Page 25 of Hero & Villain
I put a foot down, and found a small ledge.
“Good. Now the other foot. You climbed up. You can climb down. You’re doing amazing. I’ve got you. I’m not going to let you fall.” His eyes were so absolutely sincere.
I nodded and, holding my breath, started down the cliff. At the bottom, I sat on a lumpy rock and closed my eyes, forcing the breath in and out. I didn’t die. Did I have to do that again? I couldn’t.
“Sure, we’ll just sit here all day,” he said, kicking some pebbles in my direction.
I scowled at him. “To you, it may not be a big deal, but for me, this is life or death. Mostly death. You can’t judge other people from your own frame of reference. I wasn’t made the same way you were made.”
He came and crouched next to me. I stared into his brown eyes and couldn’t look away. His voice was low, gentle. “I can see that. Still, however we were made, there comes a time when we have to make ourselves into who we want to be.”
“How do you know who you want to be?”
He took my hands and pulled me to my feet. “That’s different for everyone.”
“You know, I’d be able to take your deep wisdom much more seriously if you weren’t wearing a pink shirt.”
He laughed, dropped my hands, and headed towards the truck. “I suppose I could say the same thing about your hair.”
I touched it self-consciously. As far as my research showed, he didn’t date women with colorful hair. Should I have taken that into consideration? I’d gotten so bad at this. Two years with Clint had made me too soft and weak. Maybe I had half a heart that he’d break. No. My heart was already broken and it would stay that way. How was that a good thing?
We drove to two more locations with less difficult climbs and no more awkward comments, but that little blur on the horizon grew into an actual cloud along with a rising wind.
After I’d made it down the third ridge and headed for the truck, Jerk Badger didn’t climb in right away. He went around to the back and came into the cab with a small cooler.
“Lunch of champions,” he said, opening the lid and handing me a sub sandwich.
“Wow. No thanks.”
He frowned. “You’re hungry.”
“No, I’m good. Even if I was, my hands aren’t just dirty in a theoretical sense. I’ve been rubbing them in real dirt.” I wrinkled my nose as I turned my hands over. I had so much dirt under my nails. And I’d been wearing gloves!
His lips twitched. “Let’s see.” He held out his hand and I showed him my filthy palms and jagged nails. He took my hand in his, frowned and brought it closer, like he couldn’t see clearly before he spit on my palm and rubbed it on the hem of his shirt.
My mouth fell open as I stared at him, more shocked than I’d possibly ever been in my life. I snatched my hand away from him. “You did not actually just spit on me. I’ve never in my life been so… so…” I sputtered and wiped my hand vigorously on the leg of my jeans.
He burst out laughing. I was going to kill him. I was going to kill that heap of disrespectful muscle and leave him twitching. No, I was going to seduce him and break his heart. Killing him would be so much easier.
“I’m glad someone’s having a nice time,” I said stiffly.
“Relax, Pinkie. How can you dye your hair and be so uptight?”
“Uptight? I’m sorry, I’m sure all the other girls you drag out into the desert like you spitting on them. Sorry I’m too uptight to enjoy climbing up and down cliffs so I can stand there and be useful for two seconds. You’re such a delusional, warped, sadistic?—”
“Ooh, sadistic, hm? Wow, really level those guns at me, Princess. I can take it.” He was so incredibly dismissive! He had no idea how hard I was trying, with heights and flirting when I just wanted to stab him! Or kiss him!
“I’m not a princess and you’re certainly no hero. You’re just a bored little prince, waiting for something to distract you from the lack of consequence you and everything you do?—”
He leaned close, getting in my face, his eyes hard, focused, like he was about to do something that took every particle of his attention, and all of that was on me. “Those aren’t terms I understand. I’m a simple brute fighting it out in an ugly world. You use such big, pretty words, and I think you’re flirting with me.”
I flexed my jaw and trembled with rage. I wanted to drive something sharp into his thigh and kick him while he screamed. He was the reason my whole life had erupted into a fiery mess. “Ignoramus,” I spat at him.
He smiled, actually smiled sweetly at me. “So cute. You’re absolutely adorable. It’s more flirting than the pretty words. Say it again.”
“Were you going to eat so we can finish up the job?” I said through gritted teeth.
He took a big bite out of a sandwich, not seeming to notice his filthy hands.
