Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 187(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 187(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
“What did he want to tell her?” Seamus asked.
“He told her the story of his life starting at birth with a bunch of details about different things over the years including ages that were clearly older than he was. He talked about his wife, their marriage, their kids, all this sweet stuff, and then he ended the story talking about his death bed and how his last words were that he was so glad he had bought his future wife a drink in a random coffee shop in the middle of nowhere.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Did his attempt to pick her up work?”
“She gave him her number, so maybe? They weren’t from Hope. Both of them were stopping in town to take a break while they were driving to Phoenix or Vegas or California.” He shrugged. “So I guess we’ll never know.”
“I wonder if he uses that line a lot,” Seamus said.
“I can’t imagine many women would give a stranger the time to listen to all that. She was either bored after driving alone for hours or she was really into him.” DJ took a drink of water. “I like to believe that she was into him, and I witnessed a weird but successful meet cute.”
“I’ll go with that.” Seamus picked up the die. “My turn.” He rolled it. “Orange.”
“Beliefs,” DJ said as he picked up the card. “Oooh, I like this one.” He lifted his legs onto the chair and crossed them. “Do you believe in fate or free will?”
“Hmm. I’d have to say free will because I left my family and my home and everyone I knew to move across the country and build a life that’s completely different from the one I would have been fated for had I stayed in Claddagh.” He nodded at his own words as he spoke. “If that’s not free will, I don’t know what is.”
Head tilted to the side, DJ squinted at him. “That’s an interesting viewpoint of your situation.”
Seamus blinked. “What do you mean viewpoint? It’s what I did.”
“Did you?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you’re here.” DJ smiled at him. “You’re here in a small town, running a bar, and playing a Claddagh get-to-know-you game with a person from the community who you married due to an arrangement set up by your parents.” He bit his lower lip. “Your family’s in the restaurant business, right? They own restaurants and bars in Claddagh and the surrounding towns?”
“Ye...yes,” Seamus said hesitantly, mind swimming.
“So if you’d stayed in Claddagh, which is also a small town, you’d probably be doing the same type of work?”
“Probably,” he confirmed.
“I won’t keep pointing out the overlaps.” DJ reached down and picked up the die. “I’m sure you get it.”
The overlaps were that if he had stayed in Claddagh, he’d be living in a small town, running a bar, and probably in a marriage set up by his parents with a woman from the community. “I’d be married to a woman if I’d stayed,” he said, latching onto the one difference.
“That’s a good point. Marrying a man instead of a woman wasn’t expected. It was completely your choice. That’s free will.”
Even though DJ was agreeing with him, his comment made Seamus question himself further. Before he could spiral, DJ tossed the die onto the table.
“Red,” he said. “That’s hobbies.”
It took him a few moments to gather himself, but then he picked up the card. “What's your favorite hobby to do when you’re alone?”
DJ’s face lit up with a wicked grin. “I'm on red not yellow, right?”
Seamus flicked his gaze down. “Yellow is sex. This is a hobby question.”
“Well, I guess we’re bound to have some questions that fit multiple categories, but I’ll try to keep my answer completely in the red category’s lane.”
Seamus tried to understand what he meant but he wasn’t following.
“Hmm.” DJ pulled his lower lip into his mouth. “I don’t have a lot of downtime, and when I do, I try to catch up with my friends, but I guess I’ll say reading. I love it and I wish I could do it more.”
“I do too. I almost never watch TV.” Seamus raised his hand and moved it across the room. “Actually, I don’t even have a TV in here. If I really want to watch something, I do it on my laptop, but I’d almost always rather read.”
“Me too.” DJ picked up the die and held it out to him. “Your turn.”
Ignoring the die, he asked, “What was the other thing you were going to say?”
“What other thing?”
“Your first answer. You said the question fell into two categories.”
The mischievous grin was back. “Are you sure you want that other answer?”
He should probably say no, but he couldn’t restrain his curiosity. “Uh huh.”
“Alright, I’ll give you a bonus answer.” DJ looked straight into his eyes. “My favorite thing to do when I’m home alone is to play with my dildo.”