He raised the eyebrow that had a scar running through it and smiled. “Oh, me too.”
God, please no, I wasn’t in the mood for this weird back-and-forth dance. “Machine, right now is not a good time.”
“What if I just wanted to run with you?” he said seriously.
I fought back the tears that threatened to spill again and looked up at the sky.
“I don’t have the energy to argue with you today.” I pointed at him. “We are only running, no talking.”
Machine mimed zipping his lips. “Lead the way, Badger.”
I furrowed my brow when he didn’t call me Bunny.
“What?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing, let’s go.”
I took off, not giving him time to respond. We ran several miles before stopping in Central Park to get a drink from a food truck and rest. Machine had kept up with me the whole time without breaking a sweat. He really was a machine—in more ways than one.
After getting our waters, which Machine had insisted on paying for, we sat down on the nearest bench. After a few moments, Machine spoke up again.
“We ran, now do you want to talk about it, Jessie?”
“Don’t call me that!” I snapped at him.
No one had called me Jessie since my sister had been taken, and hearing it on his lips brought fresh tears to my eyes. I tried to shut off my spiraling thoughts to no avail.
Machine put his hands up in mock surrender.
“Let’s try this again. Hi, my name is Evan.” He stuck out his hand. “What’s yours?”
I hit him with a ‘are you fucking kidding me’ look.
“Really?” he asked, raising the scarred eyebrow.
I growled before responding. “Jessica.”
He looked down at his outstretched hand and then back up at me expectantly. I took it. It was callused, warm, and engulfed mine. The air seemed to crackle around us. I quickly pulled my hand away.
“Pleased to meet you, Jessica.” He dropped his hand onto his thigh. No jokes, no jabs, just silence. I wasn’t sure how to take in this new Machine, or Evan.
We moved to the grass and began to stretch. After a few silent minutes, Machine spoke up.
“Kade and I used to come here a lot when we were younger.” When I didn’t respond, he continued. “Such a peaceful place when you need it to be. Although we did have our moments of getting in plenty of trouble, as you can imagine.”
I gave a nod before responding. “Same, I used to come here with my sister.”
It was the first time in a long time that I had admitted to having a sister to anyone who didn’t already know. Instead of questioning me, Machine simply nodded his head and continued to stretch his hamstrings.
“How’s your head feeling?” he asked with a hint of concern.
“Fine. Not like I’m not used to pains in my life.”
Without missing a beat, Machine responded. “Some pain reminds us that we are still alive.”
He wasn’t looking at me when he said this. Instead, a haunted expression crossed his face. I nodded, not sure what to say to that.
“Race you back to your place?” he asked with his signature smirk. It almost made me question the haunted look I had seen only moments before. I nodded before taking off.
