“And you’re not?” he asks, looking concerned.
“Of course, I am. Nervous, too, though,” I admit.
“Why?”
“You’re not?”
“No.”
“Not even a little bit?”
“No,” he says, his tone even.
“Don’t you go thinking too much into this. I think it’s normal for someone to be nervous about a big life change. I mean,hello, my name will be different, everything. It’s a lot.”
He shrugs. “No. It’s what’s meant to be.”
“You’re such a romantic,” I joke.
He puts his arm around my shoulder. “I try.”
I grin and look out the window, noticing we’re going a different way from the apartment.
“Umm, we going to eat or something?” I ask.
“Nope,” he says.
“Oookay. So, where we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Oh boy,” I reply.
“What?”
“Nothing. I just never know what to expect from you.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, your secrets and surprises aren’t always the best of kind.”
“How so? That one surprise was a key to my place.”
“Yeah, but it took a little bit to get that key. We had to go through a lot of shit first, and then your secrets ended you up in jail with a possible prison sentence…so ya know, I’m just a little hesitant.”
He grips the wheel. “This is different. Promise.”
I watch the city disappear and we near a more residential area. Houses pass by and my mind starts reeling. “Bryce, seriously where are we going?”
“Stop trying to ruin it,” he says, smiling over at me. It’s a boyish, happy smile that has my insides melting and my heart telling my mind to shut up. He really wants to surprise me. So, I snap my lips closed and say nothing, and when he tells me to shut my eyes, I do so. The truck comes to a halt and Bryce opens his door.
“Keep your eyes closed now,” he demands as he helps me out.
“Bossy as always,” I reply as he guides me to wherever.
“Step up,” he says. I feel boards beneath my shoes, and then I’m told to stop walking. I hear keys rattle, and then he tells me to open my eyes.
I do.