“You smell like the woods. And you, of course. Honestly, I thought you were gonna reek too, but I’m pleasantly surprised,” I said.
He lifted his arm and sniffed as well.
“I’ll take your word for it. I feel pretty grungy. And we should probably stop talking about that right now,” he said. “I’m pretty sure Rory and Lucah aren’t interested in my bathing schedule.”
“Did you say something?” Rory said, pretending she hadn’t been listening. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Liar,” I said.
“Well, if it means anything, you smelled fine to me,” Rory said.
Lucah cleared his throat and turned on the radio before he started talking to Rory again. It might have seemed rude, but I could tell he was giving me and Ryder some time to ourselves, even if it was just in the backseat.
“I can’t wait to see what you made me,” he said.
“Don’t get your hopes up. It’s probably not as great as I’m making it out to be.” I was beginning to doubt the awesomeness of the letters. They weren’t as interesting as his. I hadn’t had some amazing epiphany about life. I mean, other than the fashion show, things had been pretty mundane. Same old, same old.
Get up, go to work, come home. Hang out with Rory, hang out with the girls at the bar, make fun of people who couldn’t sing.
“I can’t wait,” he said.
We couldn’t really talk much with Lucah and Rory right there. I knew we’d get a chance later when I gave him the letters.
So he told us some of the more tame stories he’d probably stored up. We heard about his roommates and some of the more fun aspects of being away from civilization. He’d zip lined and learned how to build a fire and make a snare to catch small game. He’d even made his own fishing pole and caught dinner for himself. I was totally impressed.
“I kept thinking that if I somehow got sucked back in time to a place where they didn’t have electricity and cars and so forth, I’d do okay. I mean, I’ve never tried to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, but I think I’d do okay.”
I snorted.
“What?” he said.
“I wouldn’t. I’d probably try to eat some mushrooms and pick the only poisonous ones or something. Or I’d trip over a root and impale myself. Or get eaten by a bear,” I said. I could keep going.
“So bears were more of a threat in the olden days than now?” Ryder asked.
“Well, I don’t know, but maybe. Anyway. I wouldn’t survive. Plus, I hate hand sewing. It takes too much time.” I did it when I had to, but it was a pain. That’s what they made sewing machines and sergers for.
“I think I could do it,” Rory said.
Lucah made a sound that he quickly turned into another cough.
“Hey! I could survive without computers and phones and everything,” she said, smacking him on the arm.
“Sunshine, you work at a tech company. It’s your life. Whatever would you do with yourself all day?” he asked.
“Raise your damn ginger babies and hang out in the kitchen,” she said, crossing her arms.
“No, I picture you as a warrior woman with a crossbow out hunting,” Lucah said.
Rory and I both laughed. That was something I definitely couldn’t picture.
“So now I’m a superhero?” she said. “Well, I like that.”
“And what do you think I’d be doing?” Lucah asked her.
“Hmm,” she said, pretending to give it some deep thought.
“Probably annoying his younger brother,” Ryder muttered.