and we could explore together. That was something I had learned not to tell a guy too soon in a relationship because once a guy thought you were down for the kink, he would start trying to do all sorts of naughty things before you were even dating for a couple of weeks.
“Hey, I’m just joking Gemma, don’t worry about it. I have the first question if you’re ready.”
“Sure. I’m ready. Go ahead.”
“So, I don’t want you to think I’m a geek.”
“Okay,” I said softly.
“But these are actually questions that the New York Times came up with.”
“Oh wow. Okay.” I looked at Connor in surprise. He didn’t strike me as someone who’d read the New York Times.
“You know, I’ve got a couple of surprises up my sleeve,” he laughed. “But yeah, these were questions that they come up with that you should ask before getting married.”
“Wow, is this our first date or what?” I grinned. “Before getting married?”
“Yeah, I know it’s a little unconventional to ask them now, but I think it’s a good way to get to know someone and the music is not going to start for half an hour. So, I figure this way we both see where we’re coming from and we can see if we’re even compatible to explore where else this could go, you know?”
“Okay,” I said to him in surprise. “Sure. What’s the first question?”
“Okay. So the first question is...” he cleared his throat, “Did your family throw plates, calmly discuss issues or silently shut down when disagreements arose?”
I started laughing. “There’s nothing silent about my family. No one was ever silent when they were upset. I can’t say that anyone ever threw plates, but they definitely didn’t calmly discuss issues. When my mom was mad at my dad, she would definitely shout and scream. And my dad would just sit there and take it until he got angry and then he would shout back. And then the next thing I know they’d be kissing.” I paused. “Yeah, I guess a little bit dysfunctional, but it was just how they did it, I guess. What about you?”
“My parents didn’t really argue that much,” he made a face. “In fact, my mom was a bit of a doormat, and so I’m not really looking for a woman that will just accept everything. I need a woman that’s going to speak up to me if she doesn’t like something that I’m doing. I hated to see my mom in that position.”
“Oh wow. That’s crazy.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s just the way she was raised; she believed that the man was always right. But I could see that she wasn’t happy. So I’ve always told myself that I want to be with a woman that knows how to speak up for herself.”
“Well, I’m definitely a woman that knows how to speak up for herself. So we have that in common.”
“Okay, that’s good.” He laughed. “Okay, so second question. Will we have children? And if we do, will you change diapers?”
“Is that your way of asking me if I want to have children someday?” I was taken aback. These questions were pretty hardcore for a first date. Ten minutes ago, he was telling me he wanted to feel me up and make out with me, and now he was asking me if I wanted to have children? He’d gone from zero to sixty way faster than I’d thought possible. But if this was what he wanted to ask, I guess he knew what he was doing.
“Yeah, I definitely would like to have children someday, and I think as the mom, I’d change diapers. What about you?”
“I don’t know about how I feel about kids if I’m honest.” He shrugged. “I don’t particularly like them. I don’t feel like they fit in my lifestyle. You know, I’m a rock and roller.”
“Oh. So, is that what you do? You’re in a band?”
“No, I’m a music producer and I DJ at some clubs sometimes. Maybe you’ve seen me around on some posters?”
“No, sorry. I haven’t.”
He grinned and started laughing. “I’m kidding you, I’m kidding. I’m not on any posters, but I do produce music.”
“Okay. And if we had kids, would you change their diapers?”
He made a face. “Shitty diapers? Can I plead the fifth?”
I laughed. “Yeah, you can plead the fifth.”
“Okay,” he said. “I feel like these questions are a little bit more serious than I remember them being. So maybe we’ll just do one more and then listen to some