Page 39 of Unhitched
I search my brain for something that will be challenging for Mya based on the little I know about her. “Would you rather eat Cap'n Crunch as your only cereal for the rest of your life or any cereal except Cap'n Crunch?”
“How do you know Cap'n Crunch is my favorite?” I can feel her grinning next to me.
“Mya.” I give her a side eye. “We’ve been through four boxes since you moved in. Normally a box lasts me all month.”
“Oh.” She chuckles. “My bad. I really love that stuff. Can I have any version or just the original?”
“Uhh. Any version, I guess.”
“Okay Cap'n Crunch then. But don’t tell the other cereals. I still love them too. But man, the way Cap'n explodes flavor onto your taste buds before cutting up the roof of your mouth. It’s like the cereal form of a Sour Patch Kid, ya know?”
God, she’s weird, but I can’t deny it’s fun to know someone who loves my favorite food as much as I do. “That tracks.”
“Okay… If you were reincarnated as your favorite animal, would you rather come back as a wild animal or in a zoo/captivity?”
Humming to myself, I consider the question. “Could I choose which zoo?”
“Sure.”
“Alright.” I settle back against my seat, my hand falling to the bottom of the steering wheel.
“I’d want to come back as an animal at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado.
They rescue animals from illegal or abusive situations and bring them to their 33,000 acre property.
They have it designed similarly to their wild habitats, and the viewing is a mile-long elevated walkway, which keeps the animals from feeling fear. ”
“That sounds so cool. How do you know about that?”
“I watch documentaries sometimes. I saw one a couple of years ago where they talked about taking the tigers from that Tiger King show there.”
“Why would you rather go there than live in the wild?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Easy life. Wouldn’t have to worry about finding food or shelter or humans ruining my home. But I wouldn’t have to watch children like Dudley Dursley press their faces to the glass all damn day.”
She giggles, and it’s so sweet that I flick my music off altogether with a button on my steering wheel. “Your turn.”
“Would you rather have to catch a fly like Mr. Miyagi with chopsticks or like Mimi-Siku with a blow dart?”
She chuckles. “That’s a good one. Blow dart for sure.
Although one time my sister and I had a contest to see who could eat a whole bowl of rice faster with chopsticks one grain at a time, and I totally kicked her butt.
” I love when she freely shares the most random details of her life with me.
“My turn. Would you rather be a character in Jurassic Park or Ghostbusters ?”
“I don’t think I believe in ghosts, so I’d say Jurassic Park.”
“ Jurassic World though, right? You could be Chris Pratt’s character. You give off that vibe.”
I cock a brow. “I seem like the dinosaur-wrangling type?”
She hums, and I spare her a glance in time to see a blush creep across her face. What the fuck is that about? “No.” She shakes her head. “Main character energy or something.”
It strikes me that she could be saying Chris Pratt is her celebrity crush, but I shove the implication of that thought away.
I take a breath, focusing on my chest expanding.
Despite there being attraction between us, all we could ever be is a hookup–and that’s a terrible idea.
I’ve seen Friends with Benefits . I ignore her comment, not wanting to dig deeper.
“Would you rather have a pause or a rewind button on your life? ”
She hums. “Like Click ? Or can other people be active in the pause too? Like I can keep doing the same thing I’m doing in that scene of life?”
“Whoever is in the room with you.”
“Then I choose that. Pause.”
I’m surprised by her choice. “You wouldn’t want to go back and change anything?”
“No.” She shrugs. “If I changed a mistake or a regret then I would never learn from it, and I’d probably make the same mistake again down the road. But if I could pause in a moment, I could soak it up and savor it.”
Her answer is good, but I can’t help thinking it doesn’t align with the fact that she’s repeatedly been in relationships she sucks at getting out of. I decide not to press it and ruin our good morning–to stay in this moment. “Your turn.”
“Would you rather give or receive?”
What the hell did she just say? My eyes snap to hers for a brief second before back on the road, and I catch no hint of joking.
“What?” she asks with an innocence that I can’t tell is fake or not. “Oh shoot.” She laughs. “I meant gifts!”
I quirk a brow. “Sure you did.”
“No, really!” she insists, but I’m not sure I believe her.
I keep my eyes on the road. “I prefer neither unless I know the person really well. And then I enjoy both.”
“Kace!” She slaps my arm with the back of her hand, but I keep my expression neutral.
