I didn’t understand how a person could survive without food and water for that long, but Nathan reminded me that I was no longer a simple human. Apparently, hybrids were made to withstand the transition.
At least I got some good food out of the ordeal. While Dee’s was amazing, I concluded that the real reason for the trip into town was for Nathan to call his contact, Travis. He had planned to call two or three days ago, but I had gotten sick. Knowing he hadn’t left me to make the call, as important as it was, brought a tiny smile to my lips.
He was eager to get in touch with Travis now, however. But after a few minutes, even with only hearing one half of the conversation, I concluded that they hadn’t made much progress. Nathan informed Travis of the recent turn of events and ended the call with another promise to call back in a few days.
“We’re not going straight to the base?” I asked when Nathan turned to me.
“It’s too risky right now. The Skotadi will be expecting us to go there.”
“We’re hanging out here a little longer?”
“I don’t want to move until we know more,” he explained apologetically. “We’ve got a good hide out right now.”
I held a hand up. “Hey, I’m fine. The cabin’s kind of growing on me.”
“Okay.” He nearly smiled again. “But now, we have to go shopping again.”
With the exception of macaroni and cheese, which Nathan adamantly refused to put in the cart, we got as much easy prep food as the backpack would carry. I figured we were set for another week or more. Granted, the limited variety sucked, but we wouldn’t starve.
When we stopped at a red light on our way out of town, Nathan lifted his visor and turned to me. “Want to get a beer?” He gestured toward the hole in the wall bar where we had watched the news several nights ago.
I agreed and expected Nathan to have a beer and I to have a soda again, but when I joined him at the bar after stopping by the restroom first, I was surprised to see two bottles in front of him.
Nice. I wondered how he managed that.
Then I saw the bartender. It wasn’t the same antisocial man from before. It was a young, attractive brunette with a flashy smile to match her flashy, and inappropriately tiny, camisole. She didn’t bother to conceal her obvious admiration of Nathan, nor her disappointment when she saw me approach.
Well that explains it, doesn’t it? I snorted as I sat down.
Nathan shot me a sideways look. “What’s wrong with you?”
As I turned to him, I glanced a table full of coeds in the corner, who looked like they were on spring break or something, though I had no idea why they would be on spring break in Eastern Tennessee—but that wasn’t the point. The point was three out of the five girls were in danger of throwing their necks out of place as they struggled to get a closer look at Nathan. He stared obliviously at the big screen suspended above the center of the bar.
“Nothing. Thanks for the beer.” I nodded my head at the bartender. “She didn’t ask to card me?”
“No,” he said like the idea was ridiculous.
“You have no idea, do you?”
“About?”
“How hot you are,” I blurted out before my brain could stop me. I froze and covered my face with my hands in mortification, wishing for the ability to stay hidden forever so that I never had to face him again.
He was silent for so long that curiosity got the best of me, and I risked a peek at him through spread fingers. He was looking at me like he wasn’t sure he understood, or believed, what I had said. I lowered my hands slowly and avoided his eyes as I told myself it was no big deal. I could talk my way out of this.
I shrugged coolly. “I mean, it’s clear a lot of girls think that.”
I held back a laugh at the scandalized look on his face that remark induced, and gained some confidence from realizing he was probably more embarrassed by my slip up than I was.
Well, maybe equally embarrassed.
“Alright,” I said in a hushed voice, feigning indifference. “It’s pretty obvious that the bartender has the hots for you.”
“Really?” He hooked an eyebrow and glanced at the brunette.
“Yeah, and don’t look now,” I continued in a whisper as he leaned conspiratorially closer to me, “but there is a table full of college girls behind you, and they are all seriously checking you out.”
He gave me a curious look as he leaned back, but he didn’t look over his shoulder like every other guy would have done.
Rolling with it, I continued, “Right now, they’re trying to figure out if I’m your sister or your girlfriend.” I shot a furtive glance in their direction as he watched me, a slow grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “From the way we’re acting, I think they’re banking on me being your sister.”
He nodded slowly, turning his lips inward to hide his smile. Then he took a swig of beer to cover that up.
I should have stopped there but, I didn’t. “Now, to prevent you from having to fend off unwanted groping from all directions, I could pretend to be your girlfriend if one of them comes over here. Your real one would probably appreciate my help. She can thank me later.”
“My real—” He stopped and squinted at me peculiarly, seemingly unsure how to proceed. He finally settled on a chuckle. “Unwanted groping? I don’t think there is such a thing. At least not to a guy.”
I groaned. “I know you’re not one of those guys.”
“Why couldn’t I be one of those guys?” He sounded offended.
“You’re too nice,” I said instantly.
That was the second time in as many minutes that I caught Nathan completely off guard. He actually choked on his beer this time. I even surprised myself, but really, it was true. For once, speaking without a filter hadn’t ended with me kicking myself. And I was right. He wasn’t one of those guys.
“I’m sorry,” he sputtered. “I don’t think I heard you right. Did I hear you say I was nice?”
“You heard me.” I sipped my beer as I eyeballed him.
“Wasn’t that you who called me a masochistic asshole last week? Or am I thinking of someone else?”
I shrugged. “You’re different now. You were an ass then, though.”
“I was under a lot of pressure,” he said simply.
“And not now?”
“No.” He gestured around us. “We’re sitting in a bar at two o’clock in the afternoon.”
“With people still trying to kill us,” I reminded him, but my mood was light.
He shrugged with a sigh. “That’s the life I’m used to. It’s just another day. You have to learn to enjoy the good days in between the hard ones.”
“And today’s a good day?”
“After the last five…” He looked at me. “I would say so.”
I lifted my bottle. “Here’s to more good days.”
He clunked his bottle against mine and we both took a drink.
“Don’t worry,” he said as he examined his beer thoughtfully. “I’ll get back to my asshole ways once we’re on the move again, and you get back to being a pain in my ass.”