Page 40 of Follow Your Bliss

He sat in silence for a while, tapping out syllables on the steering wheel. I went back to my drawing, trying to ignore his cute little giggles as he worked. “This is hard,” he said.

“I believe in you.”

He picked up his drink from lunch and slurped the last of it through the straw. He cleared his throat. “Okay, here you go. It’s not my finest work, but it’ll do. A haiku about Rose:Beautiful and sweet…”

I exaggerated anawwww.

“Likes to pose naked for art…”

I guffawed. “Hey! That’s not nice.”

He laughed through the last verse. “Can’t beat me at Nerf.”

We laughed together for a minute, and I sighed at the end. “I have regrets.”

“Clever, but weak sauce, Guidry. Weak. Sauce. You’re gonna have to up your game if you want to get a truth out of me. My turn. Truth or dare?”

“I’m picking truth because you’re just gonna give me some ridiculous dare you know I won’t do.”

He grinned. “You’re probably right. So you’re going with Truth?”

“Uh-huh.”

“On your bucket list. Am I J.S.?” He glanced at me, his grin too adorable to be allowed.

Heat flooded my face. “I knew that was gonna come back to haunt me.” He could already see my whole hand of cards and now he wanted his own personal time machine visit into my middle school brain? I carefully put my iPad away to buy time. The way out of this was labyrinthine, and my mind wasn’t up to the task.

He probably only thought of me as Lily’s little sister and his one-time classmate, so it probably wouldn’t hurt to admit the truth. But I didn’t want him to think I was coming on to him, especially this soon after breaking up with Isaac—not that that had even registered on a heartbreak scale. Sure, we were both single, but he wasn’t looking for anything physical. And that’s all I had to offer.

I guess honesty was perennially the best policy.

“Fine. Yes. I had a big crush on you in middle school. Are you happy now?”

“Yeah, I’m actually very happy right now.” He smiled, checking his mirrors as he took the right fork in the interstate. “Like the whole time? Or what?”

Dimples. Outlawed. I stuck my tongue out at him. “From the first day of sixth grade, asshole. Your turn. Truth or dare?”

“I’ll take one for the team and go straight for the truth.”

“Okay. Didyouhave a crush onmein middle school?”

He winced. “Don’t be mad, but I didn’t.”

I turned one of the vents to blow directly on my hot face, shrugging like I wasn’t disappointed. “I can’t help it if you have shitty taste in women.”

“Or maybe next time ask me aboutaftermiddle school.”

Oh God, hewasflirting with me. I smiled and looked away. “If you weren’t driving, I’d throw something at you. In fact, from here till the condo, all I’ll do is brainstorm items to throw at you later.”

His dimples dug in deeper. “Truth or dare?”

“I guess truth again. Why the fuck not?”

“No, I’ll throw you a softball. Take the dare.”

“Okay, dare.”

“Grab me a Coke from the cooler right behind my seat and pour it into my cup.”

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