Page 41 of Let's Talk About Love

“It’s actually pretty basic.”

“Doesn’t taste basic to me.Wow.”

“Are you always so easily impressed?”

“Lean Cuisine is a basic food group for me. My taste buds have degraded. It’s probably really disgusting and I just can’t tell the difference.” She shoveled more into her mouth, eyeing his plate. “Are you going to eat that? Because, you know, I will. Waste not, want not, and all that jazz.”

Takumi laughed. And then he tipped his plate over hers and gave her half his food.

“I was kidding,” she whispered as she covertly tried to slide her plate farther away from his. Just in case.

“It’s fine. I’m not that hungry anyway.” He smiled.

“I guess I owe you dinner tomorrow?” Alice asked when her plate was nearly empty.

“You don’t owe me anything. I did this because I wanted to.”

“Yeah, but,” she said, “I should do something nice for you.”

“Um, well, rumor has it you can’t cook, and I’m pretty picky about what I eat.”

“That’s not a rumor. I’m awful in the kitchen.” She giggled. “Doyou have a ton of food allergies or something? My brother’s wife is like that. Christy is super paranoid about eating out.”

He shook his head. “I like to take care of my body. I stay away from calorie-dense, overprocessed, chemical-laden foods. Except for pizza. That seems to always sneak in there.”

“Because it’s pizza. I love Chicago-style deep dish.”

He leaned back in his seat, sucking in a breath, pretending to wince in pain. “Why would you even say that? That is my absolute favorite.”

“Really? You strike me as a thin-and-crispy, no-cheese kind of guy.”

“Your instincts are wrong. Give me all the cheese. All of it. Just throw a pound of it on top.”

“I suppose you can have points for that. Anyway, I literally cannot afford to be that selective about what I eat.”

“Can you really afford not to, though? You only have one body.”

“My teenager metabolism hasn’t quit on me just yet. Besides, when scientists find a way to upload human consciousness into androids, all of this will be irrelevant.” Alice scrunched her face. “Do you always eat all healthy and stuff?”

“Ninety-eight percent of the time.”

“And the two percent?”

“Just pizza. And good beer.”

She had an idea so crazy she thought Feenie’s spirit must have left her body with the sole purpose of invading Alice’s to make her think of it. “There’s a costume party coming up and there will probably be cardboard pizza and average beer. You should come along as my guest. Costume is optional.”

Takumi made a face. “A college party?”

“There will be college-age individuals there,” she said, smiling at him. “It’s not like it’s at a frat or something. Besides, you’re not that old.”

“I’m not old at all.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it. Stay out past your bedtime,” she teased. Her phone chimed—a text from Feenie:

Oops. She’d deal with that later.

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