Page 120 of The Book Club Boyfriend
He grins at me, and for a second, I forget about everything else, because he really is that pretty.
And this feels good.
Normal.Us.
Our pizza is delivered to the table shockingly fast—my half is mushrooms, olives, and extra cheese—enough to kill a lactose-intolerant person. His is pineapple, pepperoni, and jalapeños. Sweet and spicy—a lot like him.
“Feel free to have a slice of mine,” he says, sliding a piece of pie onto his paper plate. “I might just expand your palate.”
“You’ll expand my rage.” I grin sweetly.
“How was Chicago?” he asks.
“Good,” I say quickly. “I had a sit-down chat with both of my parents in the same room for the first time in decades.”
His eyebrows lift. “And?”
I swallow. “And it was good, healing in a way. Probably sounds stupid how much I let them affect me for so long.”
He touches my hand. “Just because someone carries it well doesn’t mean the weight isn’t heavy.”
I release a slow breath and realize he’s right. I don’t have to carry the weight of my parents’ failures anymore. It’s time to choose me—my life.
“So,” he says between bites, “most embarrassing moment. Go.”
I blink at him. “That’s a very personal first-date question.”
“This is technically our eighth public outing.”
I fake-count on my fingers. “Does that include the time I heckled you in front of thousands of fans?”
“Especially that one.”
I sigh dramatically. “Fine. But if you ever tell anyone, I will burn your house down.”
“I can accept those terms.”
I lean back, arms crossed. “Senior year, I tripped during a pep rally in front of the entire school. And fell face-first into the tuba section. My skirt went up. It was… not a good day.”
He chokes on his soda. “Into thetuba section?”
“I was airborne. There wasaltitude.”
He’s doubled over now, laughing so hard he’s turning red.
I throw a balled-up napkin at his head. “Your turn, jackass.”
Hewipes his eyes. “Okay, okay. Mine’s bad.”
“Worse than flying into brass instruments while showing your underwear?”
“Debatable. Rookie year, locker room prank war got out of hand. Someone swapped my shampoo for Nair.”
My jaw drops. “No.”
“Oh yeah. I lost half an eyebrow and a decent chunk of my pride.”
I’m wheezing now. “Did you play like that?”
