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Dessin’s large eyes sweep over the perimeter for a moment, noticing how our friends are formed around us with big, dopey grins that turn their cheeks pink.
“Don’t worry about them. It’s just us. We’re all that matters now,” I tell him calmly, sweetly. It earns me that look. That dangerous, frightening, murderous look he gives those he’s about to dissect or…eat, maybe. I’m not sure what kind of freak he is.
“Next move! Open your fist, now our hands slap, back of hand, then front of hand. Like they’re in a fight. One of them cheated on the other, right? Haha!” I slap his knuckles with mine, then our palms collide. Damn, his hand is big. Whew. Go, Skylenna!
Ruth does a little clap after our second move is complete. My heart is racing. I can’t believe we’re going to have our own secret handshake. This is the best day ever!
“Third move—”
“And final move?” Dessin asks with a grimace.
I laugh, slapping him on the arm with my other hand. “Not even close!”
He looks at the space on his arm I slapped for a moment too long, making me instantly regret touching him. I giggle nervously, shooting wide, alert “help me” eyes to Skylenna.
“Third move! Our hands fought, now they have to make up. Pinch your fingers together—yep, like that. Then turn them side to side while touching them to my fingers. Kiss, kiss. Muah, muah!”
Dessin yanks his hand away as if he’s just been burned by a stove.
“Niles,” he warns.
But it’s Skylenna’s wheezing laughter that removes his attention from me, dragging it across the amused faces around us until his eyes land on her. She looks as giddy as I feel. Her face is the bright shade of a pomegranate, her eyes watery, and she’s holding onto Warrose’s bulky shoulder to steady herself.
The frustration scrunching Patient Thirteen’s brows together loosens its grip on him. His taut shoulders relax. A brief smirk wavers over his full lips at the glimpse of my sister chuckling.
And I remember the moment I explained what a soulmate is to Skylenna in my room in the asylum. Because once you find them, there is no life without them.
It’s true, isn’t it? When he died in her arms, she lost all meaning in her own life. She wandered around those forests aimlessly. They really are soulmates. There was only one time before my life in the asylum that I knew I spotted a pair of soulmates. And trust me, I knew it in the depths of my spirit. It was a man and a woman I found arguing once. The woman slapped him, stormed off, and…well, this is back when I had lost my mind.
Am I ashamed of what I put that couple through? Yes. Hell yes. It’ll haunt me for the rest of my life. But I was so determined to prove true love existed. I was hellbent on healing the wounds I had from my father. And knowing what I know now about him, it was all for nothing.
I tried to prove they were soulmates by locking them in my basement. If I could just scare them enough, the man would try to protect the woman. And he did. It was a huge relief until the man said something to me. Maybe I was hallucinating from the psychotic break, maybe it was divine intervention. But I let them go.
“Niles?” Dessin asks with a raised brow.
“Sorry, okay, fourth move.” I make Dessin memorize eleven more moves, which he does with ease and annoyance. The entire handshake includes kissy-hands, a hip bump, a mirrored-bicep flex, me miming catching him on a fishing rod and pulling him in, a catchphrase of “Niles has a big…” (showing size with a two-handed gesture), and ending in a nice brotherly hug.
By the end of it, I’m grinning ear to ear, and Dessin is rubbing his temples.
Warrose walks up to Dessin, slapping him on the back. “I’ll commit this to memory for the rest of my life.”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” Dessin replies.
Turning around, Skylenna and Ruth loop their arms through mine, walking us away from the group in a sneaky fashion.
“What’s happening, ladies?” I ask.
“It’s time for some girl talk,” Ruth whispers.
“Oh! My favorite kind.” I sit down with them in a few seats higher up in the stadium. They immediately go for it without any lube to smooth the entry.
“What’s going on with you and Marilynn?” Skylenna asks.
I rub my jaw. Scratch my head. Ignore the way my heart stutters to a stop, then starts up again in my chest.
“I don’t know.” I shrug.
“Pfft, Niles! You of all men should know how to express your feelings!” Ruth bumps her knee to mine. “Throw us a bone!”
