He's smiling more widely this time. Dimples form in his cheeks that turn his features from handsome to almost charming.
"Isn't this more fun?" I ask.
"I would've preferred to be a garden gnome to an orphan."
"Oh. You're an orphan? No family at all?"
"Not since I was two."
"That's sad," I murmur, studying him. "Is that why you're in the Marines?"
He raises an eyebrow. "I'm in the Marines because the man who set me straight was a Marine. He taught me a few things about life, and I decided I wanted to be like him."
"What do you mean set you straight?" I ask. "You had to have been born like this." I wave at him.
"Not exactly." He doesn't seem to want to answer for a minute but finally relents. "I was in a gang for a few years as a teen, on a life path that would've put me in jail, if he hadn't stepped in."
I don't want to, but I feel bad for Sawyer Mathis. I don't envision a dark upbringing when I look at him. My family is my world. I can't imagine what it would've been like to grow up without my brothers and parents, to resort to a gang life. He doesn't say it, but I'm pretty sure that means he grew up pretty poor, too.
We're nothing alike and even more of opposites than I initially thought.
"What about you?" he asks. "What's your story?"
I shrug. "Your story is interesting. Mine is kind of boring."
"I doubt that. You seem to cause trouble everywhere you go. I'm sure you've got some good stories."
"You heard Brianna," I reply. "Spoiled trust fund baby with no plans for the future who likes to club." The sarcasm in my words is heavy enough, I expect him to move on. He's easy to talk to and listens intently, but I'm ready to retreat into my shell once more. I'm not here to make friends, especially with him.
"I don't see any of that," he says.
Eyeing him, I lean back. "Not so detail oriented?"
The flare of anger is in his gaze but disappears quickly. I'm starting to think I can get more of a rise out of him than he wants to acknowledge.
"I imagine that's what you want people to think about you," he replies. "Katya Khavalov is passionate, a woman with a big heart that makes up for her complete lack of discipline in any area. She's creative and smart enough to do anything she wants with her life, loyal to the death, and beautiful. There might or might not be a sweet center beyond her crunchy exterior. Most people are too afraid of her to find out, which is the way she likes it."