sure if his comment was meant to remind me of when we first met, but his eyes are devoid of mirth, so maybe it was just a coincidence.
The waiter comes with our wine, and I’m thankful for the interruption.
Wine is poured and tasted. Not surprising, it’s amazing.
After I take a couple of sips, I glance at Troy. “Where were we? Oh, it was my turn to grill you.”
“Oh boy.” He smiles casually, unaware of what it does to me. He’s so beautiful that it makes my heart ache with the need to be close to him.
“What do you want to do when you graduate?”
Troy hangs his head low. “Ugh. You had to go there.”
“Come on. It’s not a hard question. You’re a senior!” I say, trying to suppress my laughter, knowing Troy is being dramatic on purpose.
“I know. I’m a business major, but while most of my classmates are all set with internships or actively looking for a job, I haven’t done any of that.”
“You can always work for your father.”
“Are you suggesting nepotism, Charlie?” He grins.
I shrug. “I mean, it makes sense.”
“Nah. It’s bad enough that he pushed me into that direction. I have no desire of actually working for him. I’m thinking about taking a year off to go travel, see the world.”
“With all expenses paid by your parents,” I note and then regret it immediately. That was a judgmental comment. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, I get it. Easy assumption, but no, they wouldn’t pay for it. It’s actually a job opportunity of sorts.”
“Oh, how so?”
“I was approached by a digital media company a few months back. They have a YouTube channel, and they’re looking for athletes to create content for them. The pay is minimum—it’d only cover basic traveling expenses—but the experience would be priceless.”
I can see the excitement shining in his eyes. He’s eager to do it, and that brings a sudden pang to my chest. It’s ridiculous. We’ve only known each other for a couple months, and I’m not even sure the status of our relationship yet. It’s definitely too new for me to be feeling sad about the possibility of Troy leaving.
“It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind.”
“Not yet. I have time. Besides, many things can happen between now and then.” He pierces me with one of his intense stares, completely messing with my ability to breathe properly.
“True.” I take another sip of wine, trying to hide the effect he has on me. “A while back, I looked into the possibility of participating in an exchange program.”
“You mean, studying abroad for a semester?”
“Yeah. I was looking into partner schools in Europe.”
“I take it you didn’t apply?”
Sadness takes over me, and I regret opening my big mouth. “No, I didn’t.” I glance at my plate.
“Why not?”
With a sigh, I look at Troy again. “You’re going to think it’s stupid.”
“No I won’t.”
“I didn’t want to leave Ben for that long. I know he has my parents, but… I don’t know. Told you it was a stupid reason.” I reach for the glass of water.
“It’s not stupid. You’re very protective of him. I get it. I’m also like that with Jane.”
“But you’re not letting that keep you from going places.”
Damn it, Charlie. This conversation is getting too heavy and depressing. It’s time to change the subject.
“Can we talk about something else?”
“Sure, like what?”
“Tell me your thoughts on Ophelia having two boyfriends.”
Troy scrunches his face up as if he’s in pain and groans. “God, I try my best to pretend they’re just friends.”
The appetizers arrive, and we take a break from the ten-thousand-questions game. I don’t know how our conversation got deep so quickly. Maybe because we’re not really complete strangers. I worry for a bit that we’ll end up messing up, such as saying something thoughtless and going back to bickering and arguing. But once the food arrives, we keep our chitchat light.
The evening goes by in a flash, and before I know it, the Uber driver is dropping us off in front of the house. I was a little apprehensive about going out with Troy, but in the end, my worries were unjustified. Dinner was lovely. Troy was attentive, funny, and uber sexy—a dangerous combination to me. A cynic would think that was his master plan—to be charming and irresistible so he could win the bet. But he was too nervous in the beginning for that to be true. Poor thing even forgot to give me the flowers he’d bought.
As we