Her good eye widened. “Being too nice again, Charlie.”
“Sorry. Tell me about your porn book.” I pointed to the novel now in her lap.
“Romance.”
“Do they have sex in the book?”
“Maybe.”
“Do they have sex a lot in the book?”
“Probably.”
“Then it’s porn,” I laughed.
She ran her fingers over her swollen face. “I was trying to distract myself. It seems I’m not good in the silence. My mind races…”
“Hey, whatever you need.”
“Distract me, Charlie.”
I swore her gaze raked over my chest as she licked her lips, but I decided I was hallucinating or reading into something perfectlyinnocent. Just then, an idea popped into my head and I clapped my hands excitedly.
“Let me throw some clothes on, Princess. I have the perfect way to distract you.”
Two minutes later, I was back in some sweats, too excited to find a top, carrying my guitar in my hand, so grateful that Archer and Fox had asked Neo to include it in the things he sent us.
“You’re going to play for me?” she asked, excitedly.
“Nope. I’m going to teach you to play.”
She laughed. “I don’t have a musical bone in my body.”
“We’ll see. Right, be careful with this guitar. It’s literally the most important thing I own and I don’t let anyone touch it.”
I held it out for her to take, sitting next to her on the tiny sofa.
Taking it in her hands as tentatively as a new born baby, she stared at it.
“It won’t bite, just don’t throw it or drop it.”
“Okay,” she whispered, making me laugh.
“Hold it like this.” I moved it so the neck sat in her right hand. We’re going to start with a G chord, which is like this. I moved her fingers to the right places and watched as she strummed the strings, making something that sounded like a note.
“Eek, look at that. I can play the guitar.” She bounced her feet up and down on the floor excitedly, making my guitar wobble dangerously.
I tilted my head, and she stopped instantly, looking at me guiltily. “Sorry,” she muttered.
“Don’t quit your day job, Princess. Now, let’s try another one. What about a C?”
We stayed like that for the next hour, trying each chord I gave her, her smile growing with each one.
“You’re a good student. I wish Archer had been this easy to teach.”
She paused. “You taught Archer?”
“I did. Fox and I had known each other from school when we started going to this lame youth group because Fox was on a promise from a girl he liked. We met Arch. He was a mess. He’d been looking after his mum for years… you know about her illness?”
