“Oh.” I immediately purse my lips, a blush crossing my cheeks. I really do say that a lot.
He throws his head back, laughter spilling from his lips. I stare at him, awestruck.His laugh stops me in my tracks. It’s the kind of laugh that makes me think if we weren’t stuck in this terrible place, he’d laugh like that often.
When his gaze finally returns to me, he tilts his head curiously.
“What, something on my face? Why’re you looking at me like that?”
I shake my head, trying to dislodge the dazed expression from my face. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for something you don’t mean. There’s no need to apologize. Just tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I um... I like your laugh,” I say, tugging my knees closer to my chest and resting my chin on them.
He gives me a bright, toothy smile.
“Noted. Not sure how often you’ll hear it in this place, but with you around, it’ll definitely be more frequent.”
His words make me swallow hard, a shiver of unease travelling down my spine. Goosebumps have already risen on my arms from the chill of the early morning. This barn is pretty drafty.
His expression instantly sobers.
“What’s going through that pretty head of yours, sweetheart?”
I purse my lips and start picking at my cuticles again.
“What you just said made me think of something,” I mumble.
“Think of what?”
“I think I was brought in here to make you...” My voice trails off. I don’t know how to word it without making it sound terrible.
“Behave?” He finishes for me.
I nod slowly, glancing up at him through my lashes.
He lets out a deep sigh, his head thumping back against the wooden wall.
“Hey! Don’t do that!” I say, pushing myself up to my knees and shuffling closer to him.
“Hm?” He asks, lifting his head. “What, hit my head against the wall?”
“Yeah!” I glance up at where the cuffs lock around his wrist and wince at the blood dripping down from the open wounds caused by him struggling against them as hard as he was, earlier. “You’re already hurt.”
“You’re a strange one, you know that, right?”
“Strange for not wanting you to hurt yourself?”
“Something like that,” he shrugs. “It didn’t even hurt, I promise.”
“Still,” I huff. “It sounded like it hurt.”
“I’ve got a thick skull, don’t worry about it.”
I sit back on my heels, my hands resting on my hips before I sigh. His eucalyptus scent fills my nose, now that I’m even closer to him.
“And I picked up on what they were bringing you in for,” he says, leaning his head back against the wall, more gently this time.
“You did?”
