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“Well . . . ” Oran sighs. “I wasn’t going to say anything. But I saw he sent you roses the other day. Red roses.” “So?” “Not very imaginative, is he?” “Some people like the classics.” “Some people are intellectually lazy.” “What’s the right flowers to send a woman?” Oran grins. “I always send whiskey. You send a woman a bottle of Bunnahabhain 40 Year Single Malt . . . then she knows you’re serious.”
I remember my first drill sergeant—Sergeant Price. I picture him jogging beside me, screaming at me to not even think about slowing down. “IF YOU DROP ONE GODDAMN STEP, PRIVATE, I WILL KICK YOU IN THE BALLS SO HARD YOU’LL SING LIKE MARIAH CAREY!”
The last little bit of ground is uphill. I carry those girls up that ridge like I’m Samwise Gamgee carrying Frodo to the volcano. It is both the best and worst moment of my life.
I grin at her. “You can tell ‘em I’m your cousin if you like.” “No thank you,” Riona replies coolly. “I know how you treat your cousins where you come from.” I can’t help giving a little snort. I’ve heard plenty of cousin-fucking jokes before, but the way Riona says it, with her particular edge of disdain, tickles me all the same. She’s a tough nut to crack. And I’ve always liked a challenge.
“Ribeye, please,” Raylan says. “Bloody, with a baked potato.” “I’ll have the chicken and capers,” Nick says virtuously. He hands his menu to the waiter and winks at me. “I plan to live past a hundred.” “I’ll trade a decade or two for steak,” Raylan says, totally unconcerned. I can’t help smiling a little. “I’ll have the ribeye, too.” Nick looks betrayed.
“We’re alike in a lot of ways. Disciplined. Hard working. Unemotional. People respect that in a man. But with a woman, they say you’re cold or harsh.”
He was like a huge blanket fresh out of the dryer. His warmth seemed to seep into my body, calming me down.
“I don’t need your help!” “The fuck you don’t.” He’s not letting go of my arm, and that really pisses me off. I shove him hard in the chest, feeling how hot he is from running. Raylan yanks me back again. When I try to shove him once more, he grabs me by the face and kisses me.
”There’s the parts that are the same and the parts that fill up the holes in each other. You don’t know what’s missing inside of you until you find it in someone else.”
But he actually has a very calming presence. He knows when to talk and when not to. When to just have a companionable silence. He’s not always trying to fill the air with nonsense.
I like both sides of her. I like her grit and her drive. And I like that she does feel things, underneath. I think she feels them intensely, actually.
“I don’t want to trap you. I want to unleash you. I want to set you free. I want to show you what you really are . . . ”