Two can play that game. “Would you rather have sex in your childhood bedroom or your parents’ bed?”
“Hey! That one is intentionally about sex!” she whines.
“Is there a rule that it can’t be?”
“No…” She shifts next to me. A quick glance shows her pulling her feet from the dash to cross one leg over the other, and a little part of me hopes she’s uncomfortable in a good way.
“Well, my parents have a waterbed. So that could be fun? I guess they make it work, right? That feels weird though. But my room…” She pulls her hands from where they’re still pinched between her thighs to cover her face and shake her head.
“Tell me about your room, Mya,” I taunt, feeling lighter than I have in a while. Maybe the best I’ve felt since Ruby and I broke up.
She pulls her hands from her face and glances at me with a grin that lights up her face.
“I’ll set the scene. You enter my room walking through a pink beaded curtain.
You know, the plastic ones that are strings of little hearts?
To the left is my double bed, covered in a fluffy pink and black zebra comforter.
There’s a Damon Salvatore poster hanging directly above my mattress.
Sticking out from under my bed is definitely a pair of light-up Heelys.
To the right, a pink blow-up chair–the translucent ones, you know where you can see your spit inside when you blow it up? ”
I can’t help but chuckle at that. I remember my high school girlfriend having one. It squeaked every time she tried to sit on it.
“Next to my chair is a collage of magazine pictures glued to a poster board with all my favorite couples. Chuck and Blair. Rory and Logan. Seth and Summer. Quinn and Clay.”
The last couple is the only familiar one to me.
One Tree Hill . This whole situation is starting to feel a lot like when Ruby forced me to watch that show.
I hated every second of it, but at the same time, I wanted to know what happened next.
A few seasons in, I’d be secretly mad if she watched without me.
I think Mya feels like that. She’s the girl it doesn’t make sense for me to like, but I’m enamored by her.
And that’s more terrifying than admitting I like some stupid high school drama show.
“There’s a lava lamp on my nightstand. Let’s see. What else? OH. I had my sex bracelets hanging from thumbtacks on my wall.”
“Sex bracelets?” My brows scrunch. “What the fuck are those? ”
“You don’t know what sex bracelets are?!
They’re colored jelly bracelets. But each color is assigned to a different sex act.
Basically, if a boy broke your jelly bracelet, it would be like them getting a coupon for the thing associated with the bracelet.
I think purple was kissing. Blue was oral…
or you know gift giving.” She looks over at me and grins.
Little shit knew exactly the question she was asking earlier. “Black was sex.”
“That’s… interesting.” I must have missed that whole phase in school.
“The 2000s were wild times.”
“You were like ten. You can’t tell me you actually participated in the game.”
“No way. I didn’t want anyone to snap my bracelets. I had pretty ones with sparkles in them!”
I chuckle, but can’t help but wonder how innocent Mya is as an adult when it comes to sex.
“OH!” she shrieks, thankfully pulling me from a dangerous path of thoughts. “There would definitely be a Furby chatting from the top shelf of my closet… but not until the moment got heated of course.”
“Of course,” I muse.
“And we’d have to be able to tolerate the excessive amount of Cucumber Melon scent everywhere. I’m pretty sure it’s fused into all of my belongings at home to this day.”
“We?” I tease. I think it’s a tease anyway. Because I’m sure as shit not picturing fucking Mya on a zebra bed in her childhood room.
She waves me off with her hand. “Anyway. All of that being said, I choose my room. I’m all for living on the wild side… but wild, or exhibitionism or whatever is different than gross. I don’t need to have sex on the bed I was likely conceived on, you know?”
The mention of exhibitionism makes my dick strain against my snow pants. Not a lot , but enough. Fuck. The idea is enticing, which sounds insane considering the kind of guy I am, but while I like safe and secure, my job would also imply that in the right situations, I also like a thrill.
I ignore her response because the last thing I need is to think about fucking Mya for the thrill of it. Luckily, she continues right along with our game. “Would you rather have sex with Spongebob or Rugrats playing in the background?”
Did she have to stick with the sex questions?
I can’t help but chuckle though. “Two of the shows with the most annoying character voices.” I mull over my answer, not realizing how dry my lips were until I swipe my tongue over them.
Sex talk with a girl like Mya makes me feel like a fucking teenager again.
“Doesn’t matter what’s playing.” I flash her a glance.
“If I’m into the girl enough, I won’t see or hear anyone but her. ”