Page 44 of Sigma
“I’ll take it out there,” I tell her.
“You feel like you’re about to shift against your will?” she asks.
“Not this second, but –”
“Then sit with me. Eat.”
I huff out annoyance.
She lifts her fork and takes a bite. “Mm.”
She did that on purpose. Trying to tempt me with the food, with that sound from her lips. This vixen is gonna do nothing but tempt me. Until it goes too far.
I grab the shit from the bed and carry the sleeping bag, the pillow, and the muzzle out to the bunker.
She steps in, holding two plates of food in hand. She sets them on a wall shelf and walks off before she returns with my two folding lawn chairs that have built-in side tables. She sets them up and puts the food on the side tables. She leaves and comes back with the two beers.
“It’s getting cold,” she says. “And since I just made however many trips, I’m not making another one to warm it back up. Come eat.”
“Woman…”
“Come. Eat.”
“Go get the fucking weapons,” I order.
Fire hits her eyes.
“I’ll do it,” I amend.
When back, I’m beyond irritated, but not feeling like I’m about to shift so I sit down in the empty chair and dig into the food.
Fuck, I’m hungry. And it’s pretty damn good, too. So is the ice-cold beer.
Fifteen minutes later, she gets up and goes out, taking both our empty plates with her. And I’m thinking about the beef stew she mentioned. The chili.
“I could eat another plate of that,” I call out.
“Comin’ right up,” she replies, looking over her shoulder. “But you can pay me back.”
I wait, frowning.
“After you eat your seconds, you start the fire,” she says.
“Fire?”
“Campfire,” she clarifies before she heads back into the trailer.
Fuck, this little brat.
15
CICELY
We don’t talk while he eats his second plate of food. He doesn’t scarf it down like the first; he’s enjoying it.
I sit in the other lawn chair a few feet away, peeling the label from the beer bottle, and even with all the drama between us, it feels like companionable silence.
I’ve never been the sort who needs to fill every silent moment with something. I like quiet. I like listening to nature. I can do television, movies, and screen time, but I can also stare at the sky for hours on end without growing bored.
