He couldn’t hide his playful grin. “You watch too much TV, but sure, I’ll let you stick with that answer.”
I laughed and twisted my legs under me so I could sit like a pretzel on the seat while I finished taking each pill in quick secession.
A moment later, he hit his hand onto the steering wheel, like he’d just remembered something. “If you stop taking the pills, you could be the bearded lady at the circus.” He paused and then looked over at me with such strong hope in his eyes that I thought for a moment he was being serious. “Except if you go through the sex change operation, you’d just be a normal dude with a beard.”
He frowned and shrugged before turning his attention back to the road.
I didn’t stop laughing until we crossed the Corpus Christi city line.
I thought Beck would, you know, go for it after my lap dance last night, but nothing happened after we returned to the hotel room. I was exhausted and the weight of Caroline’s prognosis flitted through my mind every time I tried to close my eyes. I tossed and turned, unable to peel the images of her sickness from my mind. Her mangled lungs, her failing liver. I knew Beck was awake as well, but he gave me the peace that I craved.
“ Alright, lightning round,” I began, pausing to insert an awesome game-show sound effect. It, of course, wasn’t lost on Beck. He appreciated every nuance of my humor. “Which of the following was not the name of a Spice Girl: Scary, Baby, Silly, or Posh?
“ Silly,” he answered quickly, sliding me a cocky half smile.
“ What? C’mon, you can’t guess it that fast.”
“ Why can’t I guess that fast if I know the answer? It’s called lighting round.”
I crossed my arms and sat back in my seat. “Okay, let’s play Desert Island instead.”
He winked and I pretended to be staring off through his window when actually I was just studying his features while he drove. Sometimes I had to remind myself that he was real and sitting in the same car as I was.
“ Let’s do the TV show edition since we know you’ll have an unlimited tap to draw from,” he joked.
My grin spread wide, “Okay three TV shows each. You go first.”
The music hummed from the radio while I waited for his answer. We were in the middle of God knows where, following any road that our hearts desired.
“ The complete history of SNL , LOST ,” he paused to think for a second, “and probably The Walking Dead since I’m watching it now and I want to know how it ends.”
“ Wait. Wait!” I blurted, waving my hands up into the air. “You want to watch a show about being stuck on a desert island while being stuck on a desert island?”
He smirked. “The irony is too good to pass up, and Kate also happens to be my dream girl.”
It was silly, but I instantly compared myself to Kate. We didn’t have anything in common. Why couldn’t I have adorable freckles??
“ Okay. Your turn,” he demanded eagerly.
I nodded, stalling for time so I could make sure I wasn’t missing any of the good ones. “ The Office , Will and Grace , and Game of Thrones ,” I declared, instantly regretting my choices. “No, wait! Maybe House of Cards instead of one of those. Or Friends .”