Page 88 of Meant to Be

Joe nodded and said, “Yeah, man. Catch up.”

“Okay. But I don’t do shots alone. Firm policy.”

“Fair,” Joe said. “I’ll re-up.”

“Cate and El?” Curtis asked, getting to his feet.

“Might as well,” I said as Elna nodded.

A few seconds later, we were all doing shots, opening more beers, and playing Curtis’s favorite drinking game, Never Have I Ever. It was the grown-up version of Truth or Dare, and potentially as dangerous, especially with Curtis asking the questions. He started out easy, saying, “Never have I ever picked up a hitchhiker.”

As Joe took a sip of his beer, I knew not to be fooled. Curtis was just getting started.

“Did the person freak out when they realized it wasyou?” he asked.

Joe laughed and said, “Nah. He was cool.”

“Unlikeyou,” I said to Curtis.

He shrugged, then raised the stakes. “Okay. Never have I ever…snooped through the stuff of someone I was dating.”

This time, only Curtis drank. As we all jokingly shamed him, he said, “But I always end up confessing!”

“Do you confess because you feel guilty or because you saw something that pissed you off so much you couldn’t keep it to yourself?” I asked, knowing the answer.

He made a face at me, then said, “Okay. Your turn, Joe.”

“No, man,” he said. “You’re on a roll here.”

Curtis smiled, then said, “Okay. Never have I ever…had a one-night stand.”

“Define one-night stand,” Joe said.

Curtis laughed. “Well, that’s a yes if I ever heard one.”

“For real, though,” Joe said, as I leaned in, so curious about his answer. “Definitions on this totally vary. Is it when you sleep with someone once, then never again after that? Or when you sleep with someone on thenightyou meet them and then never again?”

“The second one,” Curtis said. “I think the term implies that it not only happened just once, but that it was alsoimpulsive. Like on the same day you met.”

“Okay, then. Phew. I’m in the clear,” Joe said. While Curtis and Elna drank, I came up with a legal loophole: I’d had sex with a guy I’d met one night—butafterthe clock struck twelve. Hence two separate days. No drink for me.

“Okay. Never have I ever cheated,” Curtis said.

Elna unabashedly drank; Curtis proudly abstained; and Joesheepishly grimaced, then asked for clarification. “On a test? Or in a relationship?”

“Either one,” Curtis said, as I waited, staring Joe down.

Joe took a sip of beer.

“Which one was it?” I asked. “A test or a girl?”

“I don’t have to answer that! He saideither—”

“Okay. Well, then…Never have I ever cheated on a girlfriend,” I said, crossing my arms and staring at him.

“Dang,” Joe said, then drank again.

“Talk about red flags,” I said, smiling.

---