I struggle to keep my thoughts pure.
“Will they notice if we take the axe home?” I muse.
“They?”
“The people who own this cabin.”
Marco gives a mysterious smile before turning away.
“You want some dinner, baby?” he says, heading toward the kitchen.
“Wait. Youownthis place?”
I follow him up the stairs.
“Needed somewhere to escape. Somewhere away from the hustle.”
He removes a paper parcel from the esky.
“Hope you're hungry?”
“Famished,” I grin.
Those microwave leftovers in my fridge back home have been long forgotten.
He unwraps a wood fire pizza and nudges it into a large skillet.
Reaching for a grater in the cupboard beneath him, he adds a dash of parmesan.
Mixing cranberry juice with soda water, ice, and a squeeze of lime, I fill two glasses just below the rim.
“Can you carry these plates?” he asks.
Setting the pan over a grill, we sit beside the fire while it sizzles.
Savouring every bite, the quiet crackle and spark of the flames is comforting.
A welcome reprieve from the bustling metropolis.
He really is intent on turning me into an outdoors bloke, isn’t he?
I surrender to his will.
I’ll go anywhere with this man.
Drink in one hand, he leans back in his chair.
Night closes in, and I have no idea how dark this conversation is about to get.
“You really want to know me?” he sighs. “Who I used to be? Because there’s no short and sweet version of this story.”
“I really want to know you.” Giving his hand a light squeeze, I press it to my lips. “Take as long as you need.”
the eighteenth chapter
AMOS
Marco reaches forward to stir the embers of the fire.
