“What’s that?” he asks in confusion.
How does he not know what a girlfriend is? “Ahh… a girlfriend is a woman you are dating exclusively. I guess you could say it’s what leads to marriage.”
“Then no, there are no women in my life, not even a mother or sister.”
“Good. Urr… well, not that I’m glad you don’t have a mother. I don’t have one either.”
“Husbands?”
Husbands?As in, plural? No, I must have heard him wrong. I shake my head, silently thankful for him glossing over my rambling. “No.”
“Boyfriends?”
“Nope.”
“Good.” I glance up and see him smirking down at me. “Now that’s established, are you going to answer my question? How do I know, when I wake up each morning, that it’s a date?”
“You seem awfully concerned about the definitions of a date.”
“I’ve never dated anyone before, I don’t want to mess this up.” I nearly trip over my own feet in shock.
“What do you mean you’ve never dated anyone? How is that even possible?”
“Well…” he nervously rubs the back of neck with his free hand while his other grips mine a little tighter, like he’s afraid I’ll pull away. His eyes dart to mine quickly before he continues watching our path.
“You see, I don’t have any brothers.” He spits that out so fast I have to think about what he said. He makes it sound like it’s some terrible curse, being an only child.
“Ahh…”
“I’m sorry, I should have told you, but there wasn’t exactly a chance. And then you called this a date, and I wanted that to be true, even if it was just for a little while?—”
“Ryker.” I tug on his hand, making him turn to face me. “I don’t understand. Why would I care if you don’t have any brothers?” His eyes widen as he stares at me in shock.
When he doesn’t move after a minute, I wave my hand in front of his face. “Earth to Ryker.”
“You… you don’t care?” he asks, sounding like he’s in awe as his eyes search my face.
I give him a warm smile. “Of course not, Ryker. You not having siblings means nothing to me. I don’t have any either.”
“No… that’s not possible. You must have brothers.”
“Well, I did have a brother once, but not anymore.” Sadness fills me with the memory of my brother, Charlie. Thinking about him always brings my mood down, so I try not to let it affect me for long.
“Hey, it’s okay, Red. You’ve got me now.” Ryker brings my hands up to his chest where he rubs it with both hands, giving me a soft smile.
“Thanks, Blue.” We turn and continue to walk. I’m not sure how I lasted so long without noticing the cold, maybe it was the adrenaline from the flight here. Whatever was keeping me warm is gone now and I can’t help but wrap my free arm around my front, trying to keep in a little bit of body heat. My feet are soaked. I have decent hiking boots on, but this snow is between twelve andeighteen inches deep, well above the top of my boots. The wind whips right through my thin top and I’m starting to realize we may be in trouble here. If only we could find a freshly killed tauntaun and climb inside for some warmth like Luke did in Star Wars. This did look a lot like the planet Hoth, come to think of it.
“Where are we?” I ask, hoping he has some idea.
“I believe we are in the Silverpeak Mountains. Although specifically which one, I’m not sure.”
Well, it was nice to know the name, but it didn’t really help me. I didn’t know where anything was in this world. Were there many continents? Countries? How long would it take me to find Ria? Did they have the internet or some sort of directory I could use?
“Do you have a cell phone on you?” I ask, realizing we could call for help if he had a signal.
“Cell phone? What’s that?”
His question shocks me. No cell phones? “Like a normal phone, but it’s portable.”
