Page 84 of Why Not Us?

“It was a two-minute trip,” I say, laughing at her.

She shrugs. “Just because it didn’t last long doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it.”

I wrap my arm around her waist, wanting to feel her close, wanting that sunshine optimism to sink into me. She leads us through the bustling crowd on Granville Island to the big yellow building that is one of the most iconic restaurants in the little shopping district. She gives the host her name and we’re seated almost immediately.

After a few minutes looking at the menu, we place our orders, and Adalie reaches across the table to take my hand. “Do you know what today is?” she asks.

“Monday?”

She laughs and shakes her head. “It’s our three-month anniversary.”

“That’s today?” I ask. It feels like no time has passed at all, and as though she’s always been a part of my life. I’m surprised because now that she’s mentioned it, I realize my relationship with Adalie is officially my longest relationship ever.

She nods. “So, I was wondering…” She looks down at where our hands are clasped together on the table. Then, speaking slowly, as though she’s not quite sure she wants to ask, she finishes the thought. “When do you think you might be ready to tell Dani about us?”

I open my mouth to answer, then close it. Because the truth is, I don’t know. I’ve never been here before. I’ve never had a relationship that’s lasted this long, that I want to continue lasting. I also don’t want Dani to get even more attached to Adalie, then have something go wrong between us and Dani never gets to see her again.

She looks up at me when I haven’t said anything for a moment. “It’s scary. But I want you to know, I’m really serious here.” She gestures between us with her free hand. “I… like you a lot, Nate. And I want to be part of your life. The whole thing.”

“I want that, too,” I tell her.

“But I can’t be if we don’t tell Dani, if we’re keeping this secret from her. She already knows me, and it feels like I’m lying to her every time I see her. She’s the most important person in your life, Nate. Until you tell her, what we’re doing doesn’t really mean anything.”

She moves to take her hand back, but I grip her fingers before she can, suddenly terrified that if I don’t hold on, she’s going to let go for real.

“I’ll tell her,” I say. “You’re right. We can’t keep this a secret from her anymore. Next week. Could you come over for dinner on Monday? We can tell her together.”

She smiles at me again and I feel like I’ve made the right choice. “I’d like that.”

The waitress returns with our drinks and our calamari appetizer. After the first couple of bites, I say, “Maybe, since I’m doing something scary, you could do something scary as well.”

“What did you have in mind?” she asks, popping a piece of calamari into her mouth.

“We’ve finished all thegetting Adalie out of her comfort zonethings except the last one. You don’t have a wedding this Sunday. Let’s go bungee jumping.”

She scrunches her nose in that adorable way she does, squeezing her eyes shut. She moans pitifully, but I know she’s going to say yes.

“Fine,” she says finally, opening her eyes. “But I’m inviting Spencer and Derek.”

“What about your other friends?”

She snorts. “None of them are crazy enough to want to jump off a bridge.”

I chuckle and lift her hand to kiss the back of it.

The rest of our food arrives and we eat, then we walk along the Sea Wall to Vanier Park. The crowds of Granville Island ease slightly when we get away from it, but the path is still busy. Thankfully, there’s a side for pedestrians, because the bikes don’t slow at all as they zip past us. I keep Adalie on the outside of the path so I’m between her and any rogue cyclists. She keeps up a steady commentary, pointing out boats in the marina she thinks are pretty, and a big brown building where a friend of hers used to work. The huge white and red tents come into view and Adalie takes our tickets from her purse to show the person at the gate.

Adalie offers to get me a drink, but I decline since we can’t bring them into the tents anyway. Instead, I follow her to our seats, looking around the space.

“It’s open,” I say, pointing toward the back of the stage where the tent is open to the park, offering a beautiful view of where False Creek flows into English Bay.

She nods. “Unfortunately, we’re not at the right angle to see Blue Vista from here. But yeah, the open tent is why I needed the sweater. It’ll get chilly tonight.”

I turn toward her. “I can keep you warm.”

She laughs and kisses me, which is exactly what I was hoping for, then returns her attention to the program.

“I really like this actor,” she says, pointing. “He played Romeo a few years ago and there was this part in the play I’d never understood. You remember when Romeo kills Tybalt and he’s banished?”

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