Page 31 of Objection to Love

“Nope.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “You’ll just have to wait and see. It’s really going to raisethe barfor you on what you see as fun.”

He watched her, apparently waiting for a response, so she nodded. “Okay.”

He seemed disappointed. “We do have a bit of a drive ahead of us. Want to play a game?”

Em eyed him. “Depends on the game.”

“Twenty questions?”

“Nope. I’ve only played that once, and it’s horrible.”

Garrett laughed. “Only people who are bad at it say that.”

“Yes. Well.”

He laughed harder. “Okay, I Spy?”

“I’m pretty sure anything we spy would disappear by the time the other person could guess.”

“Alright, so I assume you are bad at that game too,” he said lazily as he pulled out of the driveway.

Em narrowed her eyes at him.

He didn’t notice.

“Alphabet game, then. You can’t find anythingto object towith that. It’s easy and competitive. And once we start driving, there will be all sorts of signs to use.”

“Fine. Are we counting license plates?”

He looked over at her, and for some reason, she felt like she’d disappointed him again. But then he just said, “No way. Are you one of those lame people? I’m not so sure about this whole fun deal anymore…”

“For the record, I don’t play that way.”

Garrett turned off their street and winked at her. “Okay, then, what rules do you follow?”

Em sat up straighter. Rules and lists were a safe topic. “You have to find the letters in order. You don’t have to say them aloud until you get toZ, nothing on cars counts, and… I think that’s it.”

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Okay, ready… set… go.”

The car was quiet as the two of them competed to find all the letters in the alphabet before the other. Em was so focused, she didn’t even pay attention to where they were going.

“Z.” Garrett pointed at a sign at a pull-out that said “authorized vehicles only.”

Em glared at him.

“Let me guess, you’re still on ‘q’?” He came to a stop at a red light.

“Maybe.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I am quite skilled at this game.”

“Mmm… nope, doesn’t make me feel any better. Hey, where are we?” They had passed the final block of the small town proper and seemed to be heading toward the mountains that Em drove beside to get to work. The infamous canyon was made by the outer edge.

“Just leaving town.”

“Why?”

He grinned over at her, and Em distinctly felt a pinging in her chest. “For fun, Em, remember?”

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