They take another bite, becoming even more annoyed. “Ugh, it’s like they’re afraid of seasoning.”
I shove them with my toe. “Or you just have a broken sense of taste.”
They look up at me, unimpressed. “No! I have arefinedsense of taste, thankyouverymuch.”
I smirk. “You put hot sauce on scrambled eggs.”
“And?”
“That’s a cry for help, Kor. Not a refined sense of taste.”
Korie snorts, shaking their head as they take another bite anyway.
The apartment is warm and quiet except for the sound of whatever playlist is on. We talk about our day, about the group text from Korie’s sister, and the movies we want to see soon. It’sexactly the kind of night we’ve had a million times before, which is comforting and dangerous. It’s tempting me to stir things up.
But can I? I don’t want to ruin anything between us. Fake date or not, Korie and I could end up hurting each other if we say the wrong thing, and that’s the last thing I want to do.
Still, the thought has tortured me all day.
No—longer than that.
Days.
“Hey,” I blurt before setting my burrito down. “Can I ask you something?”
They glance up, narrowing their eyes slightly. “That sounds suspicious.”
“It’s not.”
“Thattoneis suspicious.”
“What? How? It’s a normal tone.”
Korie shakes their head, sweeping some of their hair to the side. “It’s not,” they say flatly. “That’s your I-have-an-idea-I-probably-shouldn’t-say-out-loud-but-I’m-going-to-anyway tone. It usually gets us into trouble.”
I huff out a quiet laugh. “You’re making that up.”
“I’m absolutely not. You always play innocent before throwing us into some grand adventure.”
“I do not!”
Korie tilts their head. “Joshua Tree? Seattle? The weekend in Dallas? Those were allyourideas, dude.”
I scrub a hand over the back of my neck, already regretting this. But at least this idea isn’t mine.
“Just—hear me out, okay?”
Korie sets their wrapper aside, giving me their full attention, which is somehow worse. I resist the urge to get to my feet and pace. When I say nothing, they wave a hand in annoyance.
“Okay,” they say dramatically. “I’m listening.”
I take a breath. “I know you’re going to say this is dumb.”
They snort. “Oh, that’s a great start.”
“But,” I continue, “what if we did what Hattie suggested the other night? Just for a little while, I mean.”
“What?”
