Page 69 of Help Me Remember
“Why is that?”
“Because what if I want to lose now.”
“That’s for you to decide. Is winning better than losing?”
I lift one shoulder, biting my lower lip. “Winning is always better.”
“All right, then, you go first. What do you know about me that I think is unknown?”
He has no idea how much dirt I have on him. Not only things I’ve overheard or things Isaac told me in confidence but also things I saw when he thought no one was looking.
“Fine. You like pizza because you say anything made on a base of bread is a win. You love dogs, but you won’t get one because your job requires you to travel. Your middle name is Jesus, but you tell everyone it’s Jacob. You have six tattoos, one not many have seen, but I walked in on you after a shower and saw it. Your first kiss was with Jenna’s older sister but you lie and tell everyone it was Marissa.”
“Where did you hear that last one?”
I scoff. “Please. You and Isaac didn’t know what inside voices were, and I learned to put a cup to the wall and eavesdrop very early in life.”
“Marissa was my first kiss.”
“She was not.”
Spencer narrows his eyes. “What else did you hear?”
I smile widely. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I sink down in my seat and close the door.
I am so ready for today. It’s different from the last few weeks of constant stress. I am tired of appointments and worrying about everything.
Spencer and I will never be an item, but maybe I can pretend for just today that it’s real.
He gets into the car, shaking his head with a smile. “All right, that was impressive.”
“Do you think you can do better?” I ask, turning toward him.
“You hate any food that is purple. You won’t eat eggs because chickens poop them out, therefore it’s crap. You lost your virginity at a party in the warehouse, which is where you now live, to Kyler Smith, who had a black eye the day after.”
“Which you gave him!” I interject.
“Glady gave him. You puke if you drink so much as a sip of tequila. You tell everyone your favorite music is country, but you know every word to every rap song. Oh, and . . . you believe that ghosts haunt your childhood home.”
I roll my eyes and snort. “Please, half of those everyone knows.”
“Which half?”
“My virginity was town gossip, so that doesn’t count. And . . . purple food is unnatural, which everyone also knows I believe. I’m calling a tie.”
“So, then we both get what we want at the end of the date?”
My lips are in a thin line. “A second date, a kiss, and a memory?”
He rests his forearm on the console. “What do you think?”
“I think that we should see how the date goes.”
Oh, I want all of it. I want it all and more, but that doesn’t mean I should reach out and grab it.
He chuckles and then sits back in his seat. “Are you ready to go on the best date that has ever happened?”
I raise my brow. “The best? That’s a pretty lofty boast, my friend.”
