Page 100 of The Broken Heart Playlist
Easy, it turns out, are crickets. Gideon bravely crunches his way through a dead cricket, grimacing the entire time, while Jenny happily informs us that insects are a sustainable protein option in Africa.
I try a black ant, but I end up spitting it out in the trash can and downing a glass of water afterward to wash away the taste. As we move through the rest of the tasting stations, we refuse to be persuaded to taste bamboo worms, giant bugs, and various beetles.
Gideon’s eyes meet mine over the last tasting station—roasted larvae. “Please tell me you’re ready to leave?” he whispers.
“I am so ready,” I whisper back.
We stumble out of the museum and stand in the parking lot, grabbing deep breaths of fresh air. Neither of us have let go of our vomit bags. Our stomachs are still queasy.
“I can’t believe I thought orange juice was bad,” he says. “This experience has unlocked a whole new level of terrible.”
“I had no idea some of these dishes even existed,” I say.
Gideon looks devastated. “Kate, I am so sorry. This is the worse date idea ever.”
Laughter spills out of me. “The absolute worst.”
“I’m never going to live this down.”
“Never,” I agree.
“My one consolation is that I can only go up from here.”
“What makes you think there’ll be a second date after this?” I ask in a playful tone.
Gideon presses a hand to his chest. “You have to give me a chance to redeem myself.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’m thinking a tour of our local sewerage plant.”
I’m still laughing. “Be still my beating heart. I can’t say no to that.”
“I’m guessing that after this fun experience, you’re no longer in the mood to have dinner with me?”
I stare at him thoughtfully. “How fancy is the restaurant you’ve booked?”
“Pretty fancy.”
“Will you be able to cancel your reservation?”
“That won’t be a problem,” Gideon admits, trying to conceal his disappointment.
“What I am in the mood for,” I say, “is a gigantic, greasy burger. Do you know a place?”
He grins at me. “I know the perfect place.”
Gideon takes me to a late-night diner, and we order two burgers with all the trimmings. We eat our meal with burger juices running down our fingers and it’s one of the most delicious dinners I’ve tasted in a long while.
We’re walking back to the car, the smell of tree blossoms wrapping softly around us, when I say half jokingly, “We should find a way to get back at Tess.”
To my surprise, Gideon is in immediate agreement. “She should definitely pay for setting us up so we’d have such a disastrous first date.”
“Agreed,” I murmur. “We need something that will really throw her.”
But part of me is remembering how eager Tess was for Gideon and me to get together. She kept pushing me to give him a chance. Why then would she want to sabotage us? It doesn’t make sense, especially considering how adept I am at self-sabotage. The uncomfortable truth is, she should have left it up to me. No doubt I would have found a way to ruin this evening all on my own.
Abruptly, Gideon stops walking. His eyes lock on mine. “If you really want to mess with Tess, I have an idea.”
