35 #2
“Kate’s a snow leopard,” Gideon offers. “She doesn’t trust easy and is skittish at sudden noises, but if you’re patient and gentle, she’ll come close.”
Kate looks at Gideon. “Brown bear,” she says quietly. “A big, gentle presence until you threaten his den.”
“Joel’s a wolf,” I supply. “Brooding. Watchful. Slightly scary.”
“Golden retriever,” Joel says, holding my gaze. “Eager to please and all heart.”
Sofia uncaps a marker and awards each team a point. “Next question,” she continues. “What’s a phrase your partner says way too much?”
Joel studies me thoughtfully. “Kenzie says ‘It’s fine’ when it’s absolutely not fine.”
“Joel doesn’t say much,” I counter lightly. “That’s the problem.”
Everyone erupts into laughter.
“I’m stealing that answer for Aaron,” Tess announces.
Joel shoots me a quick, crooked grin.
My skin warms. I like it when he smiles at me like that. I like it a lot.
“If your partner had to survive a zombie apocalypse with only one item, what would it be?” Sofia asks.
“Tess’s mouth,” Aaron says, deadpan. “She’d talk them to death.”
We all clap and cheer in agreement. Tess bows with a flourish, then drops a kiss on Aaron’s cheek like she’s accepting an award. They take the round easily.
Somewhere between sitting down and the second question, the space between Joel and me disappears. Our legs press together, warm and intimate. Joel doesn’t move away, and neither do I. But we’re both pretending nothing is happening.
While Sofia prepares the next question, I feel Joel watching me instead of the board.
“Focus,” I whisper, smiling without looking up.
“I’m trying,” he says, and it doesn’t sound like he means trivia.
“Guilty pleasure TV show?” Sofia asks.
“The Great British Bake Off,” Gideon answers instantly. “Kate cries when people get eliminated.”
“That’s because they try so hard,” she says, throwing a pillow at him. He ducks, slips an arm around her, and presses a tender kiss to her forehead. “Not many people realize she’s a marshmallow inside.”
“And I’d like it to stay that way,” Kate retorts, but her eyes are soft.
“Sherlock,” Tess says for Aaron, and they high-five like Olympic champions.
Beside me, Joel shifts just enough that our thighs press even closer together. We’re awful at this round and we might lose spectacularly, but somehow, it feels like we’re winning the thing that matters.
“Next question. What’s your partner’s favorite color?” Sofia asks. “Kenzie, you go first.”
I glance at Joel. Every mental snapshot is the same: black T-shirt, dark sweatpants. Like Aaron, he seems allergic to color.
I’m about to say black when a spark of mischief flares inside me. I want to win, but the urge to mess with him is stronger. This is a fun evening, so why not have a little fun?
A slow smile stretches across my face. Joel goes still, immediately suspicious. Clever man.
“I know Joel wants everyone to think his favorite color is black,” I begin. “But really, it’s pink.”
Aaron and Gideon both recoil, as if distance might prevent contamination.
Joel scowls. “Now’s not the time for teasing, sweetheart. You know that’s not my favorite color.”
I pat his hand. “It’s okay. You’re among friends.” My gaze sweeps the living room. “Isn’t that right?”
There’s a chorus of nods.
Joel’s jaw tightens. “Kenzie’s right,” he says at last. “My secret’s out. I like...salmon.”
“Pink,” I correct sweetly.
His eyes narrow. I hold his gaze, not yielding an inch.
“Pink,” he grinds out, like it’s causing him actual physical pain to say the word.
“In fact,” I say, digging in my handbag, “Joel loves wearing my scrunchie on his wrist. He only took it off before we walked in so you wouldn’t tease him.”
I pull out a neon-pink scrunchie and lay it in my palm, holding it out to him like an offering.
Joel’s eyes shoot to mine, promising retribution. I don’t flinch. The scrunchie remains suspended between us like a dare. Slowly, he picks it up, holding it pinched between two fingers like it’s diseased.
Smiling, I tap his wrist.
Swallowing, he slips it on.
I beam. “There you go. Don’t you feel calmer already? Like you’re one with your soul?”
“I’m feeling so many things it’s hard to pick just one.”
“All right,” Sofia announces, drawing a big fat zero under our team name. “Joel and Kenzie don’t get a point for that question.”
We lost that round, but it was so worth it.
Aaron and Gideon are staring at the bright pink scrunchie on Joel’s wrist with appalled expressions.
“You guys don’t have a problem with pink, do you?” Tess asks, her gaze brimming with mischief.
Both men freeze, ambushed by the question and scrambling for an answer that isn’t there.
“Whatever makes you happy,” Gideon says finally. “Even if it’s a pink hair thingie.”
