Mine to Keep
I say, which is my favorite lie.
We walk in that companionable post-event way, shoulders angled toward the same tiny destination. The café is narrow, brick-walled, with a chalkboard menu and baristas who look like good jokes are their religion. He orders a flat white. I order tea to prove a point I don’t examine. We take the table by the window because of course we do.
“I don’t understand you,” I admit, as soon as the first sip stops burning.
A corner of his mouth lifts. “Better than disliking me.”