“Sounds yummy. You’re making my mouth water.” Hart clears his throat. “I guess it is my turn to answer.” He nods.
Hart managed to make his answer about food personal. Food is love for a lot of people. I see it every weekend when I bring food to the families at Royal Oaks.
“I guess if I had to pick something, it would be soup.”
“Soup?” Hart questions me like soup is the worst type of food ever created. “Why?”
“It’s comforting.” It reminds me of my mom. “And you can make soup out of anything.”
When we didn’t have a lot of food, I would scrounge through the pantry and fridge. I could usually find enough to make into a decent soup. If times were really tough or there was an extra mouth to feed, we added more water to stretch the meal further.
“What are your parents like?” My parents? I don’t want to talk about them. I don’t want to talk about her.
“Wh-what?”
“Your parents Lauren. What are they like? I want to know more about the people who raised you.” I laugh harshly. My parents and the people who raised me are two different things.
I pick up my phone and do a quick Google search for ‘get to know you’ questions. I’m not ready to talk about them yet. Not here in a classroom full of people.
“Pick one of these.” I place my phone in front of him. Hart hesitates. “Please.” I plead.
“Okay, brujita.” Hart grabs my phone and starts scrolling through the list of questions. “What’s your favorite kind of weather?” Much better. I let myself relax.
“I like sunny days with a cool breeze.”
“I feel like I know you on such a deeper level now,” he deadpans.
“Don’t be a jerk.” I move to smack his arm, but he catches my wrist.
“Lo siento. I’m sorry. We can talk about the weather, and“ he looks down at my phone and scrolls a little. His other hand continues to make small circles on my wrist. “If you like cats or dogs, and your favorite type of candy if you want to.”
“Dogs, I guess. They seem loyal. I’ve never had a pet before. Milky Ways are my favorite, but I don’t discriminate when it comes to sweets.”
“I like sunny days too. There’s nothing better than playing ball on a cool spring day. Never had a pet either. I don’t eat many sweets.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“Your sweets are the exception. It’s pre-season. I can get away with it a little bit. Once the season starts, I will be back to eating clean.”
“That sounds like the worst idea I’ve ever heard of.” A quiet laugh rumbles out of him.
“It’s not so bad. I do what I have to in order to keep my body in shape. My career depends on it.”
“Looks like you’re doing a pretty good job,” I mumble.
“You’ve noticed my body, brujita?” Hart leans into my personal space. Flexing his forearms and smirking as he gets closer. My eyes roam up his muscular arms and his shoulders until I meet his eyes.
For once, he’s the one shaking under my stare.
“You’re over six feet tall. You’re kind of hard to miss.” Hart’s nose caresses from my neck up the side of my face.
I can’t breathe.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” he whispers in my ear.
I clear my throat. “Next question. I believe it’s my turn.” I ignore the voice in my head telling me to lean in and let him kiss me here in front of the entire class. Instead, I retreat putting distance between us once again.
Scrolling my phone, I look for a decent question. Most of them are lame. I do find one I would like to know his answer to, but I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to reveal mine. Screw it.