Page 33 of Room One Hundred and Twenty Nine

“You know this isn’t timed right?” I say to him.

“Yeah,” he replies, clearly not seeing what I’m seeing.

Fuck, I love that dork.

Yeah, I love him. I think I always have. Sure, from the moment we met there was an attraction, but there was something else too. Something more powerful than sex that has kept me glued to his side for years. And I believe it’s love. But it’s a love that’s grown over the years. I feel the same way about him now as I did then, but just… more. It’s not a different feeling, there’s justmore of it. And it’s stronger, too. I still don’t know where his head is with us, but all I know is that regardless of how he feels, I’ll always love him.

I clear my throat and think of the first question.

“Never have I ever gone skydiving?” I ask.

Elijah and Haruko lick their ice creams.

“Really?” Nicholas asks Haruko, already knowing that Elijah did it on his thirtieth birthday.

“Yeah! Dani and I both went and did it. We went on a trip just before we went to college to New Zealand and did all those touristy things, including zip lining, white water river rafting and skydiving. I know I seem like a girl who’d never put herself in any danger, but I really liked it. It was fun. Dani screamed like a banshee when we went bungee jumping. It was hilarious.”

I chuckle at that. Haruko is a pretty calm individual and even though I’ve never met Dani, I can imagine it in my head. Haruko with a giant smile on her face falling towards the river and her friend clutching herself as she plummets south.

“And when did you do it?” Haruko asks Elijah.

“For my birthday. It was a gift from these two knuckleheads,” he nods towards Nick and me.

I shrug. “Well, what do you get the man who has everything?”

Nothing except for a certain someone, but before I bring the worry of our future to the game, I nod to Haruko and say, “Your turn.”

She thinks for a moment, then asks, “Never have I ever gone skiing?”

Nicholas, Elijah and I all take a lick of our ice cream.

“Yearly trip?” Haruko asks.

“Every other year trip,” I say.

“Cool. I’ve never been, but I want to try sometime.”

“Well, we know a great instructor in Whistler if you want to go with us someday?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” She smiles and I feel a tinge of excitement grow inside me. But again, I try not to think about the future right now, and just live in the moment we’re with her.

I turn to Nicholas and say, “Now you.”

Nicholas asks, “Never have I ever swam with sharks?” None of us take a lick and none of us have any interest in doing it.

“I prefer seeing sharks on the TV, and that’s about it,” Haruko says.

Then Elijah asks, “Never have I ever lied about why I was late to work?”

I laugh because I’ve done this so many times, so I take several licks. Nicholas, being the good boy he is, doesn't, and neither does Haruko. She “tsks” at me while shaking her head, humour dancing in her beautiful eyes. Then she says, “Parker, you bad boy.”

And boy, does that do something to me. Bad has never been my thing. Sure, I may skirt the lines a time or two, but as far as “bad” goes, this may be the baddest thing I’ve done. Fall for my employee. And I don’t regret it at all.

Everyone chuckles at what Haruko says, and feeling a little cheeky, I change the vibe of the questions. I think we should ask more fun never-have-I-evers.

“Never have I ever gone skinny dipping?” I ask.

“Seriously?” Elijah grumbles.

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