My brow creases. “What is that?”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s a game that teenagers play. I ask you to choose between answering a question truthfully, or doing something crazy that I ask of you. It’s stupid, really.”
Repositioning myself in a more comfortable spot, I shrug my shoulders. “It doesn’t sound stupid. Let’s play.”
“Oh god. No,” she says, shaking her head.
I cover her hand with mine, pinning her with my gaze. Her cheeks turn pink, reinforcing the idea in my mind.
I know exactly what I’m doing. Playing with Margot’s feelings, pursuing her even though I know it will end up with us being in a mess.
I’m just so tired of doing what is right, what is beneficial in the long term. I don’t want to make every single choice based on the specter of the future.
So I tease her a little. “Ja, we can play. Can I go first?”
She glances at me, then ducks her head. “If that makes you happy.”
I grin at her. “Truth or dare, Margot?”
Her cheeks turn from pink to red. “Umm… truth, I guess.”
Leaning forward, I snag the popcorn bowl from her and launch a few kernels into my mouth. “I was hoping that you would choose dare,” I admit. “I was going to ask you to strip.”
She pins me with a probing stare. “Too bad.”
There is a hint of humor around her mouth, though. I squint at her, formulating my question. Mostly I’m trying to decide if I should start with something easy, or ask her something hard. I puff out my cheeks.
“Stellan, ask already!” she protests.
I tilt my head. “Ja, ja. Okay. When is your birthday?”
Her eyebrows rise. “October 20th. I’m a libra.”
I nod. “That makes sense. Mine is April 28th.”
Her lips curve upward. “That makes you… what, a Taurus? God, never in my life have I met someone who fits that bullish description so perfectly.”
“I choose to take that as a compliment.” I grin.
She rolls her eyes. “I’ve got a question. What do you like to do for fun in your downtime?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “This is my downtime. What little I get of it, anyway.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Oh.”
“Okay, now it’s your turn, right?” When she nods, I squint at her.
Her eyes almost close for a second. “I’ll go with truth. I don’t want to strip down to my underwear or call the royal palace with a fake accent and demand to speak with the prime minister.”
My eyebrows go up. “What?”
She blushes. “That’s the kind of stupid stuff that you get dared to do in this game.”
“Ah!” I chuckle. “Noted. You chose truth though, so…” I pause, thinking for a second. “In your childhood, what do you think was the most memorable experience? No, not memorable…” I struggle to translate the word.Gribendeis what I keep thinking, but language limits me. “What could you draw a line to from the person you are now and say, that is why I am who I am?”
She gives me a funny look. “I thought for sure you were going to ask me something about sex.”
I smirk. “I’m full of surprises.”
