“Nothing,” I said. “This is just… nice.”
He glanced over, smiling softly. “Yeah. It is.”
I realized then that while I’d been zoning out, we’d gotten off the highway and were pulling into a gas station. I thought we wouldn’t need to stop for the whole trip because he told me he’d filled the gas tank before we left so I looked at him curiously.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
“Figured we could use a stop,” he said.
“For what?”
“Bathroom. Snacks. Stretching my legs before they forget how to function.”
“Already?”
“It’s been, like, two hours.” He parked the car beside the building and got out. “Come on. Snacks are on me.”
“I never said I wanted snacks,” I told him as we walked into the convenience store. I mean, I did want snacks, of course, but I didn’t like that he’d just assumed I did. He grabbed a basket and turned down the chip aisle.
“You didn’t have to say it. I know who I’m traveling with.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Tino glanced at me then away like he was too scared to look at me as he said his next words. “You get hangry.”
I gasped. “I donotget hangry!”
Tino practically started jogging down the aisle like he thought he needed to get away from me before I hit him or something—honestly, probably not a bad instinct—but said over his shoulder, “Yes, you do!”
I stomped after him. “I am always a delight to be around. You’ve said so yourself—multiple times, might I add.”
His lips twitched as he fought a smile. “Lilah, I figured you’d understand by this point: I would say anything that convinces you that we should be together. Even if it means…” He paused like he was looking for the right word.
“Lying?” I suggested. He stayed silent for a moment as he picked a couple more chip bags to throw into the basket.
“Stretching the truth,” he decided. “Not that I’m lying about how much I like you or anything! I just… want to make you happy. I would do anything to make you happy.”
He stared at me and I stared back, neither of us moving to pull away. Then his hand drifted up as if he was going to brush my face or something, until it veered off path and he grabbed another snack instead. I blinked. Had I just imagined that?
I thought about what he’d said. Instinctively, I thought I should be mad at the idea of him lying to me in any way, but it wasn’t like it was over anything important. Telling me that I was a delight to be around even when I was snapping at him because I hadn’t had enough food was just him being nice, though it did make me wonder what else he’d stretched the truth on. Did he really like the movies I picked out for group movie nights or did he only side with me to make me happy? How many times had he done stuff like that without me noticing?
I opened my mouth to ask him about it, only to realize he left me in the snack aisle by myself while I’d been lost in thought.I spun in a circle, as if I thought he might have just been hiding behind me somewhere, but he was nowhere to be found. I groaned and started wandering the aisles, trying to find him, finally coming to the checkout counter where he was unloading his items. I frowned at all the packages on the counter, realizing something about them quickly.
“Tino,” I said.
“Mm-hmm?” He didn’t look at me. In fact, he seemed to be looking anywhere but at me as he fidgeted with his credit card and watched the total on the screen go up.
“These are all my favorite snacks.”
I expected him to deny it or make some joke about how we had all the same favorite foods. Instead he just said, “They are.”
I didn’t even get the chance to form a coherent sentence about this revelation before he turned to me, bag in hand, and smiled. “Better safe than sorry when it comes to keeping you fed on a car ride.” Then he looped an arm around my shoulders and guided me back out to the car.
The moment I sat back down, he tossed a bag of chips into my lap—Lay’s ketchup flavored chips. The ones I always started with when I had an option.
I sat silently as we pulled back out onto the highway, until finally, I blurted out, “Hey Tino?”
He glanced at me with a raised brow.
