‘I coach younger kids in the summer. They puke all the time, and sometimes the older kids overheat during baseball practice and puke. And I usually have one or two students a year who come into class hungover from the night before and puke either in class or in the hall. So yeah, I’m used to being around it.’
‘I’m still embarrassed you saw that.’ I smile at him. ‘But thanks for holding my hair. That was a very gentlemanly thing to do.’
‘It was, wasn’t it?’ he says, sounding proud of himself.
I rest my head on his shoulder. ‘You’re a great guy, Jason.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ he jokes. ‘You don’t know me that well.’
‘No, but what I know about you so far tells me you’re agood guy.’ I pause. ‘I’ve really liked seeing you here, in your hometown, with your family.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it shows me who you are, what you’re like when you’re not trying to impress some girl at a wedding.’
‘Who said I was trying to impress you?’
I look up at him. ‘You weren’t?’
‘Okay, I admit it, I was, but only at first. After an hour of talking to you, it felt so natural I ended up just being myself.’
I lay my head back on his shoulder. ‘It did feel natural. Like we’d known each other forever.’
‘It’s weird, isn’t it? I’ve never had that happen before.’
‘Me either. That’s one of the reasons I had to see you again. To see if I’d still feel that way.’
‘And do you?’
‘Yeah, I do. How about you?’
‘I feel like that even more.’ He slips his hand around mine. ‘I wish I could explain it.’
‘Explain what?’
‘Why we feel this way. Why being with you feels so familiar after only spending a night with you. Well, two nights now.’
‘I think sometimes people just feel that type of connection. I don’t know why. Maybe for us it’s because we have a lot in common.’
‘I’ve had stuff in common with women before and never felt this way.’
‘Then I don’t have an explanation. And maybe that’s okay. Maybe we don’t need one.’
We sit in silence a moment, my head on Jason’s shoulder, hishand wrapped around mine. The nausea has passed and I feel relaxed, like I’m close to falling asleep.
‘You ever fake getting sick?’ Jason asks. ‘Back when you were a kid?’
‘No. Never. I didn’t want to worry my parents.’
‘I don’t mean something serious. I meant like pretend to have a sore throat or put hot water on your face to fake a fever.’
‘No, I never did any of that. My parents didn’t think they could have kids so when they had me, they worried about every little thing. If I got sick, they acted like they thought they might lose me. So even when I really was sick, I tried to hide it from them so they wouldn’t worry.’
‘That’s a lot of pressure for a little kid. Having to protect your parents like that?’
‘It was, but I didn’t know it back then. I just knew I didn’t like seeing them worry.’
‘Are you still trying to protect them?’
