Page 91 of Ask Me Something

“Definitely both, but this vacation feels good with you here.”

I had to agree it felt good for him to be here, too. It was almost like we were in a real relationship.

“Hey, do you two want to sign up for the trivia hour at the pool in an hour?” the bubbly guest relations girl came up to ask us. “It’s like a traditional pub quiz.”

Brian looked toward me, and I shrugged. Trivia sounded pretty tame. So long as it wasn’t something like chugging beer or playing volleyball in a team of strangers, I was game.

“Sounds good. We’ll see you there,” he answered.

* * *

We walkedup to the bar an hour later, and it looked to be overrun with other couples who were chatting it up at different tables in groups. When the activities girl came over and told us to pick a table with two people because we’d be playing in teams of four, I lost all desire to play.

Sensing my immediate discomfort at the idea of sitting with strangers, Brian grabbed my hand and kissed my wrist.

“Who would you like to be?” he asked with an amused look on his face.

“Excuse me?” What on earth was he talking about?

“I’d like to be Austin. I’ve always thought that was a cool kid’s name.”

“You want to pretend to be different people?” I clarified, completely dumbfounded.

He laughed and took both my hands. “I know meeting new people is uncomfortable for you. How about you relax and become someone else for an hour?” His voice had turned into an overly dramatic drawl.

Oh, the irony of that question, considering I always pretended to be someone I wasn’t. “I’m not sure how. This feels more nerve-wracking than walking over to the other bar and keeping to ourselves.” I eyed the other couples, noting that they looked extremely friendly and excited. Those two words instilled fear in me immediately.

“We’ll grab a cocktail to relax you. All you have to do is follow my lead. Think of it as something light and fun, plus we’ll never see these people again.”

I knew he wanted to do it. I could see the competitive gleam in his eyes. He was a people person. He would naturally do great in any sort of social setting and most likely craved some other conversation beside mine. “What if I mess it up?” I voiced my insecurity.

He shrugged. “Who cares? We fess up and say we’re role-playing for a sexcapade or something.”

As if that would be less embarrassing. But he made it sound so easy, and I wanted to be a fun girl for him on vacation. “Okay, if you’re Austin from the South, I need a similar name.” I paused. “I’ll be Mary Beth. Any true Southern girl would have two names.”

His mouth twitched in amusement. Taking my hand, he led me over to one of the few tables remaining with only one couple already seated.

“Hi, guys. I’m Tami Sue, and this is Lester. Where are you guys from?” the friendly woman spoke up first.

They appeared to be in their upper thirties and, judging by their accents and names, were definitely from the South. Tami Sue looked like the nice soccer mom who was on vacation for the first time in years. She and Lester appeared to be the typical all-American suburban couple, right down to their fanny packs.

“We’re from Dallas originally. This is Mary Beth, and I’m Austin,” Brian introduced in a heavy twang. We all shook hands. “Where y’all from?”

“Raleigh, North Carolina,” Tami provided, clearly the more assertive one of the couple.

“I hear North Carolina is real nice,” Brian commented while we proceeded to start the game.

Turned out the boys were good at all sorts of random trivia. Tami was able to contribute some, but the only thing I’d been able to answer was a football question about how many Super Bowls the Patriots had been to in the last fifteen years.

During the hour we hadn’t had much time in-between questions to discuss a whole lot of personal things. I’d been relieved, but evidently it had only been a temporary reprieve.

“Are y’all on your honeymoon?” Tami inquired after the resort people gathered our sheets to score the teams.

“Technically, we’re on hers. See, Mary Beth’s wedding was on Friday, but you know the part where they ask anyone to say something or forever hold your peace?” Brian had them hanging on his every word.

Tami nodded, her eyes big.

I had the sensation like watching a car accident about to happen and not being able to look away.

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