It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

He takes a bite, and one of his eyebrows raises a bit, but I don’t know if
it’s because of the food or my question. “Why?”
“Why am I asking you what you’re interested in?”
His neck is stiff when he nods.
“I’ve missed twelve years of your life. I want to know who you are.”
Josh breaks eye contact and forks more pancakes into his mouth.
“Manga,” he mutters.
That surprises me. But thanks to Theo, I actually know what manga is.
“What’s your favorite series?”
“One Piece.” He shakes his head, erasing that answer. “No, Chainsaw
Man is probably my favorite.”
That’s about as far into that conversation as I can go without sounding
ignorant. “We can go to a bookstore later today if you want.”
He nods. “These are good pancakes.”
“Thanks.”
I watch him take a drink of his juice, and when he sets the glass down, he
says, “What are you interested in?” He nods toward the plate. “Other than
cooking.”
I don’t know how to answer that. Most of my time is given to my
restaurants. Whatever time I have left over is spent on house repairs, laundry,
sleep. “I like the Cooking Channel.”
Josh chuckles. “That’s sad.”
“Why?”
“I said besides cooking.”
It’s a harder question than I thought, now that it’s being thrown back at
me. “I like museums,” I say. “And going to the movies. And traveling. I just
don’t do any of those things.”
“Because you’re always working?”
“Yeah.”
“Like I said. Sad.” He leans over his plate to catch another bite of
pancake.
The get-to-know-you questions are backfiring, so I cut right to the chase.
“What was your fight about?”
He shrugs. “Half the time I don’t even know what the hell I do wrong. She
just gets mad for no reason.”
I can relate to that. I let him eat for a while before I pose another question.
“Where have you been staying?”