“Well, yeah. Of course. I needed some proof in case I had to follow through on my threats.”
Cal shakes his head. “You are—”
“What?”
“Just…really not what I expected. As a person.”
“In a good way?”
“Not sure yet,” he says after a moment of consideration. “I think my final answer will depend on if you ever use this photo against me.”
Surprisingly, his lips are curving up in the corners; he’s amused, not angry. “Don’t make me, and I won’t.” I kick off my red ankle boots and tuck my feet up under me on the bed. “Truth or dare?” I ask as I rearrange my dress to cover my thighs.
“Truth,” he says.
“Oh, you would,” I say exaggeratedly, mimicking him. “Okay. Why did your last relationship end?”
“Wow. Really just…going for it, huh?” Cal reaches up and straightens the collar of his shirt, as if desperate to buy a moment before having to answer. “She dumped me because she thought there was something more out there for her. A stronger connection than what we had. And she was right. She’s married now. To a farfitter—firefighter. She seems much happier.”
“Married? How long ago was this?”
“We broke up about a year and a half ago,” he says.
“She moves pretty quick.”
Cal shrugs. “I mean, she’d already wasted fifteen years with me. I don’t begrudge her for not wanting to waste any more time once she found what she was looking for.”
“You were together forfifteenyears?” I ask, incredulous. “You’re, what? Like, thirty? Thirty-one?”
“Thirty-four.”
“So you started dating when you were…”
“Eighteen,” he supplies before I can finish doing the mental math. “Yeah. We met the summer before college. One of my classmates was her neighbor, and knew we were both headed to Brown in the fall. Nicole—that’s my ex—and I decided to meet up ahead of time so we’d each know someone there and, well, the rest is history, I guess.”
“Geez, Cal. Have you been out with anyone since?”
“I feel like this is beyond the scope of the original question,” he says. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” I say, not wanting to stop conversing now that we’ve started.
“Who is your celebrity crush?”
“Depends on who you consider a celebrity,” I hedge. Because if we count anyone who has been on TV, then the answer would be Cal himself. Or it would have been up until a few days ago.
“I leave it to your discretion.”
“Harrison Ford,” I say. It’s not completely a lie. I did have a real thing for him as a kid watching theIndiana Jonesmovies.
“Young?”
“I’d take him any way I can get him. Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” he says again.
I pick up where we left off. “Have you gone out with anyone since Nicole broke up with you?”
He groans, but he had to have known I wasn’t going to let this go that easily. “I went on a single date with a barista at the coffee shop down the street from the store about six months ago.” I think he’s attempting to smile, but it looks more like a grimace.
