Page 55 of Charlie and Her Sweet Escape
Not this again. Charlie? Fine. Chuck? It made me laugh.Buddy?Something about it made me want to gouge both of our eyes out.
“New boundary,” I said. “I forbid you from calling me buddy.”
He opened his mouth and then closed it. “Bud it is.”
“I will shank you.”
“Before or after we dance naked?”
“During.”
He winced and brought his hands down to cover his front. “Sounds dangerous.”
“Could be.” I fought a smile. Bennett was the only person I’d ever been playful with like this. I could say anything to him, and it would be okay. There was a lot of freedom in not having towatch every word I said, worried I might trigger Greg’s anger. Ugh, at some point, I was going to have to stop comparing every interaction I had with Ben to Greg. They were not, and never had been, the same type of person. But my instincts ran deep.
“What alternatives do I have?” He started walking, and I followed him into the wooded area away from the waterline to scout out a good place for shelter. “Pal?”
“Veto.”
“Scout?”
“Maybe if I was five.”
“I mean …” He shrugged. “You are quite a bit younger than me.”
“Six years,” I said, poking him in the arm. “Don’t act like you changed my diapers.”
“Buzz, then?”
“That’s not even a real pet name.” But I laughed at his ridiculousness. Most of my shock at actually being dropped here was wearing off, which meant I could finally think with a clear mind and recall our training. It rained a lot here, so we needed to find higher ground to avoid getting flooded out. But we didn’t want to get too far from our water source either.
“Bub. Tiger. Goob.”
“If you call me goob for any reason whatsoever, plan on sleeping with both eyes open.”
“One eye open wouldn’t be enough?”
I shook my head ominously. I stopped at a small clearing that looked perfect for setting up our tarp. We’d eventually want to build a more permanent shelter, but for now, tying our tarp between a couple of trees would be sufficient.
“Why do you need to call me anything?” I asked.
“Pet names are fun.” He grinned. “You can pick one for me.”
“I feel like they need to come naturally, not as something to just pick.”
“What did Greg call you?” He started to clear the ground of rocks and other debris while I moved the portable camera on the tripod to capture our new location and unpacked the rope.
“Charlotte,” I said. He said he couldn’t see himself marrying aCharlie.
“That’s not really a pet name.”
“Does Greg seem like a pet name kind of guy to you?” I asked, and then I immediately felt guilty, like I was being disloyal to him. I shot a glance at the camera, hoping that didn’t make the editing cut.
Bennett snorted but thankfully didn’t respond. We worked side by side quietly, my mind caught up in the work. As the sky grew darker, we picked up our pace.
I threw a rope over a branch and tied it securely. “Hey, sweetie, can you grab the other side of the rope?”
He was bent over digging a huge boulder out of the ground. He stood slowly and turned to me, one eyebrow lifted. “Sure, pookie.”
