Page 68 of Revive Me

Lifting her head, she sighs and begrudgingly acknowledges, “Okay, yeah, it’s pretty cool. But that’s not my point.”

“Then what’s your point? That because I like documentaries and I’ve taught a couple kids how to throw a punch, that I should be a history teacher now?”

“I mean…yeah, kinda.”

The disbelief likely written on my face just makes her sigh.

“I’m just saying, you have more options than you think. That’s all.”

I don’t respond, I just write down the answer to the next question that’s called out.

“Because when you inevitably get back to your feet and you stop having an excuse to put off living your life, you’re going to need something to turn to. And I think you’d be a great teacher.”

The breath I let out is rife with frustration. I don’t want to deal with this part of my injury right now; the physical aspect of it is hard enough.

“If I promise to think about my future career possibilities, will you let this go?” I ask. “Or is this going to become a career fair?”

She hides her smile by taking a sip of her drink. “No, I’ll stop.”

And maybe I’m still grumpy about the intervention, because I’m still frowning as I ask her, “So, are you going to leave now that you’ve accomplished your mission? Is that the only reason we’re here?”

Slowly, she puts her glass back down. “No, I’m not going to leave,” she says quietly. “We can just relax and hang out now.” When her gaze meets mine, I see everything she’s not saying.

Before I realize it, I’m lost in thoughts ofwhat if this was a date?

I wonder what it would’ve been like to call her after the night we met, to set a time and place for dinner. To pick her up in my nice car, and to open the door for her when I did. To spend the night talking and laughing, knowing I could offer to walk her to her door at the end of the night.

And then I think about what it would be likenow.

Because even if she wasn’t my physical therapist and we were just two people on a date, I still wouldn’t be able to do any of those things.

Before I can drown in an inevitable spiral of self-pity, the host’s voice rings out over the speakers.

22

ROMAN

“Alright, folks, that’s the end of our first round! We’ll take a quick break while I check through each team’s answers and then reconvene to announce the winners in about twenty minutes. So go ahead and order another round of drinks for the table or grab some food while you wait. I highly recommend the burger of the day if you’re hungry.”

As if on cue, my stomach grumbles loud enough to be heard over the bar chatter.

“Hungry?” she asks innocently, smiling into her drink.

I look around for our waitress. “Just a little. I somehow forgot how many calories my body needs when I’m actually working out hard.”

Locking eyes with our waitress, I send the universal gesture forwhen you get a minute. When I turn my attention back to Lily, it’s just in time to catch her eyes snapping from my chest to my face.

Realizing she was checking me out, a smirk lifts the corner of my lips. I wore a simple black t-shirt tonight with jeans, but I realized when I was getting ready earlier that I’m probably going to have to buy some new clothes soon. With the way I’ve been working out lately, my muscles, especially my upper body, have filled out to the point of stretching my clothes at the seams.

Which Lily has noticed. And if the way her cheeks go pink is any indication, she’s not having very pure thoughts about it.

“What do you want to order?” she asks. But one of the words comes out as a squeak, making Lily wince in embarrassment.

“The cheesesteak hoagie,” I answer easily. “A full one. I’ll probably get some fries and mozzarella sticks with it, too. What are you getting?”

Her eyes widen at the amount of food I plan to order. “Uh, I guess I’ll get a cheesesteak hoagie, too. But just a half.”

I nod my approval just as the waitress stops by our table. We order our food, then settle back into a comfortable silence after she leaves. But I’m terrified of lapsing into any discomfort now that we’ve decided to treat the rest of the night as an ordinary hangout, so I speak first.

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