Page 22 of Counting the Stars

“Yeah, well, you know…” Alex saunters farther into the condo. “Travis knows how responsible Iam.”

“Okay…” That’s kind of a weird thing to say, but I brush it off and look down at the bag he’s holding.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Happy first day of Peds!” He hands me the gift bag. I started my new position a few days ago, but Alex and I have been two ships passing in the night since then.

“You didn’t have to get me anything. It’s not like I got a promotion. I just moved to a different floor.” I poke through the white tissue paper and pull out some sort of light beige stuffed animal wrapped in a…banana peel?

“It’s a bananasaurus rex!” Alex beams and puffs out his chest. He’s clearly proud of his gift-giving skills.

“It’s so odd but so adorable.” I laugh, hugging the hybrid dinosaur banana to my chest.

“I know you don’t like flowers, but I wanted to get you something.”

“That’s very sweet of you.” I give him a hug. Crap, how am I going to let him down after he just gave me a gift?

“Huh.” I hear him sniff as he lets go from our embrace. “Are you wearing bug spray or something?”

“Oh, umm, no.” I brush a curl behind my ear. “I’m trying out a new shampoo. It has rosemary in it. It’s supposed to be good for hair.”

“It smells a little weird.” He scrunches up his nose. “But whatever you’re cooking smells great!” He walks toward the kitchen while Gus hops on our love seat and promptly falls asleep.

“I hope you don’t mind. I tried something new.” I grab the salad bowl and place it on the table. Besides our drinks, it’s the only thing I haven’t altered. “The girls in Peds were talking about going on a diet,” I lie. “They mentioned how much healthier they felt, so I decided to try one of their recipes.”

“Diet?” He makes a face. “You do not need to go on a diet. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

“Thank you.” Heat creeps up my cheeks. “But it’s not about losing weight, just a healthier lifestyle.” I’ve never been super skinny, but over the years, I’ve learned to embrace my curves. My confidence has grown even stronger this past year since Alex tells me on a frequent basis how attractive I am to him.

“I guess I can’t argue with wanting to be healthy.” He shrugs.

We sit down for dinner while Gus snores away in our living room. We talk mainly about my first few days at Peds while we eat our salad. There’s nothing unusual about that, but next comes the main course, which, surprisingly, smells pretty good. I wonder if my plan will backfire.

“I know these look like regular cheeseburgers, but I swapped some of the ingredients for healthier ones.”

I hold my breath as Alex takes a huge bite. He chews and chews…and chews.

“Umm…what did you say were in these?” he says with his mouth still full. I’m a little worried he hasn’t swallowed yet.

“I used some plant-based meat in place of ground beef,” I answer.

“You used imposter meat?” He finally swallows.

“It’s not imposter. It’s plant-based.”

“Plants and meat are two totally separate things.” He lifts up the top of the bun. “Is the cheese fake too?”

“Umm…yeah.” I chew on my lower lip. “And the bun is gluten free. I got it from the health food section of the grocery store.”

Alex stands up, abandons his plate, and begins rummaging in the kitchen. He picks the empty cheese package from the top of the garbage can and studies it. “Dairy free, nut free, wheat free, gluten free, soy free, salt free, BPA free—what the hell?! Why would they even put that on the label?”

“Stop!” I burst into a fit of giggles, watching Alex’s facial expressions morph into various shades of repulsion as he continues to study the label. The nerves I felt earlier diminish the more I laugh. I love his sense of humor. “You’ve got to be making this up.”

“Am not!” He walks over and holds the packaging out for me to see. Sure enough, he wasn’t making anything up. I was so nervous about tonight that I didn’t pay attention to all the ingredients. I just kind of threw everything in my cart.

“It can’t be that bad.” I take a bite to prove him wrong and promptly spit it out into a napkin. “Oh God!Sabe a zapato de cuero mojado en huevos podridos y colgado a secar en una granja de cerdos.That tastes like a leather shoe dipped in melted rotten eggs and hung out to dry on a pig farm.”

“That is a horrifyingly accurate description.”

“How did you manage to swallow that bite?” I grab my iced tea and begin chugging.

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