“You do?” I rubbed my hands over my knees. “I mean, I can fight with you more often, if that’s what you want.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Alex chuckled.
“Eyes on the road!” I yelled, chuckling too. “Hands at nine and three o’clock! Why didn’t you call me? You’re seeing someone else behind my back, aren’t you!”
“You’re stupid. As if there were other people in Seastone I could date behind your back.”
“We’d have to be boyfriends first for that to happen anyway.” The words left my mouth before I realized what I had said.
Alex slowed down, his head snapping back before he focused on the street again. He swallowed a few times, while I buried myself in the seat.
“Do you think we should be boyfriends?” Alex asked.
I had to admit that I had wondered about it before. Despite the many reasons against it, I couldn’t deny that I liked him a lot. Taking that step could make things easier in the future. It would make coming out to my parents less difficult. It would allow us to discuss where life could take us once I get my degree. Heck, I wouldn’t even need to make up more excuses to visit Seastone again soon.
“I don’t know,” I eventually said in response to his question.
“I don’t know either.”
Time seemed to stand still as the landscape rushed past us. The truck’s headlights lit up the trees and the scattered houses nestled among them, but it all blurred into streaks at the edges of my vision.
“We don’t have to talk about it,” Alex said. “It was a stupid question anyway.”
“No, not at all.” I leaned back in the seat. “We can’t sneak around forever. And I’d definitely count myself lucky if I could call you my boyfriend.”
“You would?”
“Yeah? If I haven’t told you yet, you’re pretty awesome.”
“Am I?”
“Of course.” I folded my hands and stared at them. “You’re so easy to talk to. You’re talented, cute, and just the right amount of kinky. You helped me build a better relationship with my parents. I’ve hated that we live so far apart basically since theday we met—which I think is a pretty good sign that I like being around you. So, yeah, I’d be super lucky if I could call you my boyfriend.”
He pressed his lips together, trying to hide his smile. “Maybe… we should do it, then. Because I feel the same way about you.”
“You mean it?”
“How about we use tonight as a trial run? My friends think we’re already together anyway. This way, we can see how it feels.”
“A trial run? In front of your friends? Wouldn’t that be hard on you if it didn’t work out?”
“No.” Alex grinned. “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just tell them about what an asshole you are and write an album about our breakup, become famous, and make millions.”
“That sounds about right. You could definitely pull that off.”
“Although I hope it doesn’t end like that.”
“Oh, me neither.”
I looked straight at him. His eyes stayed focused on the road. His legs trembled slightly, but the corners of his mouth turned up. I put my hand on his knee.
“Am I allowed to do that now? As my first official boyfriend duty?”
“You are,” he said, with a smile finally breaking free. “Do I have to call you a cute nickname now? Babe? Lovebug? Tater tot?”
“Anything but ‘tater tot,’tater tot.”
We both chuckled. My hand stayed on his knee as I hoped we’d arrive soon, so I could touch him more without risking him driving us into a tree because I was distracting him too much.
