“Strike three.”
“What? You told me you were on the swim team and were quarterback of the football team.”
“Yes, but that’s only two. What other sports did I play?”
“How should I know? You never talk about high school.”
“Sorry, Jade. You failed the test.” He reaches behind me and takes his phone, pretending to make a call. “You’re obviously suffering from memory loss. I’m calling Dr. Cunningham.”
I reach for the phone and he lets me have it. “What was that all about?”
“I was testing you. Making sure your head’s okay.”
“No, you weren’t. You were testing me on how well I know you. And I failed. How could I fail?”
“Forget it, Jade. I was just kidding around.”
“Yeah, but still, you’re my boyfriend. I should know this stuff about you. Why don’t I know this stuff?”
“Maybe you don’t want to know.” He smiles and kisses my cheek. “Maybe you’re just using me for sex and have no interest in getting to know me.”
“That’s not funny, Garret. I feel like the worst girlfriend on the planet. Later today, I’m going to make a whole list of questions to ask you and I’m going to keep asking them until I know everything about you.”
“You’re making too big a deal out of this. I was kidding.”
“Doesn’t matter. I need to know everything about you.”
“Not everything.” He kisses me. “You need to leave a little mystery.”
“So what day is your birthday?”
“August 22.”
“And your favorite color is . . . black?” He shakes his head. “Purple?” He laughs, still shaking his head. “Red?”
“Nope. You’re running out of colors, Jade.”
“I don’t know. What is it?”
“Green. That’s why I love looking at your eyes. Plus I like the outdoors, green grass, green trees. I’ve always liked green.”
“And what other sports did you play in high school?”
“Besides football and swimming, I played basketball, baseball, lacrosse, and soccer.”
“How did you have time for school?”
“I didn’t do all of them in one year. Football and swimming were every year and then I added one or two other sports. Freshman year was baseball. Sophomore year was soccer. I just tried different sports to see what I liked best.”
“You were a total jock. No wonder your body looks like that.” I lift his shirt up to see his abs.
He slowly puts it back down, taking my hand away. “Okay, we’re not going to start that. We need to leave soon. Do you want me to get you some lunch before we go?”
“Let’s eat out. I need to get out of this room. Let’s go someplace next to your house. Or maybe Charles has some leftovers we could eat. Yeah, let’s do that. I love Charles’ cooking.”
“You should tell him that when we see him. I don’t think Katherine or my dad ever compliment his cooking. They’re used to it now, so they don’t even think to compliment him.”
We get our coats and head to the car. It’s almost March and the weather is starting to warm to the point that we only need a light jacket. I’m looking forward to better weather. I miss running, although now I have to wait for my knee to heal before I can start up again.
