Kyle keeps a short distance from her and both hands in plain sight around the handles of his basket. The last thing he wants to do is spook her.

Her question catches him off guard a little. Maybe she's even more damaged than he realized. Still, without missing a beat, he shakes his head as if it should be obvious. "Because you're interesting. And fun. And you helped me at the park and you're American and you seem cool and I don't have a lot of friends here. And because I'm awesome."

Normally he would add a line about how damn attractive she is and wanting to spend more time with her, but Kyle has a fairly strong suspicion that kind of sentiment would only backfire here and encourage Alex to flee. Temperamental, isolationist women. He served with one for awhile and roughly knows the type.