Page 73 of The Stolen Princess
“I was?” What did she have to smile about?
“Yeah, you were watching Winslow and Dawsick, and you were smiling.”
“Oh,” she said, thinking back to the moment. “I was enjoying the irony of Horseface chipping his tooth on a chicken bone I had missed when I prepped the meat.”
“Is that Dawsick’s nickname?”
Myka wasn’t sure if she wanted to share the inner workings of her mind with Drake, but at this point, talking to him was better than talking to nobody.
“Yes,” she said, rolling over to her back so she faced the ceiling. She couldn’t roll to her side and facehim.That would be crossing the imaginary line that she had made in her head.
“Horseface? What does that even mean?” His voice became lighter, and it was nice to have something not so heavy to talk about.
Myka puffed her cheeks out then popped them like a balloon, letting out a rush of air. “You know, Dawsick’s features—or more like—his face is long and skinny like a horse’s snout.”
She waited for Drake to say something. When he didn’t, she kept going with her rationale. “I’m not trying to be mean.”
His head turned to hers. “You are being mean, though.”
She rolled her eyes. Of course, Drake would be personally offended on behalf of his jerk of a friend. “I’m just stating a fact. He looks like a horse.” She raised her shoulders. “It’s okay if you like horses,” she said innocently. “It’s not a bad thing. People love horses. They press their foreheads against their snouts all of the time. Perhaps it’s a compliment to call him a horse. Do we need to stop wearing pony-tails because they look too much like a horse’s tail? I mean, it’s not like I called him a jack-ass.”
“I thought you couldn’t handle vulgarity,” Drake said with a laugh. The laugh wasn’t big or boisterous. More deep and throaty, and something inside of Myka felt pleased by the fact that she’d said something he thought was funny, but she didn’t look at him. She wouldn’t be able to hide her smile.
“I didn’t swear,” she said, trying to hold back her smile. “It’s an animal.”
“Well, we both know Horseface isn’t a compliment,” he said.
Myka bit her lip. “No, it’s not.”
They lay in silence for a few seconds before Drake finally asked, “What are the other nicknames? I’m assuming you have one for all the guys.”
“Grady is Shaggy Hair.”
“He does need a haircut,” Drake agreed.
“There’s Old ’n Slow and Muscle Man. Please tell me you can guess who I’m talking about.”
Drake laughed harder. “And Portlend?” he asked.
“He’s so serious. He’s BizzBuzz.”
Drake lifted his hands behind him, resting them under his head. “And I’m Mr. Grabby Hands?”
“Sometimes. But other times, you’re just Drake Vestry, the man who kidnapped me,” she said flatly.
“I’m not the only one who kidnapped you. There are five other men.”
Myka thought she heard a little bit of frustration in his voice, and it surprised her. She would’ve thought he would want to takeallof the kidnapping credit himself.
“There are five other men, and yet, I’m always tied to you.”
He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. “If I hadn’t kidnapped you and we had only met the one time at Rommel’s house, what would my nickname have been then?”
“You were already Mr. Gunshot Wound.”
“Thanks to you.”
“You insinuated that I didn’t know how to use a gun. I needed to set you straight,” she said through the darkness. She stared at the ceiling. “What nickname would you have given me?”
