One Day

Part 16 - 2 Truths, 1 Lie

We pull out of the airport and turn left instead of right towards the interstate.

"Where are we going?" I ask. I love surprises but my curiosity makes it hard for me not to question.

He smiles as he reaches over and links his hand with mine. "You'll see."

I lean my head back and watch him drive for a few minutes before he glances over at me. "What are you staring at?" he asks with a smile.

"Just you," I grin back. He laughs as he reaches to turn up the radio and I relax even more into the seat. "I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute," I say as I get comfortable.

"Uh huh, I'm sure only for a minute."

I wake up to Jace squeezing my leg, "We're here."

I sit up and glance out the window at the beautiful barn in front of us. The parking lot we are in is packed and there are people waiting on the porch that surrounds the front and side of the barn. We are at my all-time favorite place in the world to eat – Barnwood. I don't get to eat here nearly enough as it is two hours from home.

"Elena told you, didn't she?" I ask as I look over at his smiling face.

He winks, "It hurts my feelings that you think I wouldn't know your favorite place to eat." He smiles even wider as I raise my eyebrow towards him, "Of course she told me. I think she wants us to work out more than anyone else on this planet so she's making sure to increase my chances."

I laugh not because of Elena and her sneaky ways, but because he doesn't realize that he's already got me – he doesn't need help. I'm flattered that he's trying so hard and my stomach flutters as he leans towards me. "I want to know everything else about you," he says as he gently kisses me. He pulls away and look me in the eyes, "Your favorite color, your favorite song, your hobbies, your family, everything."

I sigh and close my eyes. Is he real? And is he really in front of me? Boys aren't like this – only boys in books and movies are like this. I open my eyes and he is still staring at me. "Blue, Haley and reading."

He cocks his head and eyes me curiously. "My favorite color is blue, my favorite song is Haley and I love to read," I say smiling. He laughs and gives me a quick kiss before reaching for his door handle.

"You can tell me more while we eat. I'm starving."

After a small wait, we are seated at a corner table with a beautiful view of the river. We are far enough away from the other tables that we can easily carry on a conversation.

"Ever played two truths and a lie?" I ask while we wait for our food.

"Never heard of it but sounds interesting."

"It's pretty easy. You say three statements about yourself – two of them being the truth and one of them being a lie. The other person has to guess which statement is the lie," I explain.

"Sounds easy enough. You go first," he smiles as I watch him shift slightly already thinking of his three statements.

"Okay," I pause and bite my inner check while I think. "Umm, this is harder than I thought it would be. Okay, I've never broken a bone. I don't like ice cream. I played street hockey in middle school."

He looks at me but doesn't respond immediately. "I'm thinking," he says as he squints his eyes. Maybe that helps him come up with his answer. "Oh, it's the first one!" he says excitedly. "You broke your pinky finger during our junior year of high school!"

My mouth is hanging open – literally hanging open. "How in the world do you remember that?" I ask once I pull myself together. We didn't have any classes together in high school besides homeroom and even then we didn't talk much, if ever.

He laughs, "You wore that little finger brace to school for weeks and I remember seeing you with it on in homeroom. I have no idea how I remember that but I can see you vividly." He holds his pinky finger out straight as he pretends like he is writing. "It kept getting in your way when you would try to write something. I thought it was cute."

I smack him on the arm. "It wasn't cute. It was annoying." I laugh. "I can't believe you remember that. Okay, your turn."

He sits back and crosses his arms across his chest. "I can't believe you don't like ice cream," he says. "I'm second guessing this relationship." His winks at me as I start to defend myself. He holds up his finger. "My turn," he cuts me off before I have a chance to start. "My favorite color is green. I've never wrecked my motorcycle. Tomatoes make me throw up."

I smile. "That's easy. Too easy. You wrecked your bike in high school. You came limping into homeroom the day after and your arm and shoulder were disgusting. You had on a short-sleeve white t-shirt and you kept picking asphalt out of your elbow." I shudder thinking back on it. I guess I was more aware of him in high school than I thought I was.

"You did notice me," he grins as he puffs out his chest.

"Only because you were freaking me out!" I say glancing at the scar on his elbow.

He laughs, "Your turn." The game continues as we eat our food and order dessert. I've learned that he started working for his family's business at the age of fourteen, he's lived in Iceland, his hair was bleach blonde before turning red in middle school, he had his license taken away for six months when he was seventeen because of too many speeding tickets, and he never plans to move away from East Tennessee.

"Last one," I say as we finish our dessert and he pays for our meal.

"Okay, got it," he looks serious as he puts down his fork and leans his arms on the table. "I don't like you at all. I want you to be my girlfriend. I've never had sex." He's staring right at me but I can't come up with any words. My brain is mush as I try to think through what he just said. I assume number three is the lie but that would mean number one is a truth and I hope number two is the truth but if number two is the truth then that would mean number one is a lie which means that number three is the truth.

"Um," I say as I put my elbow on the table and rest my chin in my hand. I'm biting my lip unsure of how to respond. "The first one?" I ask hopefully but still not sure how to take the other two.

He smiles and leans towards me. I think he's going to kiss me but he moves slightly to the right to whisper in my ear, "Yep." His lips brush my ear and chills break out down my arm. He kisses my shoulder as he stands up pulling me up with him. He grabs my hand as we walk out of the restaurant towards my car. I'm glad he's leading because I'm in a daze.

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