Magenta Mine (Invertary 3)

He gave her a cheeky look that made her blush. “I keep telling you, Magenta. I’m not a kid anymore.”

He bent down in front of her, making her sway at the nearness of him. He drew a line in the ground. “We’ll both throw from here.” He pointed at the line.

“Fine. Whatever. Let’s get this over with. You go first.”

She huffed in frustration as Harry took years to pick the perfect stone. At last, he stepped behind the line and lobbed the stone at the circle. It landed with perfect precision close to the centre of the circle. He gave her a cocky smile.

“My aim has improved since we last played,”

he said, oozing confidence.

Magenta picked up a huge boulder from beside her feet. It took two hands to throw it. It landed with a loud thud, obliterating the circle and Harry’s stone. She dusted off her hands and grinned.

“I think it’s safe to say that mine is closer to the centre of the circle.”

Harry’s mouth opened and closed several times before he spoke. “That doesn’t count. You cheated.”

She shrugged. “You should have been more specific about the rules. Now that’s over, we can sleep outside the tent. Like normal people.”

“You mean you can sleep outside the tent. I’ll be standing guard.”

“Whatever you want to do. I don’t care. I’m tired and I’m going to sleep. Enjoy your rat watch.”

Harry set up his tent and sat in the entrance of it, his flashlight aimed at Magenta. He thought he’d win the game. He thought he’d be tucked up tight with his girl in his tent. He should have picked a game she couldn’t cheat at. It brought back all the memories he had of her outwitting him as a kid, and it made him grin with delight. Magenta had always been a challenge.

“Will you turn that damn light off? Every time you sweep it over the room it wakes me up.” Magenta was wrapped up tight in her sleeping bag, her back to the wall beside Harry. He’d been watching her closely. She was lying. There was no way she’d been asleep.

“I’ll keep it away from your eyes.” There was no way he was doing that, either. If he couldn’t get her into his tent and pressed up against him fair and square, he wasn’t above aggravating her into doing what he wanted.

He waited to speak until her breathing started to even out as she slipped into a light sleep. “Did you know that in Vietnam, you can eat barbecued rats? That’s dicing with death. You could be eating typhus, trichinosis, salmonellosis or rat-bite fever. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure even barbecuing won’t kill those bugs. Does that sound like a healthy meal to you?”

He stifled a grin as Magenta groaned. “I wish I’d thought to pack earplugs. Shut up, Harry, and let me sleep.”

“I can’t help it. Whatever is in my brain slips out of my mouth.”

She growled something he couldn’t hear, then turned to face the wall. Again Harry waited until her breathing indicated she was falling asleep.

“There are over seventy million rats in New York City. I don’t think there’s that many down here, but I bet there are thousands.”

“Harry!” She propped herself up on an elbow, turned her head and glared at him. “I am this close to killing you. If you want to get out of here alive, you need to stop talking.”

“I’ll try harder.”

He made sure the light of his flashlight danced over her while she tried to sleep as he prepared his next rat fact. “Rat mothers often eat their young. They’re cannibals. And incestuous. Mothers mate with sons. It’s disgusting.”

“That’s it!” Magenta jumped to her feet. She pointed at Harry. “You are driving me insane. If you don’t stop talking about rats, I’m going to find another part of the mine to sleep in.”

“Then I’ll have to follow you to keep you safe from rodent attack.”

“I thought you couldn’t go into the mine?”

“My need to keep you safe from rats far outweighs my worry about cave-ins.”

She put her hands on her curvy hips and glared. She was barefoot, dressed only in cotton boy shorts and a sports bra, with a large T-shirt on top. All black, as usual. Her hair had lost its sleek edge and her face was makeup free. She was stunning. The golden tone of her skin glowed in the faint light of the room, made even more translucent by the stark blue/black she used to dye her hair. Her golden-brown eyes sparkled with rage, which had the effect of making Harry’s libido spike. He shifted uncomfortably in his jeans.

“I don’t need you to keep me safe. I’m the one who’s here to keep you safe. You’re the rank amateur who managed to get stuck in a mine. You’re getting on my last nerve with this macho rubbish. There is no such thing as an alpha geek. There’s just alpha. And geek. You’re a geek.”

“Baby.” Harry smiled, hoping it would disarm her. “I’m a muscled geek. Look.” He lifted his T-shirt to flash his abdomen. “I have a two-pack. That’s two more than most geeks have.”