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He groans playfully. “I should’ve known.”
“Ice cream and coffee are the two most important food groups.”
“That they are,” he agrees.nbsp;
I pull him along to my favorite ice cream stand. There are a few people in line so we have to wait.nbsp;
“What’s your favorite ice cream?” I ask him. “This is a very important question and if you say you hate ice cream I’m going to have to reevaluate our relationship.”
He chuckles. “No, I love ice cream, believe me. My favorite is chocolate. What’s yours?”
“Banana and strawberry.” I hum at the very thought of the delicious combination. “And this place has the best.”
We move up in line and when it’s our turn I order one scoop of banana and one of strawberry on a sugar cone. Jasper gets a cup with two scoops of chocolate.
With our ice cream in hand we move further down the pier and take a seat on an empty bench overlooking the ocean.
“Oh no,” I cry, giggling as ice cream drips onto my fingers. I lick it up quickly, determined not to miss out on a delicious drop. “God, I’ve missed ice cream.”
“Why couldn’t you have it?” he inquires.
“When your kidneys fail your parathyroid gets out of whack so you have to limit dairy products, plus at room temperature ice cream is liquid so it counts as a fluid.”
“I can’t imagine,” he says, his eyes sad.nbsp;
“It wasn’t so bad. Sometimes I’d crave something bad and it would be hard. That’s usually when I’d cheat a bit. I didn’t feel bad about it as long as it was only once in a while and I followed my diet in the meantime. I remember one birthday sobbing because all I wanted was a chocolate cake, and chocolate is a no-no. I think I broke my mom’s heart because she had to say no. She knew I wouldn’t be satisfied with only one piece of birthday cake.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know how you’ve done it. It would be hard to go to sleep one day thinking everything is normal and then wake up the next and have your whole life overturned.”
“It wasn’t easy. It’ll never be easy, but you learn to adapt.” I lick another swipe of ice cream as it drips down the cone.nbsp;
“You inspire me,” he confesses, his voice soft. “I wish more people could be like you. You’re not … angry about this, and you have every right to be if you wanted. But instead you … I don’t know … it’s like you handle it all so gracefully. When I found out T.J. died I wanted to destroy everything in my path. But you? You’re not like that.”
I shrug. “I already lost my kidneys, I lost a chance at a perfectly normal life, but it could be worse. It could always be worse. And I’m alive, that’s what matters most. And while things will always be different at least I get to live a healthy life. But, most importantly, after this took so much from me I refused to let it take anything else—especially my happiness. If I lose my ability to be happy then I have lost everything.”
Before I can blink, his lips are pressed to mine, the taste of chocolate clinging to them.
“What was that for?” I ask breathlessly.
“I had to kiss you.”
I feel myself blush and turn my attention back to my ice cream. His fingers brush against my cheek and curl under my chin, gently guiding my head up to look at him.
“Don’t get shy on me now.” His lips quirk at the corners.nbsp;
“I can’t help it.”
“I want to be able to kiss you without you trying to hide from me after.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “It’s … you make me feel things I’ve never felt before and it scares me too.”
“It scares me too,” he admits. “But that fear is what tells me how good and right this is.”
Boldly, I lean forward and kiss him this time. I let my lips linger against his, savoring the moment. When the kiss breaks our eyes connect and I refuse to look away.
“Better?” I ask.
