“You did?” I smiled. “What did you pick?”
He flashed me a little grin. “Well, here’s the first song.” He put his phone on the dash holder and opened a music app. Soon, LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” began to play.
I started to laugh, when Ben did his dorky little chair dance from the summer we were fifteen. We’d had so much fun with this song, jokey as we’d been.
The next song was Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” and we naturally whistled along with those parts. Hours rolled by as we listened to the music of our time together. Eventually we got hungry, so when we got close to a town, we stopped at a gas station.
We sat there, having our lunch in the parking lot, giggling like children at something silly. Then Ben got more serious.
He took a sip of his water, then cleared his throat. “You know, there’s this song that’s not on that list.”
“Oh?” I glanced at him, but saw he felt shy, so I averted my gaze as I dug out another cookie from the cooler.
“Yeah. I’ll play it for you if you want.”
“Of course I want to hear it.”
He blushed a little. “It’s not one of our favorite artists though, in fact, it’s someone we didn’t like at all.”
There were a few we hadn’t liked, but I couldn’t think of one that made better music now. Then again, I was one of those people who disliked a thing until someone forcefully proved me wrong.
“Okay. So, how about we finish eating, go pee, and then you can play me your song?”
“Okay.”
We did just that. Of course, Ben ran into the gas station to buy candy we’d liked back in our teens, too. Something about that candy and the music worked like a time machine, and I was keen to get back to the playlist, but first…
Ben looked nervous. “There are plenty of better love songs out there. I might’ve made a list.” He blushed, his fair skin betraying him like it always had when he got shy. “But I want to play you this one song right now. Then we can go back to the others.”
“I want to sit here then, until the song ends. I don’t want to drive yet.” I didn’t want to half-ass this thing, when it clearly meant so much to him.
“Okay. Right.” He grinned a bit, glancing at me as he chose the song. “It’s Justin Bieber.”
I burst out laughing and Ben did, too. We really hadn’t liked him back then, but I knew he had better songs now. He just wasn’t someone I’d listen to on purpose even to this day.
“What’s the song called?” I asked when we calmed down.
The laughter had released Ben’s nervousness, and he looked at me, then took my hand and pressed play. “It’s called ‘Holy.’”
I closed my eyes and settled in to listen. The religious connotations of the lyrics didn’t bother me, not when I knew Ben wasn’t religious even though I’d read Bieber was. It was the sentiment of the song that really got to me, and I felt tears filling my eyes.
Once the song was over, I looked at Ben. “I love it.”
“Good.” He took a tissue and handed it over.
I wiped my eyes and glanced at his phone. “Can I play you one, too?”
He took the phone off the holder and gave it to me without question.
I found the song and put the phone back. “This is by Maren Morris and my favorite singer, Hozier. It’s called ‘The Bones.’”
Ben understood what I was trying to say through the song. We had the foundation that we’d built as kids, and I was sure not much could shake us. Life would throw us those famous curveballs, but we were solid, and our separation had only made us stronger as individuals, so we could come together as adults.
“Good pick,” Ben said once the song ended. He sounded moved, and we both moved in for a kiss.
“I love you,” I said against his lips.
“I love you, too. So much.”
