I started laughing and I couldn’t stop. The look on his face must have been the look on that guy’s face and oh! Oh, my, it was priceless.
Mace shrugged and said, “The name stuck. I’ve been ‘Mace’ ever since.”
I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye and nodded. “See, that was every bit as worth it as I thought it would be.”
“Yeah?” he asked and smiled.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I needed that laugh.”
“What about you?” he asked.
“Raven?” I asked. He nodded. I shrugged.
“I’ve always liked them. I got the tattoo,” I rounded my shoulder at him, “and like you, it stuck. Some of the other burners started calling me Raven and I’ve been Raven ever since.”
I smiled fondly at some of those memories, but just as swiftly as the smile touched my lips, it turned brittle with what came after… with what happened after that.
“See, now there,” he said, and I looked up from the dregs of my teacup.
“What?” I asked.
“Whatever, or should I say whoever just wiped that smile off your face.”
I bit my lips together and didn’t say anything.
“Whoever he is, he’ll find his come to Jesus. They always do,” he said gently.
I swallowed and nodded.
“Someday,” I murmured. “Hopefully.”
“You hungry?” he asked, and I shook my head. “Warm enough, now?” I smiled slightly and shook my head again and he smiled. “You’re definitely tired, though.” There was no question about that, and I didn’t even try to deny it.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you to bed and get you warm.”
I felt a little guilty, but there was honestly nothing to be guilty about. The comfort Mace offered was freely given and I could tell, there was no expectation of anything in return. Anything sexual… and to be honest, I missed the simple contact of being held through the night, which is what had led me to that dating app in the first place.
He got up, wincing and moving a little slow, but I could already tell he was doing better, and our time was growing short. I went into the corner of my room and unlaced and toed off my boots.
I appreciated he kept his things neatly folded in another corner; that he wasn’t a slob. All of my clothes that I owned hung in the closet. I had a few baskets in the bottom for socks and underwear, but the rest I hung on whatever hangars I managed to rustle up from the dollar store on fifteenth.
Mace lowered himself in his sweats and tee to the bed with a grunt and got in while I slipped out of my clothes to my sports bra and underwear. I stuffed my dirty things in the top of an old army duffel. I got it from a surplus store back when I had more money. Those days were long gone, though.
“Come, get in here,” Mace complained. “You’re freezing.”
It was true, the winters here were typically mild, but we were well into it and the clothes I had were the clothes I had and were honestly more suited to the summertime. I was a sun worshipper at heart, and he honestly didn’t have to tell me twice. I pulled the deep tan, boatneck loose-knit sweater over my head. You could honestly see right through but still it was better than nothing. It was soft and fell around me to the hip and I moved my skinny ass to get under the covers. Mace carefully pulled me into his side and said, “There you go.”
I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder carefully, his warmth divine.
“Your landlord should be fuckin’ shot,” Mace said, and I chuckled.
“He’s the owner of this building and the building that Shoreman’s is in. I rent under the table. This place isn’t up to code or suited for habitation. He doesn’t tell and I don’t tell.”
Mace snorted. “Fucking vulture.”
“Eh, it works,” I murmured. “And it’s what I can afford.”
He sighed and pressed his lips to my hair. I got the distinct impression he was breathing me in but surprisingly, I didn’t mind. I didn’t find it creepy coming from him. I found it… I don’t know the right word, but it was good. The sensation of his gentle attention leaving a silvery glow in its wake.
I closed my eyes and sort of relished the comfort. It’d been a long time. I’d always been weak for a good snuggle and he was so very good at it.
“Get some sleep,” he whispered when I’d been quiet too long and had begun to stir out of a sort of restless feeling that I should be keeping the conversation going or something. Instead, he held me just a little tighter, and I drifted off faster than I had in a while, sound asleep in the hushed quiet of the deepest morning.
7
Mace…
“Hey, Kim. You gotta minute?”
My parole officer looked up from where she was about to light her cigarette, the slim white paper-wrapped tobacco stick bobbing between her lips as she asked, “Not supposed to see you for another couple of weeks, Caleb. What can I do for you?”
“It’s not about me,” I said, leaning gingerly back against the wall she was leaning against. She offered me a cig, and I waved her off.
“Quit when I was locked up,” I said.
“That’s what I like about you,” she said with a smile around her cig as she took the time to flick her Bic and light it. She took a long drag, held it, and plucking the cig from between her lips said, breath held, “You took your time inside to actually better yourself.” She blew out a plume of smoke that caught in the breeze and came my way. I seriously wondered how I could have ever smoked those things.
“So, to what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked and took another drag.
“The girl I was with yesterday… something happened to her, yeah? Something that showed up on your screen?”
Kim raised her dark eyebrows and nodded as
