“Anotherpoint,” bothLiviandMaggiesay at the same time.
Maggiesighs. “Ifmen only knew how sexy it is when they show they want to have a conversation with us instead of only snuggling up.Imean,RowanknowsI’mall for the snuggling, but it’s the conversation that makes me want to.”
Inod. “Plus, it’s hard to stare into his beautiful eyes if he’s at my side.Anyway,Igot theShrimpScampiand he got theRavioliCarbonaraand we got breadsticks to share.”
“Oh,”Livisays, “did you both reach for a breadstick at the same time and your hands brushed?”
“No, butIhad him try a bite of my scampi, and asIheld the fork across the table for him to eat, he also put his hand on the fork.Andyes, there were sparks.”Ifeel them all over again, just mentioning it.
Maybeit’s because even though it feels like we’ve spent so much time together, we haven’t actually had a whole lot of physical contact yet.Sowhen we do touch, it sends all kinds of zingers up my arm and makes my insides sing.Iam a huge fan of kissing, butIlike thatJaceis taking things slowly.Iam soaking in every single little touch of his and appreciating it more thanIever have.
Apparentlyfeeling those sparks all over again must show on my face, too, because both my sister and my best friend cheer and hoot.Butthen a dog barks and we can hear a baby start to cry in the house we are passing.Weall grimace, andMaggieholds a finger up to her lip and says, “Shh,” before waving her hands and whispering, “Yay.”
Whenwe get past the house with the baby we just woke,Isay, “Anyway, we just ate and talked for hours.Oh!Andguess what?Whilewe were talking,Iasked what kind of vacation he would go on if he had to choose between going to the beach and going to the mountains.”
“Ooo,”Livisays, rubbing her hands together. “Thetest question.”
Iask every date this question.Thebeach is great, andIthink it definitely has a place on vacation wish lists.Butit’s a vacation you typically take to lie back and do nothing but soak up the sun.WhenIgo on a vacation,Iwant it to be an adventure.Themountains or beach question is usually a no-fail way to find out how adventurous they are.
“Andhe chose the mountains?”Maggieasks. “Theone you hope they’ll always choose?”
“Yes!Andnot only that, but he also said, ‘Butonly if it meansIget to go hiking and canoeing.’”
Livigives me a high-five, knowing those are two of my favorite things.
“Andthen, get this— he also said, ‘AndifIcan choose,I’dalso include rock climbing.’Rockclimbing!So, not only did he choose the more adventurous option, but he also included something that wasn’t even on my mental list.”
Okay, really,Ijust want to someday marry a guy who doesn’t always choose the option that takes the least amount of effort.Iwant to have adventures in life, andIwant someone who also wants that.
“Okay, he getsallthe bonus points,”Livisays.
“Agreed.Andthen we talked about where we grew up and what our families are like.Hewas born out of the country while his parents were on a business trip, but he grew up right here inCipherSprings.”
“Forreal?”Maggieasks.
“Yep.Hisdad passed away four years ago, but his mom and some of his siblings still live here.Whenhe was a little kid, he played onCipherSprings’scity league soccer and baseball teams.Canyou just picture him as a cute little kid with theCipherSpringsjerseys?”
“Nope,”Maggiesays. “Ican’t picture him at all.”
“IwishIhad a picture of him to show you.”AndIreally do.I’mso used to getting pictures of everything thatIdo that it feels strange to not have a single picture ofJace, especially when he’s spent so much time occupying my brain.Hopefully,Iwill soon. “Itjust felt like all the things that are important to me are also important to him.”
Maggieasks, “Sowhy does it feel like there’s a ‘but?’”
“BecauseJaceis so difficult to read.Attimes, he seems so into me andIfeel like we have an abundance of chemistry.Atother times, it seems like he’s disinterested.Likemaybe he wishes he hadn’t said yes to going on the date.”
“Huh,”Livisays. “Haveyou thought about asking him?”
“What?Andjust say, ‘So,Jace, are you into me?’That’sweird.Plus,Ikind of want his actions to show me.ButIdid get a second opinion from our waiter, who was a guy about our age.Atone point,Jacegot a work phone call that he had to take, so he stepped outside to take it, and the waiter came over about the same time.
“Sohe’s asking me how the date is going and how long we’ve been dating, andItell him that we just met lastSaturdayand thatIwasn’t sure if he liked me or not, so it was hard to say how things were going.
“Thenthe waiter says, ‘Helikes you; trust me.It’smore than a little obvious.’Ididn’t believe him, of course.Wecan see through the windows thatJaceis ending the call and is heading back inside, so the waiter says, ‘I’llprove it to you.Playalong.’Thenhe leans in close, like he would do if he was flirting with me, and he says things like ‘Rightnow,I’mtelling you something really funny.Andnow,I’mcomplimenting you on your smile.Now,I’mrevealing something about myself that shows vulnerability.’
“AndI’msmiling and laughing a bit because it’s pretty hilarious.ThenIcatch the look onJace’sface, and it’s definitely jealousy.Notin an angry way, but in an ‘Icare’ way.Whenhe gets to the table,Jacesteps up to the waiter, standing tall like he’s ready to protect me from everything, his chest puffed out, and asks, ‘Doyou need something?’
“Thewaiter just says, ‘Nope, not at all.’Andthen he catches my eye, winks, and mouths ‘Toldyou.’”
Liviactually claps. “Ihope you gave him a big tip.”
