Love, Unwanted (Discovering Love #3) Read Online Free

answer,” I warn.
    “I have the time.”
    “Okay, well, I grew up with a preacher as a father. Religion wasn’t just our belief. It was a way of life. I had to dress a certain way, act a certain way. I hated it. I couldn’t wait to get out of that house and away from my dad. I read a book about Ireland and knew this is where I wanted to go. Lishoy was as far as I got before I ran out of money. I guess I just wanted an adventure, to try the things I never got to do but always wanted to.”
    There’s a moment of silence. I lower my head out of embarrassment. Finally, he asks, “Did you ever get your adventure?”
    “It’s my turn to ask a question,” I respond. I don’t want to answer that question. What would I say? No, I never got my adventure because the first guy I decided to be spontaneous with ended up crushing me? Not a chance.
    Phoenix holds up his hands in mock surrender. “Ask away.”
    “Why are you in Lishoy?”
    Phoenix looks out over the pond and sighs. “I need a break. I love singing with my band, but I’m tired. It’s the same thing day in and day out. Same faces, same routine. I will always love singing. It’s who I am, but I felt like I was losing my mind. So, against my manager Mick’s wishes, I came here for a vacation.”
    “If you’re on vacation, why were you singing at the pub the other night?”
    Phoenix laughs, a humorless one. “Mick likes money. My turn. Did you ever get your adventure?” And we’re back to the question I both don’t want to answer and do want to answer.
    I think for a minute before answering honestly, “No. No, I never got my adventure.”
    “Do you still want it?” He stops walking and turns to me with a playful grin. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Phoenix has some kind of power. Every time I look into his gray pools, I feel him take hold of me and I have a hard time uttering anything but absolute truths.
    “Yeah,” I whisper.
    “What would you do on this journey?”
    A small laugh escapes me. “I have a list. Well, a mental one, at least, of all the things I want to try.”
    “Tell me them,” he orders softly. I blush.
    “No.” I laugh. “I’m sure to a big rock star like you, it would sound ridiculous.”
    “Are they big adventures?”
    “Some big. Some small. Some impossible.”
    “Tell me them,” he repeats.
    “Okay…I want to smoke a cigarette.”
    Phoenix’s eyes widen in shock. “You’ve never smoked a cigarette? I don’t believe that.”
    “I haven’t!” I insist.
    “Okay, what else?” He laughs.
    “I want to get drunk.” I giggle when his eyes bulge again, but I continue speaking. “I want to get a tattoo. Take a road trip to nowhere. I want to go skinny-dipping and sing in front of a crowd. I want to climb the highest mountain I can find just so I can scream at the top of my lungs. I want to take a hot air balloon ride and ride a roller coaster. I want…”
    I trail off when I realize that I’ve let my thoughts get away from me. I tilt my head curiously when I see Phoenix looking at me with an expression I can’t decipher.
    He finishes my sentence for me, “You want to live.”
    A feeling I haven’t had in so long begins to take root inside me. Hopefulness. Hope that maybe I’ve found someone who finally understands me.
    “I want to live,” I confirm.
    “Well, then, let’s go have an adventure.” Phoenix grabs my hand. I dig my heels into the ground.
    “What?”
    “Let’s go get your adventure,” he says with a huge smile.
    “I don’t understand,” I reply because honestly I don’t.
    He sighs and stands directly in front of me. “Look, you just gave me a list of things you want to try but you were never brave enough to. Well, I’m Phoenix Castle and I’m about to be your tour guide on this amazing fucking ride you’re about to take.”
    “But…but I don’t even know you!” I practically shout. This whole conversation is so surreal.
    “Not yet, but by the time we complete that list,