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“Then what was missing?”

“Truth.”

My stomach dropped.

Nash looked toward his drink. “Sometimes people communicate every day and still aren’t telling each other anything real.”

He continued. “Once trust is gone, communication becomes a performance.”

There it was again. Something that had nothing to do with me feeling completely about me.

I reached for my wine. “What happened?”

His eyes returned to mine. “That deep on the first date?”

I froze then laughed. “Okay. Fair.”

He smiled. “I’ll tell you eventually.”

“Your turn,” he said.

“My turn what?”

“Last serious relationship.”

My stomach tightened. Caleb. The name I had successfully avoided for almost two hours.

I picked at the edge of my napkin. “It ended badly.”

Nash waited. “That’s it?” he asked.

“For tonight.”

He nodded and didn’t even attempt to pry open a door I had clearly closed.

I looked at him. “You’re not gonna ask?”

“You said for tonight.”

“So?”

“So I heard you.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Then he changed the subject. For the first time all night, I stopped waiting for something to go wrong. We stayed another hour and talked until the server started giving us the polite y’all can leave now smile.

When we finally stood, Nash walked me outside and the night air was cool.

I folded my arms and Nash noticed.

“Are you cold?”

“No.”

I was shivering, but I wasn’t about to let him know that. We stopped beside my car.