I laugh, trying to picture him juggling. “Hmm, this is tricky. The pizza thing is definitely true. You love food too much for it not to be. And the tattoo… that one’s believable. But juggling? I don’t think so. The lie is you can juggle.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “Wrong. I actually can juggle. The tattoo is the lie.”
I gape at him. “Really? Show me.”
He grabs a few small stones from the ground and expertly tosses them into the air, juggling them with ease. I clap, impressed. “Okay, okay, you win this round.” I think for a moment, trying to come up with something tricky. “All right. Two truths and a lie. I once got lost in a foreign city for an entire day, I can’t swim, and I hate broccoli.”
He furrows his brow. “Let’s see… I’ve seen you eat broccoli so that one’s definitely a lie. The other two must be true.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Wrong. I hate broccoli. Grey chose lunch for me that time.”
He looks at me in amused disbelief. “And why would you eat it if you hate it?”
I just shrug. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
And I learned early to eat stuff I don’t like to prevent a scene.
He nods, still smiling. “Okay, so what is it then?”
“I never got lost in a foreign city.”
You can’t get lost when your driver takes you everywhere.
“You can’t swim?” he asks, genuinely surprised.
“No. Never needed to learn,” I say, trying to brush it off.
He shakes his head, a determined look in his eyes. “We’re going to teach you that. Grey is going to throw a fit when he finds out you’re lacking another basic human skill.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Another?”
“Breathing,” he says, his grin widening.
“Hey, that is only when I eat peanuts,” I retort, laughing. “I can breathe under normal circumstances.”
“Tellhimthat,” he teases. “Also, the way you just panted up here had me thinking about that EpiPen.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t help but laugh. “You nutter!”
He chuckles, the sound warm and contagious. “Well, it’s true. I was a little worried for a second there.”
“Good to know you care,” I say, my tone teasing, but there’s an earnestness in my words that I hope he hears.
He looks at me, his expression suddenly serious. “Of course I care, Amelia. I care very much about you.”
The sincerity in his voice makes my heart flutter. “I care a lot about you too.”
He reaches out to take my hand, his eyes holding mine as he leans in closer. “How’s the weather inside you today?”
“Sunny,” I whisper, and his answering grin is everything.
I feel something tickling my cheek, and without thinking, I screech and jump, swatting at my face.
Misha bursts out laughing. “Relax, it’s just a ladybug.” He reaches out, grabbing my wrist and pulling me closer. With a delicate touch, he catches the tiny creature on his finger, holding it up for me to see.
I feel my face flush with embarrassment. “It startled me,” I mumble, feeling silly for overreacting.
He grins, watching the ladybug crawl across his finger. “Oh look, it has your color,” he teases, his grin widening.
