Olivia smiled at the sight ofBiscuitscrawled on Chuck’s board. She swore she saw his eyes lovingly gloss over at the sight of her board.
“Olivia going the extra mile by including the breed!” TJ cheered. “Unfortunately, that will not win you any extra credit. Chuck! Next question is for you. What is Olivia’s favorite flower?”
Olivia flipped her board and swiped it clean before shescribbledtulipsand silently shouted the word over and over in her head. Chuck had given her flowers a handful of times during their relationship—her birthday, Valentine’s Day, when one of her profiles hit it big online—but those had mostly been an assortment of whatever the florist picked out to qualify asbigandromantic. She hoped he remembered that day they’d driven out east of L.A. to a botanical garden lush with tulip fields and she’d taken ten thousand pictures.
“Time!” TJ called.
They flipped their boards around, and Olivia smiled at the sight oftulipalong with a cute little doodle of one.
“Wow, okay. Off to a strong start. Maybe we need to make these questions harder,” TJ said, and shuffled his cards. “Ah, here’s a good one. Olivia, what one thing would Chuck take with him to a deserted island?”
She bit her lip and didn’t feel too bad about her visible grimace when she noticed Chuck tilting his head in consideration like he didn’t immediately know the answer either. She eyed the ticking clock and thought.Had they ever had this conversation before?Not that she could recall. Instead of trying to remember, she took a practical approach to figuring it out. Chuck was strong, athletic. He’d be able to build shelter and hunt, so he wouldn’t take any kind of tools or weapons with him.Maybe a book for entertainment?No.Something logical like a phone or a boat to escape?No. Those were universally off-limits on a deserted island; everyone knew that.
In the final two seconds of their time, a memory struck her like a flash of light—that trip to Mexico. He’d lost one of his contacts swimming in the ocean and said he was lucky he had his glasses as backup; otherwise he would have been screwed for the rest of the trip.
“Time!” TJ called just as she finished scribbling.
They flipped their boards around, and at the sight ofmy glasseson Chuck’s board andhis glasseson Olivia’s, TJ frowned.
“Ha!” Chuck said. “Nice job.”
Olivia proudly smiled at him.
“Okay, well, we didn’t expect you guys to bethisgood at this…” TJ muttered, and shuffled his cards again. “Chuck, what is Olivia’s biggest pet peeve?”
This time, Chuck grimaced. Olivia internally flinched too. The list was long. She could name a hundred peeves—they both probably could—but she had to pick the same one that he would pick. She thought hard about what they argued about most; what little thingreallygot them going.
In a pinch, she scribbled on her board.
“Time!”
They flipped and frowned. She’d writtendirty dishesand he’d writtenleaving the lights on. Both were true, but they didn’t match.
“Aw, womp wompwomp.” TJ made a dramatic sad trombone sound. “Our first miss. Couldn’t have you getting too cocky, could we. Olivia, over to you. If Chuck could have dinner with one famous person, alive or dead, who would it be?”
She reeled again. That was a great question, and she had no idea. She glanced at Chuck thoughtfully considering his board again and tried to read his mind. Alive or dead meant literally anyone. And Chuck’s interests spanned beyond only Hollywood. A famous actor was an obvious answer, but he could as easily say an astronaut or author. Hell, maybe even the Crocodile Hunter, she didn’t know. Running out of time, she opted for obvious. She knew he lovedThe Godfather, so she scribbledMarlon Brandoand held her breath.
“Let’s see!” TJ called.
They flipped their boards, and Olivia was disappointed to have been wrong but impressed to seeBarack Obamawritten on his board.
“Brando is a close second,” Chuck said with an encouraging nod.
“Close, but not good enough!” TJ sang. “Okay, let’s spice things up a bit here. Olivia, staying with you, when is Chuck’s favorite time of day to have sex?”
An embarrassed giggle burst from her mouth. She slapped her hand over her lips and deeply blushed. “Sorry. That’s just, um…really personal.”
“Well, you know himpersonallythe best, don’t you?” TJ said with a sly grin. “Or at least that’s what we’re trying to prove here. Clock’s ticking!”
Her face burned as she buried it behind her board. She could see Chuck grinning over in his chair and fighting his own flush. Her breath grew jagged as she thought of the answer. Her blood spiraled. Chuck had no preferred time of day. First thing in the morning, midafternoon, midnight, three a.m. because she happened to roll over and bump into him in bed; he didn’t discriminate. His enthusiasm equally spanned to all hours. The thought made her sit up straighter and cross her legs. Desperate, she scribbled an answer.
“Time!” TJ said. “Seems like this was a hard one to answer. Let’s see what you said.”
They turned their boards, and Olivia snorted a laugh.
Anytime, she’d written.
Always, he’d written.