Page 46 of Fierce-Zander

He didn’t think he was that horny that a fitted shirt tucked into loose-fitted jeans would turn him on so much but guess he was weaker than he thought when it came to her.

“That you wore that shirt hoping that I’d want a better glance at it. At least I didn’t cover up.”

“You are honest.”

“Did you expect any differently?” she asked, tilting her head.

“No,” he said. “And I wouldn’t want you to be any other way.”

“Good,” she said. “We can’t change who we are at the core of things.”

“No,” he said. “And since you are honest, I’ll ask why you seemed a little out of sorts with your father’s call. And if you don’t care to share, then you can tell me to mind my own business and I’ll do that and not be offended. I just got the vibe you might want to chat.”

She pursed her lips a few times and she said, “My parents appear emotionless to me. They’ve been this way my whole life. My brother, Kellen, had a hard time as a teen when they divorced. Me, I did too, but tried to hold it in.”

“For him or because you wanted to be like them and not show how you were really feeling?”

“More for him,” she said. “Some of it was I was used to doing those things. I’ve always been one that watched and listened before I spoke. I don’t do it as much with you and am not sure of the reason or meaning behind it and have decided I’m not going to search for it either.”

“How come?” he asked. “Why not search for it with me when you have with others?”

He wasn’t sure he liked that.

“Because I’ve decided to let things happen organically. I’m not going to read into things or try to find answers that might not exist. Sometimes life just happens and we have to decide to go with it or against it. This is a time I’m going with it. In a good way.”

Which made him feel one hundred percent better since he was doing the same without realizing it.

“Did you go with it or against it when your parents divorced?”

“With it and Kellen went against it. Sort of. I guess I have to say first that the divorce took us by surprise. Everyone was shocked. Not just us. My parents never fought. I mean never raised their voices at each other, let alone us. They weren’t snarky or sarcastic or short like people can be when they are frustrated. I’ve often used the words pleasant robots when describing them.”

“Sounds boring and fake to me.”

Nothing like his parents who could have heated debates at the dinner table with him and Marley jumping in and picking sides. It could be anything from sports, to politics, or a TV show they were watching.

One thing his parents did was teach them to speak their minds and voice their opinions but be respectful of others.

When dinner was over, the raised voices and fierceness behind their convictions were over too.

No one held a grudge.

Yep, his parents fought and disagreed about a lot of things in their marriage. From work issues to family rules, but they always worked it out and moved on.

“It was that. Kellen, he was a good kid. Just a little more hyper than they were used to. I think he felt he had to rein it in at times.”

“Which is hard for a kid that might have the energy to do or say what they want.”

“That’s right. The night my parents said they were getting divorced, my mother called us down to the living room before dinner. Kellen thought we might be getting a vacation announcement. Neither of us thought they’d just calmly tell us they were divorcing as if my father was saying that he was going to buy a new car and be gone that night.”

“He left that night?” he asked.

“No. They told us they were divorcing. Gave no reasons as to why, then got up and we had our family dinner with my father saying that my mother made his favorite and he was excited about it. We talked about school that day like normal. Well, not really, because Kellen had run to his room crying and I went after him, but then I came down to eat and see if they would talk about what was happening.”

“Did they?” he asked.

“No. I gave up and ate a bit, asked to be excused, and they cleaned up together like they did every night. I heard them even laughing at one point and then my father went to the den to watch TV and probably stayed there that night. No clue. There was no sign of it. He had an apartment a mile away. He even told us that, but he didn’t move out fully until that weekend.”

“I’m not sure how I’d feel if my parents just dropped news like that on us.”

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