometimes you fear you might not achieve everything you dream of. You will, though. That’s not me reading you. It’s just me knowing.”
He smiled.
I liked it.
I continued. “You’re a people person. People like you instantly due to your charm and charisma. When you engage with someone, you really focus on them. You listen not to respond, but to really hear what is being said to you. You’re a student of life, and you do your homework on the regular. And you miss your mother. I can tell that because when you speak about her, there’s a momentary break where your smile falls when she comes to your mind. Sometimes, you consider moving back home to care for her and be close again. Then you realize you can’t change the world by sitting in the same pond of life.” I clapped my hands together. “Oh! And you’re a Leo.”
He narrowed his eyes at me for a second before pointing a stern finger at me. “Turns out, I don’t like being read.”
“Don’t worry—most people probably won’t read you. I’m just gifted.”
“How did you know I was a Leo?”
“Oh, that was the easiest—from your driven personality and easy-to-approach persona. Plus, your good hair was a dead giveaway.”
He raked his fingers through his sandy brown locks and smirked. “You think I’m Captain with the good hair?”
“Don’t let it go to your head, sir.”
“Too late—ego already inflated. Do I get to read you now?”
“Like a book.”
He rubbed his hands together and nodded in enjoyment. “All right. You didn’t fully want to come out tonight, but the idea of being alone was a sadder thought. You recently went through something heavy—a breakup maybe. The way your mouth just twitched in the corner makes me think I’m right. You struggle with abandonment issues, which is why you try to hold on so tight to those in your life. Though, the people in your life are few and far between. It takes a lot of trust for you to allow someone into your world, let alone into your heart.
