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hasn’t responded when the bartender materializes in front of us again and slides the bill over to him. Brody takes out his wallet and puts it on the counter. He removes a black Amex and slides it inside the leather holder next to the bill without once glancing at the total. I didn’t even know they made black credit cards. I wonder what that’s all about.
    I’ll contemplate that later, when I try to figure out why talking about other dates annoys Brody so much. I reach out to take another drink but get pulled up short by a terrible thought.
    Once again the filter between my brain and my mouth is nowhere in sight.
    “Wait—you’re not dating anyone else now , are you?”
    I’d like to believe it didn’t come out as a terrified hiss, but I try not to lie to anybody, especially myself. I didn’t know we were supposed to clarify these things up front. I just assumed if he was dating me he wouldn’t be talking to anyone else.
    I definitely won’t hyperventilate while this realization comes crashing down around me. I definitely won’t.
    Brody’s face softens and then gains tension as he fights the urge to laugh. Smart man that he is, he finds a way to keep from doing it.
    “No, Landon.” He tugs playfully on the end of my hair. “I’m not dating anyone but you.”
    I immediately relax “Oh, great—me neither,” I reply stupidly. I feel infinitely happier, so I want to make sure he understands. “Then I’ll stick with my answer. No, I didn’t know you when you were dating these other people. So why would it upset me to hear about them? It’s what made you into who you are, right?”
    Happy that that’s settled, I take another sip of my overpriced whiskey.
    “Right.” He’s looking at me like I’m an alien again.
    He and I are very different people, and I figure I’m probably going to see that look on his face a lot. Better to just learn to love it now.
    I’m not sure if it’s this fancy whiskey or the joy that comes with the confirmation that Brody and I are only dating each other, but I’m feeling fabulous all of a sudden, and not even his clear confusion about me can change that. I take another happy sip of my drink.
    “New Year’s,” he mumbles.
    I’ve been staring down into the dregs of my whiskey, so I look at him to make sure I heard him right.
    “What?” I ask.
    He clears his throat.
    “New Year’s was the last time I had a date with someone else.”
    And now I’m staring at him like a deer in headlights. I get the impression he doesn’t normally share these details and something about our conversation made him want to, which accounts for the Bambi look that must be on my face now.
    Brody reaches out and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. I’m utterly frozen in place as his fingers run the length of the strand all the way to the bottom. He doesn’t seem to realize I’ve stopped breathing, because he doesn’t let go of that piece of hair; he holds on to it and gently rubs the ends between his finger and his thumb.
    “Do you remember that night?” His voice comes out whisper soft.
    I’m pretty sure I’ve swallowed my tongue, because all I can do is nod.
    “I walked up to the lounge to check on you guys and found you on the dance floor,” he says as he wraps the strand of my hair slowly around his index finger. “You were doing the sprinkler, and you had on that gold dress.” He smiles at the memory. “You were this tiny little firecracker, and you were laughing so hard—and I was done. I called my date and canceled plans to meet her at some party. I pretended I had to work the rest of the night—all so I could watch you dance. You were like a sparkler—so bright and vibrant, and your glow lit up everyone around you. I watched them watch you, and I knew”—he takes a breath—“if I wanted to hold you myself, I couldn’t keep living life like I had been. Because I knew, Landon, someday we were going to find ourselves here, and I wanted to be able to look you in