Page 71 of Wild Life

There was a time when we would both have snarled at the idea of speaking kind words to each other, let alonesweet nothings. However, we were a far cry from those two strangers who were forced to live together many moons ago.

Romance was our new routine—one I could endure forever.

I carried her to the hammock and gently placed her inside, then I left to extinguish the fire. Smoke temporarily filled the air.

She made room for me when I returned, and I positioned myself under her before she curled into my body.

“Can you sing me that lullaby you always sing for Poaka?” she asked.

“Oh, you don’t want that.” It was one thing to sing for a pig who couldn’t tell me how horrible I sounded, and another to do it for the woman whose opinion mattered the most to me.

“I did ask for it, so…yes, please!”

Heat pricked my ears. “Maris, my voice isn’t that great.”

“Are you kidding me? Your voice is sexy.”

I had heard incorrectly. I was sure of it. “You think my voice is sexy?”

She played with my fingers, stroking each one with her own. “Ever since the first time I heard you sing.”

“Funny, because I remember you were mad more than anything.”

“Well, at first, I thought it was sexy, then rage registered. So, about that lullaby…”

My tactic of distraction had failed. “I was hoping you forgot.”

She grinned. “Never.”

“This is my curse for having a smart girlfriend,” I teased.

“Girlfriend?” Her head drew back. “I’m your girlfriend?”

My insides wavered—had I scared her off with the title? We had already professed our love for each other, so I assumed we were ready for this new stage. “Well, I mean, I hope you are.”

“And you’re my boyfriend?” she asked, neck still craned.

Great. I’ve made a mess of things. She’s probably going to run off again.“I honestly should be asking you how this works, but yes.”

She was silent.

“Maris?” Damn, I really had ruined our relationship.

She settled back down, her head against my chest again. “I’m just waiting for my boyfriend to sing to me.”

Relief flooded my body. My girlfriend still loved me. “I’m not getting out of this song, huh?”

“Not as long as we’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“So, I guess that’s a no?”

“Right on. Start singing, my little bird.”

I wasn’t escaping this, so I gathered my wits before I regretted it. I’d never sung for another human before, and especially not in front of the love of my life.

I began to sing the words that my mother had recited to me every night in childhood.

“Close your eyes, child.

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