Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,169

honey garlic for her to taste.

She took one taste and melted. “Ugh. That’s amazing.” Then she stopped. “Wait. When did you learn to cook?”

He checked her with a harsh face. “I cooked all the time at home.”

“Oh, yeah, huh?”

Raising his eyebrows, he smirked at her. “You want to eat now?”

She looked down at herself. “Do I have time to change?”

His smirk transformed into a grin. “I like you the way you are.”

“Ha. Ha. Funny man. Don’t eat it all. I’ll be back.”

“Thanks for the warning!”

The meal was rather simple other than the chicken. It was just that and a few vegetables out of cans, but it was magnificent.

“So, how was it?” Greg asked.

“The conference?” she asked in surprise that he would care about her day. Chris had never so much as asked. In fact, she thought as she took another bite, Chris had never cooked for her either. He had never even offered, never even thanked her when she cooked. This was definitely different.

“Yeah. You said you were in a room all day?” Greg asked.

And with that, she proceeded to tell him all about it or as much as she could remember. There were so many pieces that were interchangeable, it was difficult to keep them all straight. “And Dr. Coleman said she was going to email me some things to read. I bought a couple of the books they talked about online before I even left.”

“Wow, that’s really cool.”

Taylor put her head down over her almost-empty plate, sending the fork around and around it three times. She’d been thinking about something off-and-on all day, and still, she wasn’t sure she had the courage to put the thought into actual words. “Yeah. Cool.” She pulled in a breath and let it out very slowly. “Remember when I said I hated chemistry?”

Seriousness overtook his face as he grew very still, looking at her. “Yeah?”

Her gaze came up as much to gauge his reaction as to see it. “Well, I really hate chemistry. Like really, really. I thought I liked it because I was good at it in high school, but I really don’t like it at all. It’s tedious and it makes me want to pull all my hair out one piece at a time.”

“Yow, that good, huh?”

With a nod, Taylor continued. “This is my third time taking it.”

That dropped him into even more seriousness. “Third?”

“The first time was last spring, then in the summer. I thought it was because of the whole Chris thing, but I think it was more than that. And I think it’s a signpost telling me that’s not the right road.”

The seriousness melted into something bordering on acceptance. “That’s what you were saying the other day.”

“Yeah.” Her gaze slid up to his and held there hopefully. “I think it’s time to get on a different road, not just think about it or talk about it, but to really do it.”

Greg nodded, but his eyes held such gravity, she knew the effort it took for him to agree with her.

“In fact, I think I need to go home and talk to Mom and Dad,” she said, her heart hitching hard at the thought. “Problem is, I have no idea how they’re going to take this.”

“I can imagine.”

The bits of courage were hard to hold onto. “I think I’m going to go talk to them tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” His eyebrows jerked up. “Wow. Really? Okay…”

It took three more nods to get the next question from her mouth. “Yeah, and I was wondering if maybe you might go with me.”

“Me?” His pitch swept upward. “To talk to your parents?”

“I know, it’s dumb, but I also know Dad is far less likely to lose it with you there.”

“Oh. So you’re going to use me as a human shield?”

She smiled sheepishly. “Something like that. What do you say, you up for a challenge?”

“Wow. Man, you don’t ask for much, do you?”

Shrugging, she tipped her head. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think you would say yes.”

He let out a guffaw at that. “Figures.” He thought for another second before shaking his head. “Fine. But you’ve got to watch The Matrix with me tonight.”

Taylor grinned at him. “Deal.”

“What is this about again?” Taylor asked, grabbing the throw pillow as she leaned over and laid down on Greg’s thigh before trying to get comfortable.

“Uh, hello,” he said as he picked up both hands and looked down at her.

She angled her gaze up at him. “What? I’m just getting comfortable. You got a problem with that?”

“Uh,