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While she was fairly confident that he could manage to get himself home in one piece without her, she wasn’t so sure of when she would get this version of Da
She wasn’t ready to let him go yet.
“Well, I guess it’s only fair,” he said. “I might as well cash in on what you owe me.”
“Oh?” Leah asked, kicking off her shoes and walking back toward her bedroom. “I was unaware I owed you anything.”
“The last time you were tired and driving, I kept you awake. So it’s only right that you return the favor.”
“Christmas night?” Leah asked through a laugh. “You kept me awake for like two minutes. Barely that!”
He laughed before he said, “So tell me more about your day. After you fended off the zombie apocalypse, I mean.”
“Oh my God, you’re getting douchier by the second. Why did I agree to stay on the phone with you again?”
“Don’t know, but now you’re stuck.”
Leah smiled as he added, “Seriously, though. Tell me about your day.”
The fact that he would even ask that question lit a pleasant warmth in her chest. “I kind of already did,” she said, removing the phone from her ear just enough to pull her shirt over her head. “I taught, and then I went to my sister’s for di
“What book are you teaching right now?”
Leah lifted her brow as she pulled her pajama top over her head. “Really? You of all people want to talk about English while you’re trying not to fall asleep?”
“Try me.”
“We’re doing To Kill A Mockingbird.”
“Ah, good old Boo Radley and Atticus Finch.”
“You know it?” she asked, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice.
“I said it wasn’t my favorite subject, not that I was illiterate. Me can read.”
“Shut up,” she laughed.
“It’s true. And not just magazines. Actual, real books. With covers. Hard ones.”
“Okay,” she said through her laughter. “I’m getting off the phone now. You’re on your own. Go call one of your friends and have him sit through this craziness.”
“I would,” Da
“Oh my God,” Leah said nostalgically. “I haven’t played that game in years!”
“I was never a big fan of it. My game of choice was always Flip Cups.”
“Ugh,” Leah said, climbing into bed. “Chug a beer as fast as you can and then try to turn your cup upside down on a table slick with backwash and vomit while you stifle your own? No thanks.”
“Well, it’s really a man’s game anyway, so…”
“If you mean because it’s moronic and requires no thought, then I agree.”
Da
Leah smiled. “We used to play Never Have I Ever.”
“Eh,” Da
“That’s not a drinking game.”
“Sure it is,” he said. “At least, we played it as one. If you don’t want to do the dare, you have to drink.”
“Oh, so kind of like Grilled?”
“What the hell is Grilled?” he asked.
“It’s like what you described, only more truth than dare. You ask someone a question, and they answer. If they don’t want to for whatever reason, they have to drink. People would intentionally ask the most personal and embarrassing questions to try and get you to drink, because by the end of the game, everyone is so drunk, they’ll basically answer any question thrown at them. Definitely a quick and dirty way to get to know someone.”
There was a beat of silence before he said, “So let’s play.”
“What, now?” she said with a laugh, lying back on her pillow. “We can’t. It wouldn’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Because if we aren’t drinking, there’s no penalty for not answering. What would be the motivation to answer?”
“Hmm,” he said. “Well, what if we only get one pass? If you can only pass once, you won’t be so quick to use it.”
“One pass?” Leah said uncertainly.
“What’s wrong? You got a lot of skeletons?” he said with that maddening cool amusement that instantly had Leah picturing his dimples.
“Two,” she said. “Two passes.”
He chuckled. “Fine, two passes. You’re up first.”
“What? Why?”
“This is your game. I’m just a rookie,” he said, and Leah sighed.
“Okay…how old are you?”
“Twenty-eight. My turn?”
“Yup,” she said, shifting onto her side to turn off her lamp.
“Okay. How old are you?”
“How original,” she said, switching the phone to the other ear as she lay back down. “I’m twenty-seven. What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?”
“Easy,” he said. “Broke my leg when I was seven. The bone came through the skin.”
“Ohmygod,” Leah choked out. “Stop! Ugh!”
“You asked!”
“Yeah, but I had no idea it would be that disgusting! Blech! Can you just tell me how the hell you did that? I don’t want to know anything else about it.”
“Me and my friend were playing superheroes. We thought we could jump off his deck.”
“Did your friend get hurt?”
“I went first.”
She nodded. “Your friend’s a smart boy.”
Da
Leah’s smile fell a little before she cleared her throat. “My mom. My turn,” she added quickly. “What’s a talent you have that not a lot of people know about?”
He chuckled suggestively, a low rumbling sound, and Leah felt a surge of heat run through her veins. She kicked her covers off as he said, “Hmm, I’m go
“You can sing?” she asked, her eyes widening.
“Yeah.”
“Like, ‘sing in the shower’ sing, or you can actually sing?”
“I can actually sing.”
Leah closed her eyes. “Sing now.”
“Fuck that,” he said with a laugh.
“Please?”
“Not a chance.”
“Well, then how do I know you’re not bullshitting me?”
“I guess you’re just go
God, she really, really wanted to hear him sing.
But maybe it was for the best that he wouldn’t. Because if his speaking voice was any indication of what his singing voice would be like, it might very well be the thing that pushed her over the edge.
“My turn,” he said, pulling her from her thoughts. “What’s your biggest fear?”
“My biggest fear?” she asked, chewing on her lip.
“No, scratch that,” he said. “What’s your most embarrassing fear?”
Leah took a strand of her hair in between her fingers and began twirling it. “Okay, um…well, I personally don’t think this is anything to be embarrassed about, but I don’t like the dark.”
“You’re scared of the dark?” he asked, and she could tell he was smiling.
“I’m not scared of the dark. I just don’t like it. I don’t like not knowing what’s around me. It’s the same reason I don’t really like swimming in the ocean. You have no idea what’s lurking a foot below you. Totally freaks me out.”
“Oh. Well, that makes sense. I can understand that.”
“Really?”
“Sure,” he said, and after a beat, he spoke again through barely contained laughter. “So, do you sleep with a night-light then?”
Leah’s eyes immediately flew to the small plug-in night-light in the outlet on the far wall. “Such an asshole,” she mumbled, and he burst out laughing.
Okay then. Game on.
“Okay, my turn,” she said over his guffawing. “How many women have you slept with?”
His laughter morphed into a surprised coughing fit, and Leah smirked.
“Well, shit,” he said softly after he’d caught his breath.
“So?” Leah prodded. “How many?”
“Pass.”
“Oh come on!”
“Pass.”
“You know, you’re saying more by using your pass than if you actually answered the question.”
“I’m saying nothing,” he laughed. “You don’t know why I’m passing. How do you know I’m not a virgin? Maybe I don’t want to share that with you because I’m embarrassed.”