Page 24 of In a Perfect World

“This isn’t a strategic business plan,” she replied.

“Everything in life is a strategic business plan,” I countered.“Every choice that you’ll ever make in life is a simple case of weighing the pros against the cons and seeing which column adds up first.”

“And what happens if the logical choice turns out to be the one that you don’t want?”

“Then that’s when you finally see what you’re made of, Triana Medina,” I answered honestly, but not unkindly.“That’s when you decide if you’re the take-the-easy-way-out kind of person, or if you’re the fuck-this kind of person.”

She laughed at that, but it didn’t sound as joyful as her previous laughs.“Yeah, there’s nothing quite exciting as finding out that you’re a coward at heart.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I corrected softly.“Usually, when a person chooses the easy way out, it’s because they’re putting everyone else’s best interest before their own.It doesn’t mean that they’re a coward or weak.”

I watched her straighten her back as she said.“Well, like you said, family is everything.”

“It is,” I agreed, but I had a feeling that it was the wrong answer to her situation.Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to press her for details if she wasn’t ready to give them.

She gave me another warm smile.“You know, in another life, I think you and I would have been friends, Kairo Booker.”

Friends?Only friends?

“Well, since we’ve already established that we’re no longer strangers, then what else can we be but friends, Triana Medina?”I teased, ignoring the pressure in my chest.

She smiled, and she really was fucking me up something serious.“Imagine that...I’m friends with Kairo Booker, the accomplished, distinguished, handsome son of Alvin and Anita Booker.”

“Wait, you think I’m handsome?”

The woman had the audacity to roll her eyes.“Please,” she drawled out.“Because they don’t sell mirrors in Sterling Acres?”

That got a laugh out of me.“I’m not immune to flattery, so I’ll take the compliments where I can get them.”

“Well, you’re very handsome, and I’m sure your parents are very proud of you and all that you’ve accomplished at your age,” she went on, and that struck me as odd.

“You think twenty-five is young?”I asked.

“Well, isn’t it?”

I shrugged.“When you compare it to fifty-five, then I suppose that it is.However, when you consider that we can vote, join the military, and live independently from our parents at the age of eighteen, twenty-five seems grown enough.”

“Maybe it’s a mentality thing,” she suggested.“If your parents raise you to be independent, then I can see why you’d feel that way in your twenties.However, if your parents are the smothering kind, you might be selling yourself short of what you can do.”

Again, she wasn’t giving me any details, and I wasn’t going to push her.While a lot of people felt that it was easy to open up to strangers, there was still that fear of being judged, no matter who you were.Nonetheless, whatever she had going on, it was clear that Triana’s issues involved her parents somehow, and that really was a tricky situation.

“Well, I have a degree, a good job, a mortgage and car in my name only, and I pay my bills on time every month, so I’d say that qualifies me as being a full-fledged adult,” I joked.“Except for the wife and kids, I’m knocking it out of the park.”

Triana grinned.“You really should buy a jersey with your last name on it.”

“I really should,” I grinned back.

After a few seconds of silence, she let out a long sigh, then said, “Well, we better get going before we get eaten by a bear or something out here.”

“You know, for as much as we go fishing out here, I don’t think any of us has ever checked the bear population,” I remarked absently.“It’d probably be a good idea to do a little bit of research on what kind of animals really inhabit the area.”

The woman let out a lyrical laugh, and it hit me square in the chest.“Yeah, that might be a good idea.I mean, unless that knocking it out of the park includes wrestling with bears.”

“It does not,” I laughed.“Not at all.”

Still smiling, she said, “Well, I can’t lie to you and say that I wouldn’t put my money on the bear, Kairo.”

“Gee, thanks,” I drawled out.