You were indifferentHe holds out a glass in front of my face. I'm sitting on the bench at the kitchen table trying to mend a hole in Sam's shirt sleeve. It's flannel so it's not a total loss but he doesn't want a patch so I'm limited as to what I can do. My repair will outlive the shirt itself, that much I know. It always does.
I was young
We were both drinking fiction with greedy tongues
You were waiting for someone
Something to happen
Something irrational
Climbing the walls and falling in love
Here. For your broken heart. His voice cracks just enough and I look up into his face. It's not a happy face.
Lochlan, I-
I don't know what my defense was going to be but he cuts me off anyway.
Every day, Peanut. Every day I wake up and I put it all away and start fresh.
He wags the drink again and I take it. I take a huge gulp and let it burn me to the ground.
How do I teach you this? Teaching you to tie your shoes and drive a car seem so easy now in comparison.
If this was equal to tying my shoes, I'd be gold, Locket.
You already are gold, Bridgie. He runs his hand down my cheek. Like he's so proud and yet so disappointed all at the same time. I can't imagine how that must feel, to have the person you molded to be exactly what you want turn out to be a resounding failure.
I have to ban Preacher from the point. How do I do that, sweetheart?
Give me a lobotomy and he's gone. Then you get your golden girl back, fresh and new.
She wouldn't be who I love.
Then maybe it's you who has to learn to live with Preacher and not me, after all.
He takes my drink from me and finishes the whole thing in one go. Flames begin to lick out from his skin, pulled tightly over his soul. I can still see right through him. Always could, always will.
I can do that. He can watch. He puts the drink on the floor, lifting me up into his arms abruptly. No more talk, just kisses that smolder and spark. He takes us upstairs, kicking the door shut behind us. He undresses us both at once and then he pulls me back in tight without pretense. I cry out and he covers my mouth with kisses.
Shhh, Bridgie. It's okay. Hold on to me. He threads my arms up around his neck and drives against me, for he truly believes if we lose our love or run out of it, we can just make more. It's been this way forever. He is mine and I am his and that's just the way it's going to be, no matter what or who happens.
And I'm right, he says as he lets go finally. It's morning now and we've spent the night with abandon, with no way to pay it back.