He admitted that his favorite trope, if he had to pick, 

would be when they pretend that they’re dating, 

and up falling for the person they were never really with. 

I knew then if we were living that moment on TV,

there would have been a pause or perhaps a semi-awkward silence. 

Perhaps an occurrence of embarrassing eye contact 

would have been shared or suffered by us.

And if our conversation had been written, if it all took place inside a novel

like the ones we both knew we had read, maybe I would have laughed.

Maybe I would have made a joke about how “we should see if it works.”

A comment like “there’s no harm in giving it a try.”

Some sort of question along the lines of “wanna trick our friends for a bit?”

Or “do you think we can chance it?”

But I nodded, and we moved on. 

I know I don’t take enough risks. Now I’m kicking myself for it.