I laughed. “You say that like you got principles!”
“Hey now, everybody got principles. Some of ‘em aren’t real good, but everybody got ‘em. Take me, for example. I object to this fire marshal, city hall game on principle. Principle bein’, I ain’t about to pay for a game I’m not playing.”
“Point taken,” I said with a grin. “I’ll get back to work now.”
“Yeah, you will.” Leroy leaned back in his chair and chuckled. “Rhymes with cash.”
I left him there to grin and went to work on the old building, whistling as I went with my head full of Daisy. Her scent had almost faded from my memory while I was locked up, but now, after last night, it was all over my sweater. I was pretty sure I would never wash it again—not unless I could guarantee that it would smell like her again right after.
That train of thought sucked me into a daydream. Me and her, living together. Doing laundry in our underwear. Passing out in front of the TV together, in our underwear. Driving donuts in a field in the middle of the night, in our underwear. Okay, so maybe there was a lot of sexual frustration tied up in my imaginings, but mostly I was just happy to be close to her again. I never wanted to be away from her for that long again. Never imagined I’d ever have to be away from her for that long. Now that I knew what it was like, I was determined to never have to go through it again.
Which is why, when my work was finished for the day, I decided I’d get myself something to eat at Country Corner. It was just after five, so the library would be closed. She should be on her way home, unless she was stopping to pick up her old man’s beer. Either way, she’d pass by there.
“Finally came back to see me. You never called.” The goth teenager behind the counter glared and pouted at me all at once. Then she rolled her eyes as if it never mattered in the first place and tapped her long black fingernails impatiently against the side of the register. “Did you lose my number or something? Here, give me your phone.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening. Ring me up for a corndog and a lemonade, will you.”
She raised a brow and leaned over the counter, doing her best to show some cleavage. The uniform collar was high and she didn’t have much to work with in the first place, so the effect was sort of pitiful.
“Is that all you eat, Kash Lawson?” She batted her eyes at me and looked me up and down. I felt like a prey. Really large prey. Like a trophy buck who’s being stalked by a house cat. A relentless house cat.
“Nah. Sometimes I eat ramen. Occasionally I even eat a vegetable, but I don’t see any of that on your menu. $9.95?” I pulled out the money and held it out of her reach, waiting for her to put the order in.
“I should charge you double for being an ass.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and punched my order in. “$9.95.”
I wanted to make a comment about how much she’d owe her own company if they really did charge for being an ass, but I could already see how she would twist that into something sexual and so I let it go. She really needed to get herself a guy her own age, but I understood her frustration. It was slim pickings around here, always had been.
She wrote her number on the receipt again, this time with a little angry face and broken heart. I threw it away in front of her. The flash of hurt on her face almost made me feel bad, but not really. I’d said it straight, I’d said it sideways, I’d said it more than once. If she couldn’t take a nice “no” for an answer, then she wouldn’t get nice.
I managed to keep caring all the way to the door, then forgot all about it as I stepped outside and into the fresh air.
The hazy late afternoon was turning purple around the edges, and any minute now I would see Daisy. I’d have to remember to get her number this time. It had seemed perfectly natural to run her down on foot—old habits die hard I guess. Back then, none of us had a phone. And none of us would get one until we could buy one ourselves—but we were adults now, and it was long past time we started behaving like it.
Which was all well and good to tell myself, but when I saw her walk across the parking lot my heart started racing like a kid with a crush. Maybe some things shouldn’t be grown out of because what the hell is love without that feeling?
I waved at Daisy, but she didn’t see me.
“Daisy! Ah, never mind…” She’d already walked through the doors, and I didn’t think she’d heard me anyway. I considered following her into the store, but that hadn’t gone over real well the first time. Better to play it safe. Should I finish my corndog? I don’t want her to come out when I’m in the middle of a bite. If I eat it fast enough, I’ll be done before she comes out. But then I’ll have corndog breath. Choking was also a possibility. I didn’t feel like having her have to Heimlich Maneuver a sausage from my throat. Though, that would make quite the story. Maybe I could—
“Jeez, man, quit overthinking it. She’s Daisy, for crying out loud. She doesn’t care about that crap.” I shook my head at myself and went back to my meal. Just as I’d expected, I had a mouthful of food when she came back out. I continued chewing as I waved again, but she had her head down and was walking kind of fast, so she didn’t see me. I
