“Howoldis he?”
Ben laughs. “I’m sure he’s secretly thirty. He has a PlayStation 2.”
He smiles lovingly and that little ripple of jealousy I felt when Tom walked into the room is like a tsunami now.
I change the subject.
“Well, if you like sad music, you must like The Smiths.”
“I’ve never heard of them.”
I practically eject from my seat. “You’ve never heard of The Smiths?”
“Are they a new band?”
I shake my head, trying to smother my laugh. “They’re an 80s band.”
“Oh, that’s why then. I don’t really listen to old music.”
I still don’t understand how a person can reach the age of twenty-one and have never heard of The Smiths while they listen to album songs by Lana Del Rey, but whatever.
His phone is sitting between us in the drinks holder. I gesture at it. “May I?”
“Go ahead,” he shrugs. “But remember, you said you wouldn’t tease me for my music taste.”
My neck gets hot. Tease isn’t quite the word we used before. It has connotations that make me wish I was wearing something less revealing than grey sweatpants.
“I won’t tease you,” I say, grateful his attention is focused on the road.
I type The Smiths into the search bar on Spotify. Of course they pop up before I even finish typing because, well, it’sThe Smiths.I decide to put Spotify’s ‘this is…’ playlist on to give him a feel for them first. “This Charming Man”starts to play through the speakers. I can’t help but bop to it.
Ben frowns. “I feel like I’ve heard this before.”
“See!”
“And it’s not sad.”
“Well, it is, sort of. Morrissey’s voice is sad.”
“He’s the singer?”
“Yes.” I roll my eyes. “He’s the very famous singer of The Smiths.”
Ben just shrugs, but I notice him start to tap his fingers on the steering wheel, smiling a little when I start singing along with my best Morrissey impression.
When the song ends, Ben actually looks disappointed. “That was fast.”
“This was the 80s. Got to grab people’s attention quickly.”
“I thought we were the ones with short attention spans.”
I shrug. “It was the start of MTV, I suppose.”
The next song is very melancholy. Ben seems right at home.
“How do you know all this stuff?” he asks.
“All what stuff?”
