Walker
“Ican’t believe you don’t watch movies.” While the TV in the living room played what she claimed to be one of her favorites, Sky put her hand on top of my head and pushed down until I looked at her. “Or any shows.”
“I can’t believe you do.”
She laughed, the sound so delicate, like her. “I like true crime docs. Anything suspenseful or thriller-ish. Heavy on the drama, light on the romance.”
“Light on the romance? I’m surprised to hear you say that. Even my sister—who’s not into dating or romance—reads romance books.”
She folded her legs in front of her, cuddling one of the couch pillows. “I can’t stand it, if I’m being truthful.”
“You need to explain yourself. I’m too intrigued to move on from this.”
“When romance is portrayed, I don’t like the expectations it sets. I don’t like seeing something and believing that’s normaland then the pressure of having it someday and the disappointment if I don’t. I want to go into a relationship without an opinion, with no clear path, just seeing where it takes me.” Her hand dropped to my shoulder. “Not now. I’m saying when the timing is right.” She paused, and the ball she was tucked into seemed to get even smaller. “I don’t know how you grew up, Whiskey, but in the last twenty-three years of my life, I haven’t exactly had the perfect role models of love and marriage and healthy communication. All I know is, if it does happen, I don’t want it to look likethat.” Her voice had changed as she got more personal, her tone quieter and full of breath.
Something told me this was one, if not the sole source, of her darkness.
Her reasoning made sense. I could understand how fiction created a false sense of reality, but at her age, didn’t she have any experience with men?
“You’ve dated, haven’t you?”
“A little.” Her shoulders shrugged forward. “Not a ton.”
“I’m shocked to hear this. I would think the dudes would be all over you, given how beautiful you are.”
“We moved around. A lot. Not just within LA, although that too. I’m talking all over the country. I’ve only lived in LA for the last couple of years.” She let out a long breath. “When you’re never really settled for too long, it’s hard to date.”
“I can imagine.” My hands couldn’t stop touching her, and whenever I pulled back, I found myself reaching for her again. This time, it was the side of her neck. But the angle gave me the perfect view of her eyes, and as I studied them, I sensed this topic wasn’t the easiest for her to talk about.
So, I returned to something she’d really seemed to enjoy and said, “I’m still baffled you watch true crime before bed. I can’t say that would put me in the mood to sleep.”
“You should see me, huddled under my blanket, in a pitch-dark room, watching it on my phone.” She smiled.
Now, that was a sight I wouldn’t mind seeing.
Jesus fucking Christ, Walker, don’t let those thoughts enter your goddamn head.
“I’m just impressed that’s what you watch to unwind and not some shitty reality TV show where everyone’s screaming at each other.”
“I don’t do screaming.” Her voice was low but stern. “But, yeah, when you put it that way, my choice does sound strange. The thing is, I get so involved in what I’m watching that my brain shuts off. It’s all about my brain, I need it on pause. If not, I won’t sleep at all.”
My nod was overexaggerated. “I hear that.”
“Do you sleep?”
My fingers lifted to her earlobe. There was a small hole in the center, but there wasn’t an earring in it. I then ran my hand across the bottom of her jaw. “Maybe a couple of hours, max.”
“Doesn’t that effect you?”
“You mean, does it make me more insufferable? Who the fuck knows? I’m sure it doesn’t help.”
“What do you do when you don’t sleep?”
I looked straight ahead at a movie probably many people had watched, my siblings included since time was something they certainly had on their hands, but I hadn’t even heard of the name. “I follow my brain as it runs. Sometimes, it’s laps around a track. Sometimes, it hits the road and strives for marathons. Ultimately, it’s a spiral, and I can’t stop it.”
“You need some true crime.”
When I looked at her, she was smiling, and the longer I stared, the more her grin grew.
