Page 63 of Wicked Little Game
“I’m not—”
“Yes, you are. Who taught you to fight like that?” I switch the topic to distract her. “Gore videos from the dark web? Maybe I should teachyousomething, for example, how to de-escalate a situation like a normal person.”
“I think I de-escalated this situation really well.”
“You’re really not seeing the issue?”
“I got my point across, haven’t I?” She gets out of the car, examining the scratched rims with a shake of her head. “But I’ll accept your offer if you’re so sure that you can teach me something.”
I have to admit that she was right. The park is really nice and deserted, not a single person in sight.
“I know you only offer to train me because it’s a good excuse to touch me,” she says with a grin as she interlocks herfingers with mine. I want to pull my hand away, but she used her injured hand, and I didn’t want to risk ripping her stitches open.
“You know what? I revoke that offer right now.”
“If you’re afraid that I’ll annihilate you when we’re sparring, you can just say so.”
“I’m only afraid that you’ll bite. I’m overdue for my tetanus shot.”
She glares at me for a moment before she starts laughing, dragging me towards a bench in front of a small lake. Maybe I’ll get five minutes of silence while she’s eating.
Ducks swim around on the lake and the soft breeze combined with the tall trees makes it pleasantly chilly.
It’s been a horribly hot May so far, and I enjoy not feeling like I’m melting for once. The sun slowly starts setting, reflecting on the water, and a weird feeling spreads in my stomach.
Maybe this non-date is even more dangerous than eating at the restaurant would have been.
“Did you order for an entire football team?” I ask as we get comfortable on the bench and Ruby unpacks our dinner. She pulls out burger after burger and at least four servings of fries.
“I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I ordered everything they had on the menu,” she replies while I’m already busy devouring the first burger.
Thank God she ordered so much, because those burgers are fucking delicious. We share, not really evenly though, and soon, I ate half of my body weight in fast food.
Absent-mindedly, I search for a few remaining fries in the bag.
“Why are those ducks looking at us?” I ask as I feel two pairs of duck’s eyes boring into me.
“Those are my ducks.”
I look over at Ruby, confusion plastered over my face.
“Not all of them, just these two.” She points at the two that have been stalking me for the past few minutes.
“Technically, they aren’t my ducks. They belong to the city, but emotionally, they are mine.”
As if she invited them by talking about them, they waddle over to us. They eye me cautiously and stay close to Ruby, who starts petting them instantly.
“That’s Harry, and the smaller one right here is Sally.”
Sally, or Harry, rubs their head against Ruby’s leg. I can’t keep them apart, all of them look the same to me.
“They smell,” I say, still unsure if it’s a good idea to pet wild ducks. Or semi-wild ducks, whatever.
“You smell.”
Ruby scoffs while Harry, who is apparently good at sneaking up on people, tries to snap at my finger.
“That’s right, show him who’s boss, Harry,” she says with a laugh, and then she gives Harry a look and he comes trotting back to her.
