Page 20 of Ask Me Something

I texted Brian, suddenly anxious to hear his voice.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.”

“Are you free to talk?”

“For you, anytime.”

My phone rang two seconds later, and I answered on the first ring. “Hi,” I said, a little out of breath.

“Hi, back. How was your Christmas Day?”

I filled him in on the details, and he offered up some of his. Then there was an awkward silence.

“I’d like to know rule number two,” I pressed.

“Are we agreed on the first one?”

“I think so, but I have questions.”

“Ask me then, honey.”

That term of endearment had my heart beating faster. “Are we monogamous?”

He chuckled, and I could hear him shifting the phone. “Very much so. I don’t share, and I would hope you wouldn’t want to, either.”

I definitely wasn’t into sharing, especially since the image of Jamie’s hand on his thigh remained fresh in my mind. “Brian, we bicker all the time as it is. You’re not worried this change in relationship will add more tension?”

“I think it may help with it and that brings us back to rule number one when we do fight.”

“How many women have you done this with?”

“That brings us to rule two: you don’t ask about my past, and I won’t ask about yours.”

“Considering my history isn’t as colorful, that’s hardly fair.”

“All right, see this is where the negotiation is important. What if I give you five questions to ask?”

“I want unlimited questions.”

“That’s hardly a compromise.”

“Compromise isn’t something I do very well and neither is capping off my curious nature.”

“There are some questions I won’t answer, Sasha.”

“Good, I feel the same.” Not that he’d ever ask about my anxiety, but it was a relief to know that we could both have some things in reserve.

“What do we do then?”

“Maybe we could preface if we’re going to ask something sensitive. Almost like testing the waters. We’ll say we have a question and allow the other person to decide if the subject is something they’ll answer or not.”

“So we’d have to agree to have the question asked?”

“Sure. We could even set a threshold. You get however many questions on a topic, and then I do. Whatever works, I guess.”

“I’m okay with that, but all responses need to be truthful. I’d rather you not answer than to lie to me, Sasha.”

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