Page 65 of I see you Beauty

Because we both know why we’re here and where this is going. How the evening will end. But I still want to get to know him better, even if it’s just a fling. At least, that’s what I’m trying to tell myself. After all, I can’t fall in love with him.

“You seem to be interested in more than just my body. Good to know,” he teases me, making my cheeks burn up.

Ezra knows how incredibly attractive I find him. He knows what he does to a woman with his audacious smile and how he only has to touch you to make you fall for him.

“I’m an open book for you. You can ask me anything you want, Beauty.”

I quickly consider what I could ask him. Since I know so little about him, I have plenty of questions in mind. But I don’t want to overwhelm him or come across as too nosy. Instead, I decide to start with what I already know and gradually dig a little deeper. My goal is to be respectful and avoid giving off the wrong impression.

“You told me you took over the boxing club from your father,” I leave my words open-ended, hoping he will tell me what he is willing to share with me on his initiative.

Ezra leans against the windshield, stretches his legs, and crosses them. He looks off into the distance momentarily, and I’m afraid I’ve asked the wrong question. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to start with his late father. Stupid, Cora. Just plain stupid!

“Yes. My dad opened the club when he was about my age. I spent my entire childhood and adolescence there. It was a great time, and I desired to honor his memory… Plus, I wanted to make up for not being there for him when he died,” he adds after a brief delay, dropping his gaze to his lap, where he twirls his glass between his fingers.

“I’m sorry about that, Ezra. I shouldn’t have asked you about him,” I apologize and place a hand on his to comfort him.

I didn’t want to drag our evening down with such topics. But I wanted to find out a bit more about him. For example, how old he is. However, I’m not sure if I want to open Pandora’s box. I know he’s much younger than me. Maybe he’s even younger than I think, and then I’m just making it more complicated than it already is.

“It’s okay… I wasn’t an easy kid. I kind of gave him a hard time. And I never had a mother; she left shortly after I was born. I know nothing about her because my dad never wanted to talk about it, and since she didn’t want me, I never asked. After all, I had him. When he got sick, we had no contact because I was… an asshole. Then, one day, I got the call that he had died. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. That was hard. But I’m trying to make it up to him somehow by at least keeping his boxing club going like he would have wanted, and since he couldn’t take good care of it in the end, I’m fixing it up so it looks like it did in its prime,” he says, a little sparkle flashing in his eye as if he’s lost in a fond memory.

I don’t know what to say to all this information. It must be terrible not to have a mother. That’s why I’m glad I have such a good relationship with June. I don’t know what I’d do if it ended at some point—for whatever reason.

“It’s nice that you’re doing this for your father. I’m sure he’d be proud of you. We all make mistakes, but it’s our job as parents to forgive our children and show them the right path. You’ve found it, and you’re making up for it,” I try to cheer him up a little.

A small smile graces his full lips, and he nods gratefully at me. His gaze finds the sunset again, which stretches out in front of us in all its glory. I follow his gaze, and we sit quietly, enjoying the beautiful view.

“Your daughter is lucky to have you as her mother. Your relationship seems to be good.”

I nod and can’t suppress my smile. I love June more than anything and am immensely proud of her. Even though she’s lost her way a little, I know she’ll find the right thing for herself soon.

“She is a good girl, and I’m very proud of her,” I reply with a smile.

“A good girl, is she?” he replies ambiguously, and I know exactly what he’s getting at.

Ezra grins mischievously at me, and I can see where his thoughts wander. He says nothing, though, and nods. It makes me smile. It’s so refreshing to be with him. Nothing is stiff or forced. He’s relaxed, funny, charming, but also mischievous and incredibly sexy. I notice how I feel more and more comfortable with him and how much I enjoy spending time with him. Is this the right thing to do? Definitely not. But right now, I don’t care what’s right or wrong about it. I want to enjoy my time with him.

“So you’ve always lived around here?” I pick up the conversation again.

He rocks his head back and forth slightly.

“More or less. As I said, there was a time when I lost my way a bit and lived somewhere else. But I grew up here, yes. And you?” he now asks a counter-question.

“Thomas and I have been together since high school. I got pregnant young, and we got married. We had to find a way to keep our heads above water, and money was tight. We rented a small apartment on the other side of town. My parents have wanted nothing to do with me since the pregnancy. It’s not a good idea to get pregnant so early and be unmarried. Thomas’s father wanted his son to learn how to look after his own family because that’s what you have to do as a man.” A contemptuous snort escapes me when I talk about my parents and Thomas’s parents.

I haven’t thought about them for a long time because I’ve made peace with the fact that they all behaved completely wrongly toward us. But when I talk about it now, the anger comes flooding back.

“It must have been difficult becoming a mother so young,” he replies.

I shake my head because it wasn’t.

“No. The circumstances were difficult, but I love my daughter more than anything and don’t regret having her for a second. I loved raising her and watching her grow up,” I explain to him.

“So, why did you only have one? It sounds like you would have loved to have a bunch of kids,” he jokes, but his grin falls when he sees the puzzled look on my face.

I wanted to hide it and not react to it, but it is and remains a sore point that we only have one child because I would have loved to have more.

“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business,” he quickly relents.

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