Page 126 of A Heart So Haunted
“All eyes for thirty seconds.” He set the bag on the counter. “Dinner, a movie, SNL reruns, or we attempt a fire in the firepit outside.”
Hadrian did a decent job at looking ambiguous when Sayer made a scan of the room—but I thought of his comment once about hating the TV, so I blurted, “I vote firepit. We can use those metal tongs Emma found.”
Emma snapped her fingers in approval. “Yes, okay, I’ve got this. Marshmallows. Graham crackers. Chocolate.” She rounded the island for the pantry, ready to gather supplies. She passed off bags to Sayer before emerging with three sets of long toasting forks.
“Sorry, Hadrian.” She gave me a quick glance, devious. “You’ll have to share with Lan.”
She slipped into the hall, Sayer hot after her. The two of us brought up the rear. The screen door that led out from the sunroom had just managed to slam shut when he leaned forward, his mouth at the soft part of my neck, and whispered, “We’ve been conspired against, haven’t we?”
I suppressed a smile, but failed. “I fear we have.”
“Do I want to know whatS-N-Lmeans? Ormovie?”
He held the door for me. I made a point to walk close, close enough to brush against his shirt, and said in my best spooky voice, “It involves that horrid little box with the moving pictures.”
A look of torture split his face. “Dear God, please, no.”
I laughed, low, as we trekked down the back steps, over the steppingstones, and down to the back patio. Sayer and Emma already had the accoutrements spread out, as if it were a feast. Sayer attempted to dig a lighter out of his pants, while Emma whipped a box of matches out of hers. Then it was a race to see who could light the starter the fastest.
Hadrian pulled a chair out for me. Instead, I motioned for him to sit instead.
His mouth flattened. “Ladies sit first.”
I stood on my toes. “Thank you, but I’d rather sit with you than alone. You sit first.”
After a seconds-long stalemate, he narrowed his eyes and sat down. I held back a smile when he spread his knees, back still straight, in a partial man-spread. It wasn’t as casual as men’s today posture tended to be, but it was there.
I couldn’t lie. Something about him, being here with Emma and Sayer, made me brave.
I sat down on the footrest in front of his chair, right between his knees. He shot me a look. I settled my hand on his knee and scooted closer.
“It’s okay. Calm down.” A grin played on my lips.
He jerked his chin to Sayer and Emma, a silent question.And them?he seemed to say, not so much out of fear of disapproval, but his eyes questioned comfortability. From me.
Emma tried to bat the lighter out of Sayer’s hand. He snatched her match and broke it in two.
“That’s rude,” she spat.
“Not everything has to be a competition,” he shot back.
Her eyes went beady. She grabbed the lighter, threw the matches toward me, and shoved her shoulder into his chest. They skittered across the rocks surrounding the pit and stopped a few inches from my feet.
“Let me show you how a real survivalist starts a fire,Sayer,” she said.
Sayer didn’t blink when he turned to me. “Do you see the abuse I put up with?”
“Now you feel my pain,” I said.
I leaned back, my side against Hadrian’s leg. Little by little, the tension in his body loosened. While Sayer and Emma continued to bicker, he shifted from my peripheral. Reached out like he might approach a skittish animal—and let his arm drape across my back. His fingers made idle circles over my shirt.
The fire made awooftsound. The starter blazed to life, which only sent Emma’s ego higher than it already was.
“See.” She stood and smacked the lighter against Sayer’s chest. “I told you.”
He took his glasses off and pointed them at her. “No couth. Whatsoever.”
Emma only arched her eyebrows and ventured to the table.
