ten
N ate wasn’t sure what he had exactly agreed to.
What he did know, was that, as inexplicable as it may seem to him, Nate found that he couldn’t say no to Madison’s request. Not to the way she’d said it, so timidly, as if she felt like she was overstepping.
He found that he liked that. He wanted more of her genuine, unbridled reactions.
She didn’t play at things, being coy for the sake of being coy.
Her brain-to-mouth filter was just this side of compromised, and she blurted out things that surprised him and delighted him, even though he tried not to be too obvious about it.
He’d had to close himself off to so many different things in his life, it was probably second nature at that point, keeping his reactions to himself.
Madison though, seemed nothing like him. From the few conversations he’d had with her he wondered if maybe she was holding herself back. He saw a spark of mischief in her gaze that drew him in, that spoke to a part of himself. A special blend of melancholy and lightness he wanted to sample.
They’d stuck to general chit chat for the rest of their stay at the coffee shop, the sky darkening as afternoon started turning to evening. The earlier rain had left behind a cloying wetness that seemed to stick to them as they made their way back.
She was surprisingly easy to talk to. She didn’t push. She just did and said her own thing, and that was something he respected.
Nate had insisted in accompanying her to her house.
They weren’t far but it would be easy to feel uncomfortable when it got dark.
Madison of course said that she didn’t want to be a bother.
He had an inkling she felt that way frequently, like she was a bother even when he could see that she was grateful for the chance not to walk back alone.
So she spoke to his inner caretaker, sue him.
He’d taken care of his own family for as long as he could remember. It wasn’t easy to discard that particular trait.
And as he stole a glance at her as she traipsed through the shallow puddles of water, with a faint smile permanently on her lips, he thought he didn’t even want to discard it.