Page 87 of I Wish You All the Best

“Not even close, but I can’t totally give away all my mystery. I do have to save some things.” He winks, and the temperature around me definitely rises.

I try to think about something I can share, but nothing as random as putting milk in a bowl before cereal comes to mind. “I put my socks and shoes on one at a time.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I do that thing where I put on one sock, then the shoe. Then the other sock, and the other shoe. One at a time.”

“Why?”

“Why do you put milk first?” I ask again.

“You got me there, De Backer.” He lets out this long sigh and smiles.

Watching a movie in a park is a totally different experience. For one thing, people sneak in drinks. No one gets wasted, but it makes the crowd rowdier. And there’s applause at famous lines, and when the Death Star blows up. There’s some sniffling at Leia’s hologram message, and people full-on bawling at the award ceremony, which probably has more to do with the alcohol than anything else.

But I’ll happily admit that it is a lot more fun with other people. Definitely a lot more fun with Nathan. At a point about halfway through, I catch him mouthing along to the lines, staring wide-eyed at the screen.

“Leia was always my favorite,” he says when he catches me looking. “I cried for two weeks when Carrie Fisher died.”

“I was always more partial to Luke.” He wasn’t my “gay-wakening,” as Mariam so graciously put it, but he was close. In fact, Star Wars is entirely unfair when it comes to attractive leads. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford? Totally and completely uncalled for.

We stay around for the credits, waiting and watching for everyone else to pack up their things and head out. Nathan balls up the blanket and tosses it into the empty basket, discarding our half-eaten sandwiches in the trash can by the entrance.

“Did you want to grab dinner or something?” he asks. “I know the sandwiches weren’t much.”

My appetite is long gone, the bread weighing heavily on my stomach even though I only ate about half of it. “If you want to. I’m not that hungry.”

“Nah, we’ll go some other time.”

I check my phone. “It’s only eight thirty. Seems early to head back home.”

“Up for a little stroll?”

“Sure.”

“Come on.” We walk back to the car and Nathan leaves the basket in the back seat.

“So where to?”

“Want to see the lake?”

“There’s a lake?”

“Well, it’s more of a glorified pond, but they put these string lights over the bridge and it’s really pretty at night.”

“Sounds nice.”

“The pond it is.”

I’m not sure exactly how far away this pond is, but I definitely don’t see any bridges or ponds around me. At least it’s nice out, and maybe this is just what I need.

“So, did you like the movie?” he asks as we start down the trail.

“I don’t know, the twenty other times I’ve seen it were great, but this last time … The magic’s gone, you know?”

“Okay, Mr. Sarcasm, that’s enough.” He bumps into me with his shoulder.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “It was great, thank you.”