“Okay.”

“Nice teeth.”

Hmm.

“A beautiful face.”

My eyelid may have started twitching.

“Someone who makes me laugh.”

The twitching went into overdrive. “Are you making stuff up?” Because, really? Kulti laughing? Ha.

“Is there something wrong with my list?” he asked with a stony even glare.

“There wouldn’t be anything wrong with it if you weren’t randomly blurting stuff out. Someone who makes you laugh? I feel like you’re going to start describing a unicorn after that.”

He prodded at the inside of his cheek with his tongue. “Just because I’m not attracted to women old enough to remember the last Great War, doesn’t mean my list is made up,” Kulti said.

Oh my God. That made me burst out laughing. “You make it sound like I hit up retirement homes for dates. Those men are probably only a couple years older than you are, so think about that, creaky knees.”

And that got his mouth to close. “You are the most insolent person I have ever met in my life.”

Smiling, I took a bite out of my sandwich.

What felt like five minutes later, Kulti finally turned his attention back to the television, one cheek pulled back like he was biting down on.

When the episode was over, I got up slowly and took my dishes into the kitchen, grabbing Kulti’s right along the way. “I have to leave in thirty. If you promise not to steal anything that you could easily afford on your own, you can stay here and watch more TV.”

There was a pause as he scrolled through the DVR recordings. “My driver is downstairs. He can take us.”

Us? My plate clattered into the sink. “You want to come?”

“I have nothing else to do.”

That wasn’t the first time he’d said something along those lines. I walked back around the couch and carefully sat down, eyeing him. I knew what I was about to ask was completely out of my league, but whatever. “What exactly do you do all day?”

It was an honest question. He didn’t have to have a normal job, but I figured he had other things to keep him busy. He had a few projects, some businesses I’d heard about throughout the years, but apparently he also had a lot of time to spare. So what did he do when he wasn’t at practice?

He kept his attention forward, but I could see the way the shoulder closest to me tightened. His answer was simple. “Nothing.”

“You have nothing to do?”

“No.” He amended his answer, “A few emails and phone calls, nothing significant.”

“Don’t you have businesses and other stuff?”

“Yes and I have managers that handle everything so that I don’t have to. I’ve minimized my obligations recently.”

That sounded… awful.

“You could do things if you wanted to,” I offered lamely. “Community service, get a hobby…”

Kulti shrugged his shoulders.

That didn’t help me feel any less weird about how bored he must be. Not having things to do drove me nuts. How could it not drive him crazy too? To stay in his house all day…

I suddenly remembered the night I picked him up from the bar. All right, so maybe he didn’t stay in his house all day. Regardless, a lot of things suddenly made sense. Why he played softball, asked me to play soccer with him, why he was in my apartment.

This sense of obligation stirred in my chest. But I didn’t say anything or do anything. Mainly because I wasn’t planning on forgetting what he’d admitted.

There was such a thing as too much too soon, wasn’t there?

Leaning back against the couch for a few more minutes, I kept the thought in my head. “In that case, you’re going to have to grab one of my hats before we leave.”