Game Changer (The Field Party)

“No worries. I think I did too for a while,” I lied to make her feel better. If she knew I’d been checking out her ass for the past hour, she’d be embarrassed. No need to stress her out.

She yawned then and covered her mouth. Her eyes lit with amusement. “I guess I didn’t sleep enough last night,” she said, and sat up, then wrapped her arms around her knees.

“The excitement of being with me today was sure to have kept you up,” I teased, winking at her.

She giggled and I liked the sound of it. Hell, I liked everything Ezmita did.

“Yes. I’m sure that was it,” she replied.

“What’s your favorite color?” I asked her instead of kissing her. I really wanted to kiss her, but if she was going to do this for me, change for me, I owed it to her to find out about who she was. What she liked. Not how she tasted, because I already knew that was pretty damn incredible.

She looked confused by my question. “Oregon blue,” she replied.

I had no fucking idea what Oregon blue was, but the fact she didn’t say “blue” made me smile. She was specific. I liked that. “I take it that’s not just your average blue,” I said, still grinning.

She blushed and shook her head no. “It’s most definitely not. There are too many blues to just say blue. Oregon blue is the most beautiful blue in the world. It’s also known as YInMn blue, and it was accidentally discovered in 2009. It was discovered by a professor and his student at Oregon State University, which is why it’s called Oregon blue.” She stopped then and her smile was shy. “I’m babbling about stuff that is not interesting. Sorry. I remember strange things like that when I read.”

I shook my head. “No, please continue. I’m fascinated.”

She laughed then. “No one is fascinated about a color.”

“It’s your favorite color and now I am very fascinated.”

“What’s your favorite color?” she asked me.

I sighed. “Well, normally I would respond with ‘red,’ but after your answer I feel pretty damn basic with my response. So, I’m going to say crimson.”

That got another laugh out of her.

“Favorite sport?” I asked.

She scrunched up her nose. “The kind I don’t have to watch.”

“Ouch!” I replied, placing a hand over my heart as if that were a painful answer. Most girls would have said football just because they thought I wanted to hear that. Ezmita was not most girls. Damn, I liked her honesty.

“Favorite movie?” I asked her, wanting to know more now. Her answers were fun. I was enjoying them. This wasn’t mundane at all.

“Blue Valentine,” she replied without having to think about it.

“What is it with you and blue?” I asked. “I’ve never heard of it,” I added.

She was grinning again. “I must have an affinity for blue, and Blue Valentine is one of the best lesser-known movies. However, why is beyond me. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in it. You should watch it sometime.”

I was making a mental note to do just that. I’d suggest we watch it together, but we had yet to successfully make it through a movie without making out. If it was her favorite movie, I wanted to pay attention.

“What’s your favorite movie?” she asked.

“Again I feel pretty damn lame with my answer but The Blind Side.”

She laughed at me. Not surprising it was funny, but I did love that movie.

“What’s your favorite food?” I asked her while already trying to think up something exotic to lie about when she asked me this question.

“My papa’s discada norteña, but don’t ever tell my momma. That’s the only dish he gets to prepare in her kitchen. It’s rare that we get it, but when we do, I love it.”

“My abuela made that for my uncle a few times when I was at her house. That’s a lot of meat. I’m impressed.”

She shrugged in response. “What’s your favorite food?” she asked me then.

“I tried hard to come up with something as fucking interesting as yours would be, but if I am keeping this real, a big fat juicy burger with extra cheese, no tomato.”

Her lips were pressed together to keep from laughing. She was amused and I liked it. I wanted to keep her smiling.

“At least you didn’t say tacos.”

I cracked up.

JULY 15, 2020 You’re Worth More Than That

CHAPTER 30

EZMITA

Momma was on the phone with her brother, fussing about his waiting until today to call and ask for help filing his taxes. Hopefully no one who came into the store could speak Spanish because in the past five minutes she’d called him several names that weren’t used in polite conversation. Her younger brother was her only other sibling who had moved to the United States. She felt like it was up to her to take care of him still even though he was thirty-five years old.