“Now that you mention it, I do seem to remember that you have a very talented tongue. Trick number seventeen comes to mind.” He crunched on his celery as he twisted off a Shiner cap one-handed. He offered her the beer.
She waved it off. “One of us has to drive home, and it’s not going to be you.”
“Suit yourself.” He gulped down the beer. “Good stuff.”
How did she approach the one subject he didn’t want to talk about?
She reached into the bag and pulled out the ice cream and a spoon she’d swiped from her parents’ house.
“Hey, that’s my I’ve-had-a-shitty-day ice cream.” The wounded look on his face was almost enough to make her put it back, but it was ice cream.
“Finders keepers.” She peeled off the pint container’s lid and delicately raked her spoon across the top. She licked at it. Ice cream was a delicacy and should be savored.
“You can’t call finders keepers if you already knew it was there.” He grabbed the pint and the spoon right out of her hand.
“Pig.” She didn’t try too hard to get it back.
“I love to watch you eat ice cream.” He dug into the ice cream like his spoon was a shovel and then brought it to her lips. “You take these delicate bites … always have.”
He’d noticed how she ate ice cream? How had he had the time for that when he’d always been so busy looking at Harmony?
“That’s too much.” She sucked in a little bit. “Too much and you get brain freeze,” she said around the ice cream swirling on her tongue.
He grinned. “That’s why. You always have a well-thought-out reason for everything.”
Was that good or bad?
He shoved the rest of the spoonful into his mouth. “You eat it slow … savoring the flavor, but I like to shovel it in.”
He fed her a small bite and smiled as he watched her eat it.
He tried a small bite and shook his head. “Nope, when it comes to ice cream, I’m a shoveler-in-er.” He thought about it for a second. “There are some foods I eat slowly, but not because I want to savor them … I just don’t like them. Take brussels sprouts, they’re stinky and they taste bad.”
“I can’t disagree with you there.” She wasn’t good at being coy or sly or beating around the bush. “When are we going to talk about your future? What’s next for Heath Montgomery?”
“Nothing … there is no next.” He was completely serious. He truly believed that his life was over. It made her sad for him even as it made her a little angry. Football wasn’t everything. He had so much else going for him, so much more to make his life full and rich. Why couldn’t he see that? Why couldn’t he see her sitting here, offering herself to him?
“Of course there’s a next. You’re Heath freakin’ Montgomery. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on with your life.” She wasn’t the pity party type. “You have to face the future sometime … can’t stay here forever.”
“Why not? What if I don’t want to face the future?” He looked around. “I’m never coming down from here.”
“Be serious. You can’t live in your tree house.” She reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. There were times, like right now, when she could see the lost little boy peeking out of Heath’s grown-up eyes.
“Why not? I like it here.” He fed her another ice cream bite. “Who says I have to come down and live in the real world?”
“Well, I guess you could stay here, but let me point out a couple of small details.” Lyric looked around. “I don’t see any plumbing. Going to the bathroom might be an issue.”
“Nope, I’ll just do what I’ve been doing all of these years.” He pointed to the trapdoor. “I just open it and let her fly.”
She shuddered. The steps were directly under the trapdoor, and she’d used her hands to climb up here. She wiped them vigorously on her pants. If only she’d thought to bring some hand sanitizer. “What about food?”
“What about it?” He nodded at the bag. “You’re going to bring me food every day.” He pulled her onto his lap. “We’re going to get married and live here.”
Never mind that she lived in Hawaii. And they weren’t getting married.
“We can’t even stand up in here.” She pointed to the low roof. “I refuse to open the trapdoor and let her fly.”
“Suit yourself. You can always go to the bathroom when you go out for food. Although, I don’t think it’s good for your body to only go once a day.” He nuzzled her neck. “And we don’t need to walk around up here. We can kneel. Walking’s overrated … kneeling’s where it’s at.”