I hang up, a broad smile stretching my lips from ear to ear. On my way to my father, I shake my head, wondering why my mom even allowed him near a power tool. She usually handles most of the handiwork since my dad is terrible at it. However, she hates circular saws and has a nasty scar on her left thigh to justify it. So, my dad has to take one for the team now and then.
By the time I reach him, I still have a stupid grin plastered on my face.
“What’s up, MacGyver?” I ask him.
He grumbles something not very optimistic. “Can you hand me the screwdriver?” I obey and watch as he takes care of a loose screw.
“Were you on the phone with… Alexander, is that it?” he asks, taking me by surprise. I hold back the urge to roll my eyes.Seriously, Mom?
“She wasn’t supposed to tell you about him.”
“We’ve been together for over thirty years. There’s nothing we don’t tell each other. That’s the secret to a functioning marriage.”
“Well, I wasn’t ready to talk about him to either of you.”
“It’s okay. We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he says, giving me an understanding smile.
I remember the cookies, so I hand him one of the remaining two, and we eat silently. In all truth, I terribly want to tell him about Lex, since he’s my favorite topic of conversation.
“We work together,” I tell my dad, not ready to admit I actually workforLex. “He’s a programmer too. Incredibly smart. You should see him do his thing—it’s impressive.”
“Better than you?”
“Much better. But I’ll get there, eventually. And he has a dry sense of humor, which I like a lot. And because he has zero knowledge of popular culture, I took it upon myself to teach him—and he’s cooperating. We were supposed to watchThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy this weekend.”
“The extended cuts?”
“Of course.”
“I taught you well, my young Padawan.” We finish eating, and instead of returning to his task, my dad ponders, obviously wanting to ask me something else. “I think I already guessed, but you really,reallylike him, don’t you?”
I gnaw the inside of my cheek and look down at my feet, wondering if I should be honest. I usually tell my dad these things, but this is different. This time, it’s real.
“I’m sorry, peanut,” he says after a few seconds of silence. “You said you didn’t want to talk about him, and I’m pressing you with big questions.”
“It’s fine, Dad. As a matter of fact, I’m in love with him, yes. And I realize I was never in love before him because nothing ever felt like this.”
He gives me a tender smile, his eyes slightly glassy with emotions. “When you know, you know, Dee. Does he love you too?”
My heart twists in my chest at the innocent question. I don’t know what to answer. I hope Lex does, but I can’t say for sure.
“I-I don’t know,” I answer sheepishly. “Neither of us took that leap yet.”
“Oh, I see… Well, love can be expressed in many ways. Saying the words is one thing, but there are many other ways to know. Sometimes, you have to read between the lines to get what’s not being said but is being shown.”
My father’s sensible words throw me into a spiral of thoughts as I try to think of clues I may have missed.
Lex might have expressed his feelings in various ways, like when he added me to his AI, cooked me breakfast, or agreed to watch a nearly four-hour-long movie for me. He also displays his care in the small things, like taking a detour to take me home, ordering Thai instead of Greek, or forgetting his stage fright to save me from embarrassment. Even that time he let me win atCounter-Strikeduring a lunch break might have been a display of his love. And maybe he expresses his feelings through his sweet, romantic words, by making love to me with tenderness and passion, or even just by welcoming me into his personal space. His gaze always speaks volumes, betraying that he finds me beautiful and precious. His stunning eyes always look at me like they’ll never tire of me.
Holy shit …
Lex is in love with me.
He’s shown it again and again, but I was too blind to see it.
He’s in love.
Withme.
