A few of the other couples cheered and whooped.
“Did I get it right?” Jace asked, grinning at me.
“Every word,” I said smiling at his smugness.
“Come on, Val. Give me a hard one,” Jace said, clearly getting into this game now. “I know Liv way too well to lose.”
“Does Olivia have any tattoos?” Mom asked.
“No,” Jace said confidently. “She’s terrified of needles.”
“Are you sure he didn’t see the board?” Carl asked, narrowing his eyes at my drawing of a needle with a slash through it.
“Of course he didn’t, Carl,” Mom said, swatting his shoulder. “He’s in love with Olivia and this is adorable.”
I blushed and glanced at Jace who smiled at me contentedly. “Just ask the last question, Mom.”
“Okay, for the lead, Jace. No pressure,” she teased. “When was the moment Olivia fell in love with you?”
Jace slowly turned toward me, and we locked eyes. I could hear his heart beating rapidly, like he was afraid to answer this one. I wasn’t sure if it was because he thought he knew the answer and didn’t want to admit it, or because he thought I wasn’t in love with him and had no idea what I wound have written.
“No cheating you two,” Carl said, shaking a finger at us as we remained locked into one another.
Jace opened his mouth and hesitated before running a hand through his hair. His eyes bore a hole into mine as he took my hand and answered the question. “Kaylee got sick with a stomach bug when she was six months old. Val was out of town and Olivia was scared becauseshe was starting to feel sick too. She called me in the middle of the night, and I went to her place and stayed up with Kaylee while Liv got some rest. The next day, she woke up with the same bug, and I took care of her and watched Kaylee until they were both feeling better again.”
My eyes stung and I blinked back the emotion as I turned the board around to Jace to show him. I’d writtenthe stomach bug debacle.
Mom cheered, but the sounds of laughter and fun as everyone got ready for the next round faded into the background as I stared at Jace, heart beating just as loudly as his. His hand rubbed my waist lightly, as if he was trying to sooth my discomfort. I had no idea how he’d known that was my answer, and I had a dozen questions I wanted to ask.If he knew, and he’s never asked me out, does that mean he doesn’t feel the same way about me? Because he’s looking at me like he really does.
I tore my eyes from his and wiped off the whiteboard, handing it to him as Carl passed out cards for the second round. I didn’t need to wait to hear the other couples’ answers to know that Jace and I were about to win this game. The questions on the card were way too easy, and I knew Jace just as well as he knew me.
What’s your partner’s favorite food?
Samosas from Curry Palace.
What would your partner do if they won the lottery?
Give it all away to charity, like he does with half of his wealth now.
What is your partner’s biggest pet peeve?
When people litter because it’s a sign of disrespect and Jace doesn’t have a disrespectful bone in his body.
Who is your partner’s best friend?
Me. Unless Leo asks, then of course Leo.
To my mother’s great excitement, I got every single one correct, right down to the Leo addendum. After one of my cousins announcedthat playing with me and Jace again wouldn’t be fun for the rest of them, the game broke up and everybody went back to mingling.
Jace and I made the rounds before politely excusing ourselves, as if we had an unspoken agreement to get the hell out of there as fast as possible.
When we got into his car to leave, my eyes welled with tears. I turned toward him from the passenger seat.
“How long have you known how I felt about you?” I asked.
“I didn’t know, Liv,” he said, gripping the steering wheel and staring straight ahead. “I wondered, I hoped, but I didn’t know anything.”
“Then how did you get that answer right?” I yelled, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “If you didn’t know how I felt about you, how could you possibly have guessed the moment I fell in love with you?”
