Maria and Mitch left the temple and walked a few minutes down the street outside the historic park. A large, covered, outdoor seating area with cement tables lay ahead. They passed beneath a big sign with a Coke on the side and Thai script that read 15 baht.

"In the mood for boat noodles?" he asked.

"Sure," Maria said, as they settled into line. Her stomach had been grumbling for the past hour, but she hadn't wanted to be a buzz-kill or miss the temples.

He glanced at her twice then to simmering bowls on the tables with a grin and raised an eyebrow.

"You're waiting for me to ask what boat noodles are, aren't you?" she asked.

He shrugged. "If you don't care, I won't say anything, but I'd expect a skilled chef to want to know."

She glanced up at him, biting his lip and glancing around the shop, then she nudged him. "Okay, what are they?"

An attractive smile grew on his face. "So in the floating markets," Mitch spoke animatedly with his hands, enough to draw over a group of passing tourists, "vendors would come by in their boats and serve bowl after bowl of noodle soup with pork balls, fried meat, pork blood, and Chinese herbs. It took hours to prepare the meaty broth, so they'd make up big batches. No boat for us today, but the food still tastes incredible, if you're not weirded out by blood or the less traditional parts of the animal."

The tourists stepped away and surveyed the street for more options. Both she and Mitch chuckled.

"I grew up eating a lot of different things," Maria said. "As long as it isn't tofu, I'm game."

"None, I promise."

"That drove me nuts about my ex. Why did he always get his way? He hassled me if I ever brought home meat." Her hands clenched.

"That's never a good sign."

"I know." More words tumbled out of her lip before she could stop them. "I understand he wouldn't eat what I would, but some nights I craved fried pork, or chicken, or tender beef." Her shoulders tensed, and Mitch smoothed a hand over them until they relaxed. She looked at him with a smile. "My parents must have thought I was starving when I visited without him because I'd eat all the meat I found. Once I said I was buying groceries and ran out with a friend for wings and grabbed a carton of almond milk for my ex afterward, so he wouldn't bug me about it."

Mitch laughed. "Don't do that to yourself. If someone isn't willing to be with you the way you are, why bother? After fifteen years, sure people change and you adapt or move on, but after one or two? You shouldn't have to sneak off to eat what you want. That's ridiculous, especially with how important food and cooking are to you. Find a person who wants you for you."

"Lesson learned. Now I have to find him."

"What's the rush?"

Maria gazed at the couple in front of them, holding hands. "There isn't one. I just wonder if I'll ever meet someone."

"The minute you do, your life will shift, no more late-night rain dances, beach moments, flirting with whoever you want. Look at Sunshine and Daniel. They gave up living the dream in Thailand."

"But they're having a family!" Her head spun at the idea that he valued single life so more than a future with people he loved. Spending your life having meaningless club nights and hookups would feel so empty.

Mitch averted his gaze.

"Does no part of you want that one day," she asked softly, "even the slightest bit?" She thought of him on the train with the young girl.

"I wouldn't have an unhealthy supply of condoms if I did."

Maria moved up with the line and watched the vendor pour pork and broth into a blue bowl. That should have been the nail in the coffin of her illogical feelings for Mitch, but something seemed off. "That's hard to believe. You're so good with kids. You spend all day working with them."

"And after 4:30 I'm free to retreat to adult-land where the playtime is much naughtier and twice as fun. You shouldn't knock the lifestyle until you've tried it."

Maria sighed. "I could argue the same about having a family."

"You can't return your kid and say 'sorry, this isn't for me' without looking like a real asshole and affecting their lives. But you can have one-night stands consequence-free—if you're careful—and walk away to choose a family life."

"There can be consequences. What if you can't salvage your relationship afterward? Sure, the sex might be great, but eventually, someone wants more, don't they?"

"You're mixing up a one-night-stand with a friend with benefits."

"But you do both, right? I mean, Becca was far too often to be a one-night-stand. Now the two of you hardly speak."

Mitch tensed, and he calmly met her gaze. "Maria, I like you. I enjoy spending time with you." His tone was steady. "But if you keep putting my life under your microscope, this friendship will not work, alright?"

She nodded more times than necessary and studied her shoes. "I'm sorry."

He ordered two bowls of soup, and they sat down at a round cement table in the shade that was cool to the touch. She fixed her gaze on the traffic flowing by towards the historic park. Perhaps her ex was right, and she was skilled at ruining relationships.

Reaching across the table, Mitch took her hand. "Don't act so down. I'm not mad at you. I'm asking that you respect my decisions."

Maria stared into his caring blue eyes. "I do. I don't know what it is, but some things don't line up with you. Your words say one thing, but your actions convey the opposite."

He stroked her hand. "I could say the same about you. You're adamant you can't hook up with me, but you still find ways to be close to me, to touch me, to flirt with me, to wear unfairly sexy orange bikinis the day after we kissed."

Maria released his hand and hunched her shoulders, wishing the table would swallow her whole.

"But I haven't challenged your choice, have I?"

She shook her head.

