Free Perfect for You (Short Story) (Fire and Icing) by Jessie Evans Page A

then?”
    Trent shrugged. “People do change after college, you know.”
    “No, they don’t,” Dawn said, thinking of her ex-husband, who still enjoyed getting high and watching SpongeBob SquarePants as much as he had in high school, let alone college. “At least not most of the people I know.”
    “Well, I’m not most people.” Trent crossed his thick forearms on top of the table, making it obvious he was every bit as beefy as he’d been in his early twenties. “Back then, I’d never been out of Harmony, Tennessee. I’d spent my entire life playing football with a bunch of good old boys and trying to impress my redneck father. It took some time for my mind to open up after all that, but it did…” He hesitated before adding in a cautious tone, “And I’ve always remembered you as one of the people who helped crack open the door.”
    Now, it was Dawn’s turn to blink in surprise. “Really?”
    “Really.” Trent’s grin softened his sharply angled face, making him look less like a warrior escaped from a military epic and more like one of those famous wrestlers who end up making Disney movies. “Thanks for taking the time to argue with me.”
    “You’re…welcome,” Dawn said, hesitantly returning his smile, deciding maybe this night wasn’t a complete failure, after all.
    It was nice to know she hadn’t been wasting her breath with Trent. It gave her hope that maybe some of the other times she’d insisted on speaking her truth—against her mother’s insistence that ladies don’t raise their voice, and it’s better to bite your tongue and look pretty than disagree with a man—might have been worthwhile.
    If Trent had come around, almost anything seemed possible.
    “So…I guess you and Dave split?” he asked, surprising her again.
    “I can’t believe you remember his name,” Dawn said, brows drawing together. “I didn’t even realize you knew his name.”
    “Of course I did.” Trent wiped the icing from his fingers with a napkin. “He picked you up after class every day.”
    “He did, didn’t he…?” Dawn hummed thoughtfully, finding it hard to reconcile her memories of the college boyfriend who picked her up from class every day with the husband who preferred to eat his dinner in his home office instead of at the table with her and the kids.
    She forced a smile. “Yeah, we split. Coming up on five years in August.”
    “I’m sorry. Divorce sucks,” Trent said. “My ex and I split three years ago.”
    Dawn sipped the coffee she’d been toting from table to table, wishing the conversation hadn’t gone down this road, though she was glad that she and Trent at least had something to say to each other.
    “So do you do singles events often?” she asked, anything to change the subject.
    He shook his head. “No, but in the past six months I’ve hit a brick wall with every woman I’ve tried to ask out. I figured I had to do something to turn things around. I’m starting to feel like a social leper.”
    Dawn snorted. “Well, what are you saying to these women? Are you using cheesy pickup lines or something? Telling them their daddies stole the stars and put them in their eyes?”
    “No, Dawn, I’m not in eighth grade,” Trent said, eyes narrowing, though a smile curved his full lips.
    “Well you must be saying something wrong,” she said, brushing crumbs from the table. “There’s obviously nothing to complain about in the looks department.”
    Trent’s eyes met hers and a spark of…something leapt between them, leaving Dawn feeling flustered. Trent had always been a good-looking guy—over six feet tall with dreamy blue eyes, chiseled features, and enough muscle to make sure the cheerleaders back in college fought for the chance to slobber all over him at parties—but he hadn’t been remotely her type.
    He still wasn’t remotely her type. A few tattoos and piercings and a newly acquired appreciation for open-mindedness did not change that.
    Did it?
    “I’ve just