“No, I—” I cut myself off, because the more I thought of it, he was right. “Well, you can’t look me in the eye when you lie,” I blurted out.
His eyebrows shot up, looking shocked.
“Yupp. And you sniff, kinda like this.” I demonstrated.
He started laughing so hard his body shook, and I couldn't help but join. His left hand went up to his right peck, to stop himself from moving too much. “Damn, here I thought I had an advantage. Turns out we’re both shit liars.”
“I’d say so.” I wiped my eye. No one else had ever called me out like that, probably because no one else in the world knew me as well as him. He was my person. And I was his. Even though we spent years in no contact, the distance melted away when I looked at him. I knew him down to his soul, Ilovedhim down to his soul—his verygood, very wholesome soul. I laid my head against his left shoulder and hugged his arm. He hummed in approval.
“I should probably work on fixing that, eh?” he asked me.
“No, you shouldn’t. I love it.”
“I love you,” he said with a laugh, then his entire body froze, like he realized what he said a split-second too late.
I pulled back to stare at him.
He coughed into his fist and shifted his chair. His face reddened with panic. “I mean…it,” he said weakly. “I love it. I just…I…” he sputtered. He dropped his head. “No, that’s not true. Well, it is true. But I also loveyou. Fuck.” He rubbed his forehead. “Sorry, don’t worry. You don’t have to—””
“I love you too,” I said immediately.
The panic dropped from his face and his lips twitched into a hesitant smile. “You do?”
Laughing, I reached up to his face and planted a kiss on his lips. “I really do, JP.” He studied my face, like he was trying to reassure himself. I nodded, my face hurting from smiling so big. “Like, a lot.” I laughed.
“Thank God,” he rasped. He went to pull me into a hug, but his sling stopped him and his face flinched, almost like he momentarily forgot about his injury. “Fuckmy arm,” he let out a frustrated groan and settled for a side hug. “This sucks,” he said grumpily.
I patted his chest. “It’s okay, you’ll be better in no time.”
He dropped a kiss on my hair. “So, can you tell me why you’re worried now?”
I swallowed hard as I surveyed the court. While he momentarily forgot about his injury, I forgot about where we were. I scanned the athletic players while they warmed up. They were so close I could see the sweat beads forming on their brows. “I’m just afraid of a ball or a player smacking your arm or my stomach.”
He gave me a gentle grin. “I won’t let that happen, Ali.” He intertwined his fingers with mine and brought my hand to his lips for a kiss. “Promise.”
As soon as the game started, my worry eased because my competitive edge started taking over. Just planning this type of date showed how well JP really knew me. I’d never be able to sit through a movie or an orchestra or play without falling asleep or talking. But Ilovedgames—any kind of game, really. I loved getting into the competitive spirit and cheering on my chosen team for the night,and so did JP. This game even more relaxing because JP wasn’t suiting up. He was sitting right beside me, also yelling at the refs for bad calls.
About halfway through the second period, my stomach rumbled in a weird way.
“Was that you?” JP asked, barely taking his eyes off the court.
“Yeah,” I said, grimacing as I reached for my water. “Prolly just some indigestion.” I let out a loud burp, and JP shot me an amused grin. “Sorry.” I blushed.
“Shoot!” JP yelled a second later, completely distracted. He quickly turned back to me. “Sorry, you promise you’re good?”
Not wanting to be the one to put an end to our night, I nodded and tried to mentally convince myself that I was fine even though I was feeling a bit queasy.
“I’m gonna use the bathroom,” I said. But as I stood, a horn blared, signaling a commercial break. While the players jogged back to their respective benches, a stream of people started rushing up the aisles to use the bathroom. Sitting back down, I blew out a steadying breath. “I’ll just wait.”
“You sure?” JP asked, concern etched on his face.
Forcing a smile, I nodded. I wasn’t about to fight the crowd. I’d just wait until they resumed the game to hit the bathroom.
“You know what that means,” the announcer’s voice boomed in the stadium, making me slightly jump. The jumbotron lit up with a video of the mascot kissing a fan while The Crystal’s crooned, “Then He Kissed Me.”
JP’s face split into a grin as we watched couples around the stadium kiss whenever the camera landed on them. Old and young couples were shown, and then a couple of celebs around the floor of the court were put on the screen.
I loved watching, until I saw myself up on the jumbotron.
