He’d done that so casually, like his hand was a missing puzzle piece that needed to slot into place.
Forget singing. Maddy was probably going to hyperventilate and pass out from too much oxygen.
Okay, she needed something to distract herself.
“How about we do a guessing game?”
Yes, Maddy was an evil genius, which judging by Nate’s skeptical expression, it was an opinion he didn’t share. “We both know we like Muse but what about other artists and groups? We’ll make suggestions and see if we end up with anything else in common. Who knows, we might both be Madonna fans.”
“Wow, that was amazing, Mads. You got it on the first try,” Nate beamed exaggeratedly.
“Really?” Maddy beamed back.
“No,” he deadpanned.
Oh. Okay. His sarcastic tone flew over her head but she would not be discouraged.
“Not even ‘Sorry’? Come on, that was straight up fire!”
“Are you going to take this seriously?”
“When do I ever not take things seriously?”
Nate arched an eyebrow in answer.
Maddy’s answer was to extend her forefinger on said eyebrow and attempt to push it down.
To which Nate answered by covering her hand with his own and holding it against his chest.
“Are you done?”
“Not in the slightest,” Maddy murmured stubbornly. “But I will let this go for now since we have more pressing matters. Serious matters,” she said, putting the emphasis on serious.
God, she really had turned into a teenager.
“Okay, so, am I closer with Red Hot Chili Peppers or System of a Down?” Maddy rubbed her jaw in a contemplative way.
“Probably System of a Down, although I never went deeper than their most well-known songs.”
“‘Lonely Day?’”
“Among others.”
“Yeah, that was a good one.”
“What about you? You said Evanescence. Their ‘Fallen’ era or their later stuff?”
“Everything, honestly. But that ‘Fallen’ album might as well be embedded permanently in my brain.”
Nate nodded his head and Maddy secretly loved how seriously he took this, the attention that he paid. Sometimes, when someone inevitably got used to passing unnoticed, they started to believe they were actually invisible. But Nate’s company never made her feel invisible.
“Okay, next. Slipknot or Rise Against the Machine?”
“Slipknot.”
“Me too!” she beamed.
A small smile tipped Nate’s lips. “I bet it’s their really angsty, instrumental songs, ‘Snuff,’ ‘Vermillion Pt.2?’” he said, the bastard almost smirking.