Aaron simply leans back in his chair and folds his arms. Everyone is aware of his aversion to color, despite Tess’s best attempts to win him over.
“Actually, one of my favorite things is pink,” Gideon declares in solidarity with Joel.
Kate’s eyebrows flick up. “Really? What’s that?”
Pure panic flies across Gideon’s face. “Uh, it’s, um, my favorite gum is pink.”
“Gum?” Kate asks skeptically.
“Yep,” Gideon replies, looking proud of himself.
“How do you feel about pink?” Tess presses Aaron.
He turns his head slowly to direct a coolly assessing stare her way. “It looks great on you,” he says.
Sofia grins, looking highly entertained by all this. “What hobbies does your partner enjoy?” she asks next. “Or what activity have they always wanted to try?”
Aaron and Gideon breeze through their answers.
Sofia turns to Joel. He sits forward, elbows on his knees, thinking.
Our gazes lock. I try to beam him my list: reading, drawing, crocheting, watching movies, playing board games.
Joel doesn’t break my stare as a smile lifts his lips. I white-knuckle the armrest. That smile spells trouble. I take a nervous sip of my wine.
“You might not know this about Kenzie,” he begins, “but she’s always wanted to go bungee jumping.”
I almost spit out my wine. Wait? What?
Tess’s eyebrows climb halfway up her forehead. “Kenzie?”
“Bungee jumping?” Sofia repeats dubiously.
Joel flashes me a troublemaking grin, daring me to contradict him. “Yup. She hides it well, but there’s a daredevil spirit in there.”
I have to work to keep my expression neutral. My version of a daredevil spirit is staying up until midnight to finish a book.
“That’s interesting,” Gideon says. “Kate loves rollercoasters. The scarier, the better.”
“Maybe it’s the same secret thrill,” Joel adds, still stirring the pot.
Kate looks at me, intrigued. “This is so exciting. Want to come with me sometime?”
The no sticks in my throat. “Sure. Someday.” I’ll have to feign a stomach bug or something that day.
I hold out my hand. “I’ll have my scrunchie back, thank you very much.”
Joel shakes his head. He gives me one of his quiet smiles. A smile that cracks open a tiny window to his core and sends a shower of sparks across my skin. “Nuh-uh. I’m keeping it. A memento of tonight.”
“Final question, and it’s for the guys,” Sofia says, holding up a flashcard. “What’s in her handbag?”
There’s a collective groan from Aaron and Gideon. Sofia simply grins, marker poised.
Gideon takes a hefty gulp of his cocktail. “It’s a trick question,” he declares. “No one can answer it correctly.”
Tess looks at Aaron. “Come on, you have to know what’s in my handbag.”
“A whole lot of trouble,” he mutters.
Laughter breaks out around the room.
After Gideon and Aaron both strike out on the handbag question, Sofia points the marker at us. “Your turn.”
My eyes hesitantly find Joel’s. I’m certain we’re going to bomb this one. There’s no way he’s paid enough attention to know what’s in my bag. I’m not even sure I know what’s in my bag.
Joel doesn’t say anything right away. He leans back, arms crossed, gaze steady on the table like he’s turning the question over.
“Take a wild guess,” I tell him. “We’re already losing.”
Joel looks directly at me, affection softening his eyes.
“A mini sketchbook,” he says, his voice quiet but certain.
“The spiral-bound kind. It always sticks out a little. A couple of different pens, none of which work properly because she can’t bring herself to throw them away.
Tissues, because she cries easily. And that’s not a bad trait.
It’s one of her most endearing qualities.
Lip balm, which she applies when she’s nervous and needs something to do with her hands.
At least two hair ties. And either a small sewing kit or a safety pin. ”
The room goes completely silent.
I feel everyone’s attention swing between Joel and me. The silence lasts maybe ten seconds before everyone erupts and demands to see what’s actually in my handbag.
I reach in. I pull out the sketchbook. The pens. The safety pin. The lip balm.
All eyes turn toward Joel. Disbelieving laughter breaks out, Sofia and Tess pull me into hugs, the guys clap Joel on the back, and glasses go up in a toast to our win.
I swallow down the unexpected emotion in my throat. Something in my chest is aching. Expanding. “How do you know about the hair ties? And the safety pin?”
Joel gives a casual shrug. “You’re prepared for your friends and anyone else who needs you. So you keep a backup hair tie and a safety pin in case of a clothing emergency.”
He looks at me then. Not in a way that suggests he’s proud he got it right.
He looks at me like he sees me.
I can’t speak. All I can do is stare at him, my heart drawing tight, as though it’s bracing for something it already wants too much.
How is it that in three weeks he knows me better than people who’ve had years with me?
All of a sudden, I’m not so sure what’s real and what’s pretend anymore.