Don't Touch Her Act 2: Finding Peace

Chapter Seventy-Three

𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓪

"What was he like? Your last boyfriend?" Owen asked.

My eyes widened, "oh no, I... No, we didn't date."

"So, it was a one-time thing?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded hesitantly. Maybe..

The waitress came and took our orders as well as drinks. I had trouble ordering something I liked because, like Owen had mentioned, they served strange things.

Octopus, sea urchins, and skate, sharks, and then oddly, duck among there many choices of seafood.

Owen offered a closed-lip smile to the waitress as she left, bringing his gaze back to mine. "So, why did that end?"

"Well, it..." I thought carefully. "It never really started," I said slowly, processing the words as they left my mouth.

He nodded. "My last girlfriend was pretty toxic," he said. Not a hint of emotion showed on his face as he twirled his straw.

"You may not believe this, but I actually ended up in a mental hospital for some time after her. She really messed me up."

I looked at him, noticing the slight furrow of his brow before he looked at me. "I won't get into that."

"I'm sorry," I said. I had the slight urge to reach out and touch his arm. I almost did. My fingers moved closer before I retracted, swallowing before slowly meeting his gaze again.

"After that, I spent some time at home. Didn't have a job or anything, just hung out with some of my friends most of the time. But, I started baking and got a job at Kristina's." He looked at me intently as if waiting for some sort of reaction or answer.

I nodded, "oh."

"I should take you over there sometime," he said, resituating himself. "I've been told I make a pretty mean sponge cake."

I couldn't help but giggle softly to myself. "Maybe," I answered after a moment of thought.

"Well, if we have time, why don't we go after lunch?" He offered, leaning in.

I looked at him a moment, calculating how much time I had left. "Um..." I smiled sheepishly, "if we have time."

He leaned back, putting his arm onto the back of his chair, and grinned.