"I understand that you're attracted to me, even though you know I'm wrong for you. And hell, it's pretty fun. But twisting my answers to convince yourself I'm the guy you want because we get along well, that's not fair to either of us."

Maria bit her lip and nodded.

"That's what the microscope feels like."

"I'm sorry, Mitch."

When the server's high voice called out an order, Mitch jumped up to grab it and brought them to the table with chopsticks and short metal spoons. She snapped a few quick pictures for her social media page. They ate to a background of motorcycle engines, sizzling woks, and Thai conversations while Maria avoided all eye contact.

He tried to make conversation, but she had nothing but one or two-word answers. Her mind was swimming with all the times they'd been close since returning from the beach. He probably saw her as this sad, confused woman and pitied her, putting up with her stupid questions and insecurities.

Mitch dug around in his soup and returned with a pork ball. He chewed on it for a minute before dropping his spoon in the bowl with a tiny splash. "I used to want kids when I was younger... when I was in college."

Maria nodded but kept her mouth shut.

"Things changed," he added, picking at his noodles with chopsticks.

"I'm sorry." She tried to meet his downcast gaze.

He breathed loudly through his nose and met her eyes. "For what?"

"Whatever you went through or found out sounds like it was difficult. But that's all I'll say."

"Thanks." Mitch lifted a big clump of noodles to slurp up. Maria's face relaxed, and they exchanged more slight smiles. "I meant what I said. I like spending time together." Her chest warmed with his words, but she reminded herself nothing could come of it. "This personal, touchy-feely stuff, isn't my style."

"I get it. We're opposites. It was funny. When I read those angry messages from my ex, my first instinct was to want to talk to you."

Mitch laughed. "Me?"

"You're direct and honest without judging me. Then you demanded to speak with me on the beach even though I was with another man."

"I was hammered. I shouldn't have done that."

Should she be reassured or crushed that it took that much liquor for him to approach her and deal with her issues? He'd been around countless times sober. That counted a little, didn't it?

"The guy was comparing me to an ugly cat or nat, so you did us both a favour."

Mitch chuckled and slurped more rich, meaty broth. "You sure know how to pick 'em."

"Check out who I'm with now. A real piece of work, who steals me away to these dusty temples he keeps droning on about and stops by my place for food during the week like some kind of street dog. He's scruffy like one too." Maria ruffled up his hair.

Mitch watched her with a smile. "Maybe you should kick him to the curb."

"We'll see. He grows on you, like those cheap Thai whiskies or mould on that bread you forgot was in the back of your fridge."

"What a lucky guy."

Maria's chest warmed. Even if they would never work, she could enjoy this odd friendship while it lasted.

"I also have an ulterior motive to use his history and food geek skills on my cooking page."

Mitch shook his head and chuckled. "I knew you were too good to be true."

"Keep pretending you don't love the attention."

"I like it from you," he said.

She caught her mind before it wandered off with his sexy smile. "Could you do that tourist-impressing speech you gave me earlier?"

He leaned forward and rested his chin on his fisted hands. "I don't think the tourists were the only ones impressed."

"Your ego-stroking knows no bounds."

Mitch laughed. "I like seeing you flustered. So, do you want to introduce me or do I jump in?"

Maria pulled out her phone and set up the camera. "I'll start, then we'll do your clip next. Do I look okay?"

"You're going for homeless-chic, right?

She stuck out her tongue and fixed her hair in the front camera. Across the table, he stood, came to sit beside her. "Food selfie?"

He held up a pork ball between two chopsticks and brought it toward her mouth. She captured a few photos before she couldn't pass up the tasty meat anymore. Mitch took the phone and swiped through the pictures that turned out surprisingly cute. He had made silly enough faces that they didn't look too much like a couple except for the last one she'd accidentally snapped when he'd fed her.

"Feeling more ready now?"

When Maria nodded, he returned to the spot across from her and started recording.

"Hello everyone, I'm in beautiful and sunny Ayutthaya, which is a short train ride from Bangkok. I'm sitting here with my friend Mitch and two bowls of amazing boat noodles. I could go on for days about their rich, savoury broth, the tender meat, and fresh noodles, but I will hand it over to Mitch because when he was telling me the history earlier, it was so engaging he drew a crowd of tourists."

When she paused, he tapped on the screen and handed her the phone. She counted him in. He spoke with enthusiasm that it made it feel like listening to him for the first time. He hardly looked at the camera, mostly at her.

"So what's next's on our tour itinerary?" Maria asked while recording.

"How do you feel about a lounging, larger-than-life man immortalized in rock?"

"That's not a weird euphemism, is it?"

Mitch chuckled. "No, but I like your thinking, it's only a giant reclining Buddha."

"Sounds exciting! Let's check it out."

Maria's cheeks grew warm as clicked off the camera and finished up her soup. He kept stealing glances at her beneath his strands of wavy hair. He may have had a point. While this wasn't love or overly romantic, it was a fun distraction that brightened up her days.

***

Here's the reclining Buddha they went to see afterward.