Page 39 of Mending Me

“I was never a Monopoly kid. Always preferred different board games growing up.”

“Like Dungeons and Dragons?” Her eyebrows raised as she asked. A small part of me worried she was judging me, the memory of being teased for playing the game as a kid still stinging years later.

“Yes,” I tickled her side causing her to spasm and laugh loudly, “like Dungeons and Dragons. We just call it D and D though.”

“Ahhh, I see. D and D. Interesting.”

“You said you wanted to play a game?” I reminded her.

“Oh, yes, I do.” She clapped her hands together in front of her and a smile grew on her face. “Let’s play twenty questions.”

“Twenty questions? You wanna play twenty questions?” I asked.

“Yes, I wanna play twenty questions. Please?” She looked up at me again with puppy dog eyes that made my ability to resist her request impossible. For a guy who did eleven years in the service, I was a fuckin’ softy when it came to her.

“Fine, we can play twenty questions, but only because you look so cute.” Her cheeks flushed at my words and I grabbed another piece of her hair to play with.

“Okay, me first, hmmm. Okay, what is your favorite thing to cook?” she asked.

“Hmm…” I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking about all the recipes and dishes my mother had taught me how to make before I lost her. “I think my favorite is chilaquiles?1. It’s really easy to make, is perfect to eat at any time of day, even though it’s meant to be breakfast, and you can share it with someone.” I thought about how my mother would make me the dish every Saturday and Sunday, and then she and I would sit at the bar and eat it together.

“I hope you make it for me one day.” Her lips were spread into a small smile and I made a promise to myself that one day, I would.

“Okay, your turn,” she commanded.

“What?”

“It’s your turn. Now you ask me a question.” She spoke to me like I should have known that already.

“Oh, okay let me think. How about…what do you do when you’re having a bad day?” I’m not sure where the question came from but I was curious about her answer. What did she do when she was having a bad day? It felt strange to even think she could have a bad day seeing as how she always seems to have a sunny, spunky disposition.

“Good question,” she gasped and swatted my leg. A sense of pride swelled in my chest. “Hmm, I think my favorite thing to do on a bad day is take a bath and read. I don’t know what it is, but the hot water and a good book always seem to make me feel better.”

The naked image of her in the tub hit me like a ton of bricks and I quickly adjusted how I was sitting so the growing erection I had wasn’t poking her in the back of the head.

“What do you do when you’re having a bad day?” She looked up at me and when she tilted her chin back, I worried I was about to be found out.

“You can’t just steal my question.” I chuckled and tickled her again.

“Yes I can. I asked to play the game so I can make up the rules and ask whatever questions I wanna ask. Now answer.” She gently pinched my leg and I let out a gasp at the sensation.

“Okay, okay fine, just don’t hurt me,” I teased, tickling her slightly causing the room to be filled with the warmth of her laugh. “I guess I like to go for a ride on my bike, it helps me clear my head. Or I go to the gym. I find that a little bit of self-inflicted pain goes a long way.” She ‘humphed’ and nodded her head in agreement. Knowing it was my turn to ask, I continued. “Do you have a favorite kind of candy?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” Her eyebrows knitted together as she looked up at me. “Sno Caps are my favorite.”

“Sno Caps? Are you serious? Those are like, the most random candy.” Leave it to my girl to prefer a candy you could only find at movie theaters and concession stands.

“What? They’re good! I like to suck on them until all the chocolate melts and then chew on the crunchy bits.” She laughed in my lap and I tried to push out the idea of her sucking anything out of my head. While I don’t think she realized it, she was turning me further inside out with every new answer she shared.

“Okay my turn to ask,” she started again. “How did you meet your best friends?”

“I met them all in third grade and we’ve been inseparable since. Well, metaphorically speaking. Kolbi is the one I work for,Malcolm works at the bar where you met them, and then Conrad works for himself.”

“What do you mean ‘metaphorically’?”

“Well, we all grew up here in Charleston together and would spend nearly every day together. Then when I turned eighteen, I enlisted in the military. It was a way for me to get away from my dad and it got me an education, kind of. I never really did finish school. Once I was trained, I went into the field and never came back. It was only earlier this year that I decided I was ready to move on and come home.”

“So that means you were gone for?—”

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