Page 25 of Close Quarters

“I said I could do it…by myself. Trying to do that with you stuck in here with me would make me want to commit a worse felony than the one I’m here for,” he said.

“This is where you say it’s because I’d drive you to murder.”

“I didn’t think it needed to be said out loud, but sure, whatever.”

“Well,” I said, screwing up my face in thought. “Wait, it’s the first Sunday of the month.”

“Yeah, and?”

“And the ranch always has some sort of like…I don’t know, workshop, activity, or whatever on the first Sunday of every month.”

“What like…knitting?” he asked, raising a brow.

“What’s wrong with knitting?”

“I didn’t…is it knitting?”

I shrugged. “They haven’t done knitting while I’ve been here, but Dom told me they’ve done it before. Which I don’t need. I already picked it up before I came here.”

Reno squinted at me. “You picked up knitting?”

“Again, what’s wrong with knitting?”

“I…it just doesn’t seem like your sort of thing.”

“How’s that?”

“Sitting there, in one place, doing the same thing?”

“You gotta expand your mind a bit,” I said with a snort, rubbing my hand vigorously on one side of his head.

“Quit it,” he grumbled, smacking my hand away with a little more force than necessary.

I grinned. “It’s repetitive, but in a way that tickles the right part of my brain. So I can sit there and do it, keeping my hands busy, and my mind doesn’t feel like it needs to make me start climbing walls.”

I had never been able to predict what would and wouldn’t grab my attention and hold it. Before coming here, I dreaded the idea of being put to work as laborious and intensely as I had here, and yet, it worked. Then again, I had always excelled in Phys-ed when I’d bothered to go to school…and participate in the class. Then again, maybe that shrink in prison had said something about exercise and sports being a good way to hone my energy…huh, I should find a way to pay better attention to things.

“Weird,” he muttered.

“That’s me,” I said, wanting to reach out and ruffle his hair again but stopping short. I’d been spending too much of my free time with him lately, and despite how much he annoyed the living hell out of me, I was clearly getting a little too comfortable with him. Maybe it would be better if I let myself have more time around other people while he brooded or read or…whatever. “Now, c’mon, I don’t want to stand around here all day and stare at your grumpy mug.”

“No, you’d rather perv and stare at my ass,” he said with a shake of his head.

“You know, for someone with such a bad temper, you really should start swinging at me if you believed that,” I said, unsure if it was a good idea to goad him in that direction. Some guys could get really touchy if they thought another guy was even thinking about making a move on them, let alone a genuine suspicion. “Are you comfortable with the idea that I might be checking you out while also freaked out about the idea that I might take a peek?”

“Or maybe I’m not stupid enough to get pissy because someone’s trying to fuck with me.”

“And who says I’m not trying to take a peek?”

He stopped as he bent to grab his book from his bed, peering over at me. I was too surprised to laugh like I might have normally at the bewildered look on his face. “Why the fuck would you want to see that?”

Approximately two dozen answers flit through my head at his confused question, ranging from ‘Have you seen yourself?’ to ‘Well, I am into guys, and you are a guy, so…’ but somehow, I didn’t think any of them were quite appropriate for the conversation. It felt like I’d just stumbled onto something private. It didn’t feel like he was upset about the idea just…didn’t grasp why I would even look his way.

“I…do you…” I began and then stopped quickly before committing to whatever was about to come out of my mouth. But seriously, was he completely oblivious to how he looked? Sure, his personality and general attitude left a lot to be desired, but the physical? C’mon, the guy could not possibly be that dense. “Seriously?”

“What?” he asked, anger coming back into his voice with a note of defensiveness. “What the fuck is wrong with you now?”

Wow, either he was a better actor than I thought, or he really didn’t see it. Weird. “Uhh, nothing. Grab your book, and let’s go before you hurt yourself thinking too hard.”

---