“Are you going to let me finish? This one isn’t too bad. You probably would only need one, so I wouldn’t recommend it, but I hear scars can be sexy.”
She snorted out a laugh and was surprised when she caught sight of his smile.
“We can also try this bandage called steri-strips, or surgical glue. Any of those options should suffice. However, I’d have to run home for the glue.” Mathew pressed the rag to her head again, his touch as gentle as ever.
“Bandage it is,” she said softly.
“You okay if it doesn’t have horses on it?”
She let out another laugh. “I think I’ll survive this time.”
“Keep this pressed to the site. I’ll be right back.” Mathew made quick work of cleaning her up and placing the bandage. When he heard the mower had been at fault for the second time, he insisted that it would be a better investment to replace the piece of machinery since that would be more cost-effective than multiple ER visits.
He probably wasn’t wrong.
River had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from blaming him for this most recent injury, seeing as his arrival to build a chicken coop of all things had caught her off guard. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. Something told her that he’d take it the wrong way.
When she was all bandaged up and seated in the grass watching him work on said coop, she tilted her head and scrunched up her face. She wouldn’t have even realized she’d done it if Mathew hadn’t stopped mid-sawing and stared at her.
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
Immediately, she smoothed her expression. “What look?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Never mind.”
She looked down at her feet so he couldn’t see her expression as good. If he’d pushed the issue, she would have asked him why he was going through the trouble of building the coop when she couldn’t guarantee she’d be sticking around. But that was a whole other issue, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer. Instead, she said, “Play a game with me.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “What kind of game?”
“Rapid Fire Truth or Dare minus the dare.”
“That sounds like twenty questions.”
River snickered. “Gonna play with me or not?”
His eyes lingered on her, making her squirm. Then he dipped his chin. “Go ahead.”
She shifted so she sat cross-legged on the grass and leaned forward. “There are only two rules. We take turns.”
He nodded again.
“And if you refuse to answer one, then you have to answer two with no option to pass. You only get one veto.” She could have sworn she saw the smile return, but when she blinked, it was gone.
“Okay, shoot,” Mathew prompted.
“Favorite animal.”
“Stuffed,” he said.
Her mouth fell open. “What?”
Mathew smirked but didn’t meet her eyes. “Favorite food.”
“Hold up, what do you mean stuffed? Like taxidermy?”
He shook his head. “You’re not playing by the rules. Your turn. Favorite food.”
River huffed, eyeing him. That answer had been unexpected, but he was right. “Ketchup chips.”
